Friday, January 28, 2011

Kenneth Koch Poem

Variations on a Theme by William Carlos Williams

1 
I chopped down the house that you had been saving to live in next summer. 
I am sorry, but it was morning, and I had nothing to do 
and its wooden beams were so inviting. 

2 
We laughed at the hollyhocks together 
and then I sprayed them with lye. 
Forgive me. I simply do not know what I am doing. 

3 
I gave away the money that you had been saving to live on for the next ten years. 
The man who asked for it was shabby 
and the firm March wind on the porch was so juicy and cold. 

4 
Last evening we went dancing and I broke your leg. 
Forgive me. I was clumsy and 
I wanted you here in the wards, where I am the doctor!