I'm Sorry (but not really)

A lot of the poems I like are metaphorical, metaphysical, or just plain meta. But some are pretty much exactly as they appear: no symbols, no hidden messages, no agendas. 

William Carlos Williams’ poetry is like that. Sometimes he’s so much Captain Obvious that it’s obnoxious: “Really, W.C.W., you wrote about a wheelbarrow? Really?”

It’s not like the red color symbolizes that the wheelbarrow maybe is of a rather loose character.  Or that the white chickens are some message about racism against Native Americans. Does the rain water denote some sort of cleansing? 

Nope. It’s a poem about a wet wheelbarrow next to some chickens. Better put it in the shed before it begins to rust. The end.

Likewise, there is a lot of energy expended in the attempt to interpret This is Just to Say:

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

Is he being sarcastic? Is he gloating?  Passive aggressive? Are the plums some metaphor for some emotional neediness? Some punctuation would have given us a clue...which is probably why he didn't include any.

I would say the poem is exactly what it says. Williams stole some plums from the icebox that his wife was saving for breakfast. He ate them. They were good. To any girl who has lived with a brother whose stomach was a veritable black hole, this is a familiar situation. Except Williams thinks he can get away with it, “Because I’m a poet and can write a poem that will become famous about this situation.” 

Sorry, Will Will, but I’m still mad at you about this. And I don’t even like plums.