I wonder how many people have walked past William Carlos Williams‘ grave without knowing he was one of America’s greatest poets. Since it was a pretty hot morning, I was first attracted to the shade of the giant oak tree which guards his remains only to discover I was standing next to his stone.
Williams is one of my favorite poets. I love his imagist work. I read aloud The Red Wheelbarrow from memory. (Don’t be impressed. It’s only 16 words.) And was nearly able to pull This Is Just To Say from my head but instead pulled out my phone to make sure I got it exactly right.
Another reason I feel an affinity to Williams is because he had a day job too. He was the Chief of Pediatrics at Passaic General Hospital for nearly forty years. And it’s no coincidence that he’s buried just half an hour’s drive from Ginsberg’s grave. Williams mentored Ginsberg and wrote the introduction to Howl and Other Poems.
Hillside Cemetery has a lovely view of the Manhattan skyline. I imagine it’s quite spectacular at night but couldn’t stay. There are more poetic graves yet to be visited.
Bartholomew Barker, Poet 
Another poetic pairing I knew nothing about. Thank you for making these great connections. My Eng prof at U of AK was nuts about Williams. I wasn’t really paying attention to poetry then though.
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Education is wasted on the young.
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So true
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Bartholomew, thank you for sharing, I appreciate learning about William Carlos Williams and his poems. Your thoughts always enlighten me too!! 💖🙏
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We’re all standing on the shoulders of giants. I just enjoy visiting their graves.
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Someday Bart, other wierdos…. poets… will stand on your grave, reading your poetry aloud. I saw it in a dream. Another interesting post. Keep ’em coming. My high school poetry classes were a loooong time ago.
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Thank you. That’s the greatest honor I can hope for.
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Sad to think how many of those people who walked past his grave there have been… I don’t even want to know the actual number haha…
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Yeah, I’m glad there was no one there keeping a tally.
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A literary rich testing place it seems.
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New Jersey does not have the most literate reputation but it’s produced plenty of poets.
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Aha!
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*resting
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Here you are again Bart…….
http://www.spanglefish.com/berniesblog/blog.asp?blogid=15862
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Thank you again, Bernie!
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Thank you for such an interesting post!
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You’re very welcome.
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🙏💙🙏
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