XI (The Right of Way)
| Author | Williams, William Carlos |
|---|---|
| Genre | Poetry |
| Journal or Book | - |
| Publisher | - |
| Year of Publication | 1923 |
| Pages | - |
| Additional information | This poem was published in Williams's book Spring and All. We took this poem from a version of Spring and All which was published in 1970. |
In passing with my mind
on nothing in the world
but the right of way
I enjoyed on the road by
virtue of the law –
I saw
an elderly man who
smiled and looked away
in the north past a house –
a woman in blue
who was laughing and
leaning forward to look up
into the man’s half
averted face
and a boy of eight who was
looking in the middle of
the man’s belly
at a watchchain –
the supreme importance
of this spectacle
sped me by them
without a word –
Why bother where I went?
for I went spinning on the
four wheels of my car
along the wet road until
I saw a girl with one leg
over the rail of a balcony
