This is a slight stiff dance to a waking baby whose arms have been lying curled back
above his head upon the pillow, making a flower—the eyes closed. Dead to the world!
Waking is a little hand brushing away dreams. Eyes open. Here’s a new world.
above his head upon the pillow, making a flower—the eyes closed. Dead to the world!
Waking is a little hand brushing away dreams. Eyes open. Here’s a new world.
The long lines are by William Carlos Williams (1883-1963). He served more than anybody else as Model Poet for me in early days — meaning he was the one I (vainly) attempted to imitate most often in the 1970s as a student.
The photos are of Mabel Watson Payne, of course.
In the top picture she is one week old.
The bottom picture was taken during the recent free-for-all called Christmas. She went down to the laundry room with her mother to take clean clothes out of the dryer and then spontaneously decided to come back upstairs inside the basket.