The Red Wheelbarrow
so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens
-William Carlos Williams
This little poem written in 1923 by William Carlos Williams stands as a monument to the imagist
philosophy of "no ideas but in things" and has been the subject of intense study for over 8 decades.
It is also one of my very favorite pieces of American verse.
Rules:
- 16 words or less
- Strong use of solid images (no ideas but in things)
- Left alignment
- Free verse only
- Any subject matter
- Please do not post any images with your poem
- Simple background
- No author's notes
- Do not write about the red wheelbarrow
1500 points
Take your time,
al
Art credit: Tootsie Mae Vester
Contest is Over
- Contest was judged on March 17
- Rewards: Gold: 1000, Silver: 300, Bronze: 200, Honorable mention: 2 people
- Final notes: Boy was this a difficult one to judge, not to mention the fact that 59 of you honored me by entering it and for that I can only say thanks. I used the wheelbarrow poem as my guide, as well as the basic tenets of the imagist movement. I had to add a couple of HM's because this was so tough, almost half the entries made it to my "short list". Again thank you all and congratulations to the winners.
Contest Winners
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15 words• Commented on by judge. [remove]
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mmm• Commented on by judge. [remove]
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Gold trophy winner
Silver trophy winner
Entries [47]
1 - 47 of 47
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use your mind to think what it is. =Pby luna-midnight 9 lines, 6 comments, on Feb 29 5:19 PM• Commented on by judge.
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Solid and brass, lacking in significance,by marciakay81 3 lines, 7 comments, on Feb 29 5:32 PM• Commented on by judge.
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what sunlight creates bamboo stalks grow straightby Zyskandar A Jaimot 9 lines, 11 comments, on Feb 29 5:49 PM. In Contemporary, Contest, Life, Hope, Nature• Commented on by judge.
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Layers of dirt• Commented on by judge.
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The daffodils bloom each spring• Commented on by judge.
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a place of peace• Commented on by judge.
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Is valued• Commented on by judge.
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perservere• Commented on by judge.
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The egg - A metaphor of perfection.by a-face-in-the-crowd 14 lines, 2 comments, on Mar 1 7:54 AM. In Nature• Commented on by judge.
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Tantalizing food
for thoughby Wind Walker 10 lines, 1 comment, on Feb 29 11:14 PM• Commented on by judge. -
life thrown in a laundry basketby Cannonsfire 15 lines, 8 comments, on Feb 29 9:07 PM• Commented on by judge.
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by Lavender Butterfly 9 lines, 3 comments, on Feb 29 8:12 PM. In Other• Commented on by judge.
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Old school sturdy• Commented on by judge.
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Magical place
Loose toothby mysticwriter 6 lines, 4 comments, on Mar 2 3:40 PM. In Contest• Commented on by judge. -
Behind blazing skies Nature’s fury strikes• Commented on by judge.
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jagged tear
diagonal magenta momentby LeonLiondas 6 lines, 5 comments, on Mar 5 11:22 PM• Commented on by judge. -
• Commented on by judge.
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Don’t leave me;
you’re terribleby PageTurner 14 lines, 5 comments, on Mar 7 1:53 PM. In Personal Thoughts, Life, Society, Emotional Pain• Commented on by judge. -
crystal decanter
on formal oak tableby Hoosierpoet 18 lines, 4 comments, on Mar 10 8:52 PM. In Contemporary• Commented on by judge. -
continuously ticking
letting us knowby gaiascully 5 lines, 1 comment, on Mar 12 6:58 AM. In Other• Commented on by judge. -
with a bosom's curve and the same lustrousby The Other Kendal 7 lines, 1 comment, on Mar 12 11:32 AM• Commented on by judge.
Add a comment
Comments
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oh lovely ! ... excellent prompt .... i am sure this will bring forth much fabulous reading ... good luck with it and i look forward to it
>>> Gina
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Ahhhh Gina, don't enter don't enter~~!!!
W'll poor people won't win.
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the little painting is gorgeous ! ... whose ?
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art credit added
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ah lovely ... thanks ... will go see what else she does ... Art credit: Tootsie Mae Vester - what a fabulous name ! ... gosh i was only here five minutes ago it seems and look at the entries already !
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bookmarked (you rhythm guitarist, you)
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when you said take your time.. what did you mean?
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LOL ...
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LOL... i guess it doesn't matter people are ignoring me anyway...
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think I'll take my time
nice idea for a contest
best wishes
peace Muddy
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I will be back for this one.
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DAMN! When I saw the title I knew this poem was coming. I was just going to host the same contest. Do ya read ma mind??!!
I love the poem... WCW has penned something totally amazing. I'm sure this will get a handful of different poems. After all, there has been so much debate over this poem...
Will try to enter.
- namita -
That little poem inspired an entire series of poems for me (all well over 16 words though) and it is amazing that there are only 16 words ...actually.
Good luck to host and poem writers!
Lisa -
I love this poem... It actaully is one of my favorites...
Perhaps I shall be writing something for this contest..... hmmmmm.... -
I'm so weak at this
that I have to try. -
Haha someone showed me that poem once to try and prove that some form or another of poetry had meaning. I guess I didn't agree at the time and I still don't particularly like the...style...but I appreciate it more than I did and can see why others may think so. Man, William Williams, I bet he was annoyed at his parents for that!
Good luck x
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Okay if i can't post a pic then i aint enterin'
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i know how much you like using those pics...lol
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Having studied philosophy as part of my history degree, I came across the notion of ideas as 'things'. . . which makes a real interesting topic for discussion. Here's another-- that 'things' are ideas!
I think this contest will work.
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"Chickens white beside standing water rain, with glazed wheelbarrow. Red on! Depends much. So?"
-The Poisonwood Bible
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holy crap look at them all
love this
and of course, one of my faves as well -
Congrats to the winners. It was a great contest.
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Excellent contest, excellent entries, congrats to everyone.
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Great contest
I just knew this would be a clinic, both writing and reading. The winners and mentions are amazing, so much depth and, erm, texture for such diminutive poems.
What a worthy group of winners. The HMS here have as much to be proud of as golds elsewhere.
This, sir, was a RIP! -
Thank you so much Al. It was an honour to be inspired by such a wonderful piece.
Congrats to the other winners and HMs!
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congrates to the winners...thanks for hosting big al...
for all the poets represented here...
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wow.
i am really honored this feels good. thanks a lot for this contest and congrats to every who won and to all.
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Congratulations on completing this mammoth task Al...
and well done to all the winners and to those who took part too...
you did a grand job
congratulations to Monimac/Stacy ... stunning piece for gold.. yepp
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Well done getting this one completed! Enjoyed the participation and even more, the excellent reading.
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Thank you so much for the HM--I am really honored by it. I just adore contests that ask for brevity, too, and the entries that you received were amazing. Thank you, again, and congratulations to all who were inspired by this contest.
Saffron
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Wow, thanks so much AJ! I appreciate it a lot.
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with the comments flying around here you MUST know that you too (as per your comment on mary's contest) are an asset to this site ...
luverly contest ... nicely done mister >>> Gina -
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Thank you Gina
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