The Young Housewife













Home | Poetry | Gallery | Quotes | Alden Nolan Tribute | Links | Essays





The Young Housewife  William Carlos Williams




























At ten A.M. the young housewife
moves about in negligee behind
the wooden walls of her husband's house.
I pass solitary in my car.
 
Then again she comes to the curb
to call the ice-man, fish-man, and stands
shy, uncorseted, tucking in
stray ends of hair, and I compare her
to a fallen leaf.
 
The noiseless wheels of my car
rush with a crackling sound over
dried leaves as I bow and pass smiling.