Mistakes Were Made

I don't know if I'm getting the whole gist of it, but a rather bookish friend of mine called me up on his way to examine what he claimed was an extremely rare stamp collection to say someone is playing a prank of sorts on me. Obviously, he doesn't know who the someone is, or what the back story might be, but the person might assume I listen to This American Life and in particular, this episode. I couldn't possibly listen to the whole thing. Hearing an obvious fool talk about freezing dead bodies for the majority of the show is a little bit more than a person of my sensibilities can bear, but if you can somehow tune it all out but perk up your ears when you hear Feist, you'll hear about the poem and the actual great American poet:

this is just to say

by william carlos williams

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.

And what they did was, several contributors wrote and recited their own version of the poem which is supposed to be funny in some way, but is really kind of sad, I think. So it is that perfect combination of life that we could really use a quaint little word for and which some nation on earth probably has, though it wouldn't be the Germans despite their affinity for words, because they have terrible senses of humor. Or perhaps, terrible sense of humors.  I don't see how a knife is anything like a plum, but I am not an English major.

Anyway, at the very least, I did think it was an idea. Its an idea that I'm happy to take submissions on. If you'd like to show off your poetry chops, I'd love to see submissions of your own versions from all of you warming up the writing skills you've let fade and lie dormant while the slavery of work crushes your soul and very will to live. At the very least, if you're too afraid to have it published here, I encourage each of you to write a short poem for your lover. It doesn't have to be good. It just has to be sweet. And if being sweet is not enough, then it may be you are with the wrong person.