jess ingrassellino, june 2019
I read Spouts (1921), an earlier poem by William Carlos Williams. I enjoy his first person, direct, and conversational writing style. This poem, like many of his others that I have read, is a single experience written in fragments, making up just one sentence. There is a lot of economy in the way that Williams expresses experience, and there are new stories to be uncovered with repeated reading of his work. These two poems are my first assignment from my first writing class in June, 2019.
St. Petersburg (May 15, 2019)
Monument,
Taller than the other buildings – it seems,
Taller than everything.
Guarding the circle, the
Subway, the
twin buildings
Flanking the road
into the city.
Her dual histories stand,
Signed – Piter and Leningrad –
Overlooking the city and
Her history.
In the taxi, I
enter.
The Serfs (May 16, 2019)
Today, we saw the
Yellow building,
Three stories high, where
Serfs were sold.
Today, the
Red roof and clean
Archways
Frame the view from the
Second story windows, where
Tourists can see the
Seven bridges when they look
Outside from the
Safety of their rooms at the
Holiday Inn Express.