This Is Just to Say: Parodies on a Poem (and so much more!)

I was driving home from Cedar Falls while listening to This American Life on Iowa Public Radio. The show was about Non-Apology apologies and one segment emphasized how politicians are famous for the proforma apology. This led to an interview with Kenneth Koch about the William Carlos Williams poem This Is Just to Say. Koch uses this poem in his book Rose Where Did You Get That Red?:Teaching Great Poetry to Children.

Here's the poem, a non-apology apology poem.

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast.

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold.

-- William Carlos Williams


So why am I interested in this? Because apparently writing parodies of this poem is a popular thing to do. You can find many of them, appropriate and inappropriate, on the internet. I was intrigued and found myself in a search for more information on the poem, the poet, and Kenneth Koch, who was the guy on This American Life. I found a parody of the poem on Garrison Keillor's Guy Noir skit on the November 30, 2002 show. Here it is:

This is just to say
that I have
brought the sparkling water
that was in the icebox

and which
probably you were expecting
to be served with a slice of lemon.

Forgive me,
the lemon is no good.
It is so wrinkly and so mossy.


We often tell the kids that we expose them to musicals, concerts, radio shows (including Garrison Keillor), movies (old and new), books, and poetry, so they can better understand the world around them. This poem is the perfect example. If you know the poem, then the Garrison Keillor skit makes more sense, which then gives background knowledge for the This American Life episode, which can shed a different light on politics and possibly even a creative endeavor of writing their own version of a poem, although in a copycat kind of way. Or maybe it sparks another creative activity.

Another example, which I blogged about earlier, is when we took the kids to see the performance of Carmina Burana at Luther. Since then, we've seen the Gatorade commercial withO Fortuna from Carmina playing in the background as athletes workout and compete. Also, Carmina Burana is referenced in the musical Rent in the song La Vie Boheme. Which now gives them greater understanding of the lyrics in Rent.

About two years ago I bought the book The Best Old Movies for Families: A Guide to Watching Together. We started ordering some of the movies from Netflix. The kids were not thrilled about watching some of them, Michael especially hated Gone With the Wind. He thought the women were way too whiny and demanding. But since watching Gone With the Wind, the kids have all remarked how many times they've come across references to Rhett or Scarlett or Tara or "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn."

This is why I loved Gilmore Girls so much. I loved the pop cultural references. It was smart and it made me feel smart. I'm sure I missed many of them, but I loved what I did catch. Rachel loved the show too, but on a different level.

This is also why I LOVE public radio. It exposes you to the world. How lucky am I to get Wisconsin Public Radio, Iowa Public Radio, and Minnesota Public Radio in my little corner of Iowa? Life is good!