This is a volume from the American Poets Project published by Library of America. The editor describes Williams' poetry as fresh and challenging and I agree. I read many of the poems two and three times and each time was like a first reading. I only remember two specific poems. The first is titled "Danse Russe" about the author dancing naked in front of a mirror in the north room when everyone in the house is asleep. "Who shall say I am not the happy genius of the household?" That would be hard to forget. It was reading that poem in an anthology that piqued my interest in his poetry. I also remember a poem titled "To a Poor Old Woman". She was on the street munching a plum out of a paper bag. The author describes the action by repeating the phrase "they taste good to her".
What I remember most is the author's way of looking at the world and seeing what was there and only what was there. The poems had a down to earth realism that gave a special value to what he had to say. His writing was done with carefully selected words delivering a clear-cut meaning. His poems don't have any rhyme scheme and he was not the member of any "school" of poetry. I know I can read the book again and experience the same eye opening immediacy in his poems.
Williams kept up a busy medical practice all of his life. Along with poetry he wrote novels, short stories and plays. Late in his life he received two prestigious prizes for his poetry. ( )

Still radical. Still saying things about the ethics of perception no one else is. Fun to boot! ( )