Red Wheelbarrow
essays & poems by Luiz Mee

dPress
2003
Sebastopol

The poem with the first line "so much depends"
which begins Chapter XXII of Spring and All is
© 1986 by A. Walton Litz & Christopher MacGowan.
Thanks to New Directions Publishing Corporation.

Cover artwork by Claude Smith
Title page collage by S. Mutt

so much depends
upon

a red wheel
barrow

glazed with rain
water

beside the white
chickens

        —WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS (1923)

RED WHEELBARROW

  From a historical perspective, I assume William Carlos Williams’s wheelbarrow event is formed by necessary and sufficient conditions, such that, say, the red wheelbarrow had been sitting there before the chickens arrived and the rain came, that day. As for how so much depends upon the red wheelbarrow, well, that is another matter. Kind of scary, really, like what if everything depended upon the red wheelbarrow?
  Because the red wheelbarrow sat there, glazed in rain water beside the white chickens, and it sat there while it was raining, and it sits there now the rain has ceased and the chickens have emerged from whatever shelter to continue doing what chickens do in both rain and shine, I can determine a causal line as to why Williams saw the red wheelbarrow beside the chickens in their various conditions and make inferences as to their relationship.
  It is the task of the historian and the physicist to describe and explain events in time and space, but for the poet, time-space must be placed in events. Historical method for a poet is an eloquent term for the self-created specific formulations of self-created objective facts.
  There’s an inside and an outside to this. The outside looks like a cheap theatrical prop. The inside is characterized by a "self" interpreting the "thing-in-itself." When I get close to the red wheelbarrow, I understand I am inventing the red wheelbarrow, and that the red wheelbarrow, also, invents me. This is why so much depends upon the red wheelbarrow.
  The red wheelbarrow is the red wheelbarrow. That’s its purpose—to be the red wheelbarrow. The purity of its state of being, the pending in it. I recognize in the red wheelbarrow the sanctity of an everyday thing. As Lu Garcia says, "You can bury it, but it will never rust."

An exposition of "The Red Wheelbarrow"

  The opening lines set an ontological tone—a barnyard microcosm. In lines three and four, there is a sharp focus on the wheelbarrow, the intensity of the color red, its condition after the rain. The line breaks make each element come into sharp focus. As we begin to see the wheelbarrow, it suddenly appears fresh, even majestic, glazed with rain water.
  In the final strokes of the picture, the white of the chickens contrasts dramatically with the redness of the wheelbarrow, and the painting is complete. Much depends on the stress the reader gives each syllable, enabling us to experience the tactile qualities of the scene.

Semiotics

  Language, and the red wheelbarrow in particular, does not lose its semiotic character even when reduced to its sub-atomic classes.

Red Wheelbarrow in the 2-value system

  The proofs of the two-valued system of logic are based on the law of contradiction (tollens datur) which states that something is either something or nothing but not both. (If A is A, then A is not not A.) Also, something to be stated in contradiction to this logical system must be translated into this system.
  This red wheelbarrow is the one and only red wheelbarrow, a poetic archetype, and it is, also, an everyday red wheelbarrow.
  Either the red wheelbarrow is a red wheelbarrow or it is not and the red wheelbarrow is both a red wheelbarrow and it is not at the same time means that this red wheelbarrow can be glazed with rain water in our imagination, and this red wheelbarrow can be next to the white chickens, and if the red wheelbarrow is glazed with rain water, then, the white chickens, as David Bromige pointed out the other day, more than likely depend upon the red wheelbarrow because it contains the feed they eat and is also used when the farmer mucks out their coup.

The red wheelbarrow energy vortex

I beg of you, seek nothing behind the phenomena.
They constitute their own lesson.
                —GOETHE

  From the Hammurabian code (c. 2100 BCE ) to Rychard's Café Poems today, the information transmitted in structures of language materials transcends the syntactic-semantic relationships. The word is an energy vortex, whether it is the word as an event we enter or the word, in and of itself, as an event.

