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on This Is Just To Say by William Carlos Williams, on December 31, 2004My god, this is one of the most beautiful poems of the 20th Century. The simplistic voice here of Williams is capable of much more than an apology. When I read this poem, I do not just imagine the actions in the poem, but rather, I ponder the people who are engaged in the poem. For example: What sort of relationship did the plum eater have to the plum saver? This strikes me as a conversation that I would want to have with my future lover (wherever she may be). I just love how Williams fills the mind with so many thoughts with just a simple 3 stanza piece on delectable plums. Think of the taste of cold plums, whether or not you've actually experienced them. Now, I am forever enamored by their taste because of this poem. Due to its brevity, I can recall it all in any instant and be refreshed by it. My hunger stirs even now.
"My national resources consist of two joints of
marijuana millions of genitals an unpublishable
private literature that goes 1400 miles an hour
and twenty-five-thousand mental institutions. "
Easily the most memorable few lines of Beat poetry ever. It just kills me! Sensitivity to younger readers be damned, it is a sin to label this poem "Erotica" and thus inhibit the youth from reading one of the most important American poems of the 20th Century. Short of saying that "America" should be taught in public schools, as this would violate this poem in principle, every American should indeed have access to this poem. It's vital American History: Dissent during the Early Cold War. Dissent in those days was particularly groundbreaking. We think nothing of Bill Murray as Steve Zissou in Wes Anderson's "The Life Aquatic" smoking a joint every so often in the film in these days. However, it was a bold thing to speak of a joint in any public forum in the 50's, not to mention the speak of Communism in post-McCarthy America. In risking his public neck, Ginsberg gained so much more for Americans who saw the horror in public policy and contemporary social society in the 50's. "America" helped establish the importance of questioning the legitamacy of the Cold War and thus opened the door for questioning American policy in Vietnam, hence the massive 60's anti-war movement (destroyed by LSD and people like Tim Leary--side note). Historically and artistically speaking, "America" is not to be missed. Personally, it was Ginsberg with his "America" that initiated my love of reading and writing poetry. I owe much to this poem and fear that I cannot express that gratitude here. "America" is both "Erotic" and "Adult", but it should be also labeled "Essential", regardless of the tenderness of the ears hearing it.