Perhaps one of the most famous little poems out there is William Carlos Williams’ “The Red Wheelbarrow.” Of course, one of the hazards of fame is that it attracts the twin scourges, satire and parody. This came to mind when I was thumbing through old copies of Poetry and found some fun in a 2020 issue, compliments of a poet almost as well-known as red wheelbarrows and white chickens, Mary Ruefle.
Her “homage” to WCW goes like this:
Red
Mary Ruefle
I fucking depended on you and
you left the fucking wheelbarrow
out and it’s fucking raining
and now the white chickens
are fucking filthy
I don’t know about you, but when I read poems like this my mind ricochets all over the place.
First, I wonder if Mary Ruefle is a huge fan of WCW’s “The Red Wheelbarrow” poem or if she can’t stand it. I could see either being true. I could see either inspiring her to see red and filthy white.
If she loves Williams’ poem, this is ha-ha laughing with him, and if she loathes Williams’ poem, this is ha-ha laughing at him (and at people who consider it a good poem). That’s the nature of parody, after all.
But what made me more envious still is that I could never write this same poem, send it to Poetry, and expect to see it published. If I could, though, it would be so cool.
Alas, this is another clear example of a “Haves vs. Have Nots” poem. Joe Nobody (of Have Not, Georgia) sends it over the transom and it might not even get past the first reader. Joe Somebody (of Have, Ohio) sends it and, wham!, it’s accepted with a check written in J.S.’s name pronto (and make no mistake — Poetry pays well not only for wheelbarrows but for rain and chickens, too).
So, yeah. Brief poem but extensive brain meandering. But I did use a wheelbarrow this weekend for fall cleaning. Gray as a cloud, my wheelbarrow. No rain. No chickens. And, oh. No f-bombs, either. (This is a family blog, after all.)
But synchronicity! Me and Mary! An f-ing team in that we both gave some not-so-serious thought to one-wheeled wonders. Thanks for the fun, M. And thanks for your fame, WCW.
Wheeling over and out, KC.