A full account of the red wheelbarrow

  Starting with some marks on the side of the red wheelbarrow, slight irregularities in the surface of the wheelbarrow—I connect the dots and discover another wheelbarrow beside two chickens. Now, being careful to stay inside the lines, I color the wheelbarrow a thick coat of barn red, and the chickens I make white with quick strokes of my brush, leaving the paper show through. Getting the rain water effect on the wheelbarrow requires a coating of glazing compound. Important, still, to stay within the lines, keep to the measure.

The dot

  The dot—in OE, a noun, dott, head of a boil; in 1570, a small lump, clot; in 1674, a minute speck, spot, mark; 1748, a roundish mark made with a pen. It was not the act by which a dot is made until 1858. A little child, or creature, in 1859. As a verb, to mark with dots 1740; 1816, to scatter with specks; 1818, to cover with minute spots. Poets knew it (knew(i)t—little i, knewt—no(tat, tit for tat)ed—knit (know it, dotted it down) all along.

Nothing sentimental about this wheelbarrow

  I came home drunk, and the next morning I punished myself by digging a trench across a gravel road for a culvert. Again, I used a red wheelbarrow.
  Who listens to the music a red wheelbarrow makes? So, I stop and listen at this dumb thing in the barnyard. I stand next to it and chop the heads off the white chickens, and I hang their carcasses by their claws on a fence made of hog wire to let the blood drain. Other chickens peck at blood-soaked clods of earth, while the eyes of the dead chickens glaze over. No need for shellac.

Graphemes

  There are tracks in the snow, left by the red wheelbarrow and the chickens.

Morphemes

  What was once a red wheelbarrow, just outside my window, beneath the honeysuckle sun, has become a slogan, "Bird lives!"

Tech support for wheelbarrows

I was 19 when I read the poem by William Carlos Williams about a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens. I wanted one. A wheelbarrow. Not green. A bright red wheelbarrow. So, I finally bought one. Went to Home Depot tonight to pick up a wheelbarrow. It's red. It's in the back seat of my car, and like a good Chesterfield, I am unable to move it further in or take it back out. What should I do?

Unless they are welded on, the handles/poles and the rear stands/feet of the wheelbarrow should be attached with some from of bolt. Pull out your ratchet or wrench or large pliers and get to work. If they're welded on then you should look into removing the front axle assembly. That's probably just held in place with a few screws or another bolt or two. That should defiantly be able to come off (as you'll end up replacing the tire at some point). Otherwise, follow the engineering maxim of "There are very few problems that cannot be solved by a large hammer." Best of luck.

So much depends
upon
a bright red bar
held by
a square bolt.

Red Wheelbarrow in code

Each letter means the letter before it.
Tp nvdi efgoet
vspo
b sfe xiffmcbsspx
hmbafe xjui sbjo
xbufs
cftjef uif xijuf
dijdlfst.

Oscar night

  Red Wheelbarrow was resplendent in an a black, single-breasted, one-button, shawl-collar tuxedo with black vest by Armani.
  Accepting the award for ihis raw, explosive performance in Spring and All, he said, "Thank you, I don't know what to say. I feel such gratitude. Thank you."
  Later, he confided to me that it is not easy to have much of a private life being such a celebrity. No way to move. The papparazzi are watching his every move. He has to stay in place.

Amazon.com red wheelbarrow

Amazon Toys & Games: Red Wheelbarrow
Carter Back to Basics Toys—safe and sturdy, this red wheelbarrow steers easily with smooth wooden handles, and rolls along on a steel tire with rubber treads.

