an old woman

how luminous the young girls are.

TO A POOR
OLD WOMAN

munching a plum on
the street a paper bag
of them in her hand










They taste good to her
They taste good
to her. They taste
good to her













You can see it by
the way she gives herself
to the one half
sucked out in her hand





Comforted
a solace of ripe plums
seeming to fill the air
They taste good to her

William Carlos Williams

From Collected Poems: 1939-1962, Volume II by William Carlos Williams, published by New Directions Publishing Corp. © 1962 by William Carlos Williams.

how few of us there are in song and story.