Queen-Anne's-Lace (by William Carlos Williams)
Queen-Anne's-Lace
by William Carlos Williams
[from Sour Grapes (1921)]
Her body is not so white as
anemony petals nor so smooth—nor
so remote a thing. It is a field
of the wild carrot taking
the field by force; the grass
does not raise above it.
Here is no question of whiteness,
white as can be, with a purple mole
at the center of each flower.
Each flower is a hand’s span
of her whiteness. Wherever
his hand has lain there is
a tiny purple blemish. Each part
is a blossom under his touch
to which the fibres of her being
stem one by one, each to its end,
until the whole field is a
white desire, empty, a single stem,
a cluster, flower by flower,
a pious wish to whiteness gone over—
or nothing.
Posted by Jesus Crisis at 6/15/2011 5:47 AM 
Categories: Poetry, American, 1900s, Williams (William Carlos)
Tags: 1921 William Carlos Williams Sour Grapes American Literature American Poetry
Categories: Poetry, American, 1900s, Williams (William Carlos)
Tags: 1921 William Carlos Williams Sour Grapes American Literature American Poetry
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