My Life

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I’m not feeling especially creative today, but I read a poem I fell in love with.

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

By, William Carlos Williams

A girl  in my class rose her hand and talked about how cute of an idea it is- the speaker taking the plums, then leaving a poem in hopes of replacing it. She said how it would have made her happy, and she smiled as she said it… I couldn’t help but imagine it being something I would do to her… We’d go out shopping, buy a snack, and while she’s in the shower I’d eat it and leave a dumb little poem teasing her about how good it was.

I read online that the poem could be about a love affair, that the plum represents another lover, and the speaker caved into the desires of it. It was an affair the speaker doesn’t really feel sorry about, emphasized by his erotic word choice in the final stanza.

I question this analytical explanation for several reasons. Firstly, the title of the poem signifies that there isn’t supposed to be more than what is in the poem. Carlos writes imagery poetry, similar to Pound, one huge implication of modernism is that they do not wish to be lost in the metaphors of traditional poetry. Secondly, the fruit choice. Had it been grapes, strawberries, even an apple, I could understand the sexual link, but a plum? I feel like if the author was trying to represent a sexual affair, he would have picked a more applicable symbol. I think the poem is just what it is, a taunting poem left for someone on the fridge after the speaker takes their plums.

I suppose that any poem is up for any interpretation, or multiple perhaps.

So for now, I will relate it to her and I, the girl from my class… We come home from shopping and are about to go out on a date, she tells me she wants to jump in the shower for a minute, and leaves. While she is showering, I eat something out of her fridge, then put a poem in its place teasing her… And all of it not because I want the plum, but because I want the smile.

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