PAD Day 14: Paging Dr. Bill

Today's prompts from Poetic Asides and NaPoWriMo: (1) write a form poem and/or an "anti-form" poem, and (2) "write a poem that deals with the poems, poets, and other people who inspired you to write poems. "  I've written on previous occasions about one of my favorite poets, William Carlos Williams (or "Dr. Bill" as I like to call him - he was a family physician). He was a big influence when I wrote poetry in college. Williams also created a modern form called the "variable foot", which is rather elusive to define, but is characterized by a staggered or step-like three-line unit on the page, each line broken up generally in beats or breaths. You could even call it a sort of "anti-form" - a semi-structured reaction to the strict forms of classic or romantic poetry. Anyway, here is my take on it:

WCW Redux

So here I am

                again, Dr. Bill

                                singing your praises

like you sang about

                asphodel,

                                that greeny flower,

or red wheelbarrows,

                Breughel's peasants,

                                refrigerated plums.

You kept your day job

                but still had time to

                                change the poetry world

and turned the heads of

                malleable young students

                                                like me.

You invented

                the variable foot,

                                that elusive animal

that trips

                down the page

                                like a mountain goat

or drips down it

                like the cascading

                                                Paterson Falls.                  

I don't know if

                I have it right,   

                                but maybe there's no                   

right or wrong to it.

                So here's to you,

                                who taught me I could

have a  life and still

                bother the world

                                with poetry.