An Apology
by F. J. Bergmann
Forgive me
for backing over
and smashing
your red wheelbarrow.
It was raining
and the rear wiper
does not work on
my new plum-colored SUV.
I am also sorry
about the white
chickens.
This poem was a finalist for the 2003 James Hearst Poetry Prize and is included in 180 More Extraordinary Poems for Every Day edited by Billy Collins. F. J. Bergmann lives in Wisconsin and is a web designer and artist. She writes both poetry and science fiction.
Here are the two poems by William Carlos Williams that "An Apology" plays on:
The Red Wheelbarrow
so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens
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 F. J. Bergmann
Forgive me
for backing over
and smashing
your red wheelbarrow.
It was raining
and the rear wiper
does not work on
my new plum-colored SUV.
I am also sorry
about the white
chickens.
This poem was a finalist for the 2003 James Hearst Poetry Prize and is included in 180 More Extraordinary Poems for Every Day edited by Billy Collins. F. J. Bergmann lives in Wisconsin and is a web designer and artist. She writes both poetry and science fiction.
Here are the two poems by William Carlos Williams that "An Apology" plays on:
The Red Wheelbarrow
so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens
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