Transformation

back to the thing-in-itself
it is the same red wheelbarrow in that it changes
                                    the same              changes
as one
is one
                                                                                    such
                                                                                   that it
                                                                                   is you

Red wheelbarrow in code

(Instruction: each letter means the letter before it.)

tp nvdi efgoet
vspo

b sfe xiffm
cbsspx

hmbafe xjui sbjo
xbufs

cftjef uif xijuf
dijdlfst

Red Wheelbarrow in Hell

Following the axiomatics of Lukasiewicz, where letters = sentences,
Hell is a sentence
when l is a sentence
and e is a sentence
followed by a sentence
and H is a sentence
followed by two sentences

Hell

is a language. Language is a sentence in the E-phenomenal sense that an object is related to existence.

Graphemes

  There are tracks in the snow, left by the red wheelbarrow and the white chickens.

Morphemes

  What was once a red wheelbarrow, just outside my window, beneath the honeysuckle sun, has become a slogan, "Bird lives!"

Phonemes

I heard Crazy Jane sing

Hate ate the red wheelbarrow,
But love dug it up again.

In poet's hell

I stay after school and fill all the blackboards:

So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
  Why would anyone say such a thing?

Wheelbarrows within wheelbarrows

  Starting with some marks on the side of the red wheelbarrow, slight irregularities in the surface—I connect the dots and discover another wheelbarrow beside some chickens. I color the wheelbarrow with a thick coat of barn red paint, and the chickens I make white with quick strokes of my brush, letting the paper show through. Getting the rain water effect on the wheelbarrow requires using a coat of shellac. Important, to say with the lines, keep to the measure.

No soil or mulch or mud
                —Philip Whalen

  Who listens to the music a red wheelbarrow makes? I stop a moment in wonder. Then, I hook a couple of the chickens with a long wire and chop their heads off on the stump where I cut kindling. I hang them on the fence by their legs to drain. Other chickens peck at the blood-soaked earth, while the eyes in the decapitated heads of the dead chickens glaze over. There's no need for shellac.

Tech support for wheelbarrow owners

I was nineteen when I read the poem by William Carlos Williams about a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens. I wanted one. A wheelbarrow. Not green. A bright red wheelbarrow. So, I finally bought one. Went to Home Depot tonight to pick up a wheelbarrow. It's red. It's in the back seat of my car, and like a good Chesterfield, I am unable to move it further in or take it back out. What should I do?

Unless they are welded on, the handles/poles and the rear stands/feet of the wheelbarrow should be attached with some form of bolt. Pull out your ratchet or wrench or large pliers and get to work. If they're welded on, then you should look into removing the front axle assembly. That's probably just held in place with a few screws or another bolt or two. That should defiantly be able to come off (as you'll end up replacing the tire at some point). Otherwise, follow the engineering maxim of "There are very few problems that cannot be solved by a large hammer." So much depends upon a bright red bar held by a square bolt.
  Good luck.

Yahoo.com red wheelbarrow

Amazon Toys & Games: Red Wheelbarrow
Carter ‘Back to Basics' Toys—safe and sturdy, this red wheelbarrow steers easily with smooth wooden handles and rolls along on a steel tire with rubber treads.

Ames True Temper Recall of Wheelbarrows
... CPSC, Ames True Temper Announce Recall of Wheelbarrows. WASHINGTON ... purchase. Wheelbarrows with metal wheel assemblies are not part of this recall.

Amish Products
OLD STYLE WOODEN WHEELBARROW. Remember the wooden wheelbarrow Ganddad used on the farm? Remember the White Leghorn chickens?

Excerpt from the autobiography

  Along with everything else, I was asked to teach poetry to high school students in Rutherford, but I wasn't sure I could manage this, as I had no experience teaching poetry. Returning on the train from a pediatric clinic in the city, I met an elementary school teacher, a woman, who had a lovely smile. When she smiled, tiny lines formed around her lips, which made me think she must smile a lot. Striking up a conversation, I told of my dilemma, and she gave me a couple of tips. First tip, don't let them think they are smarter than you. Second tip, if they do, you must argue all night to show them they're not. "I never let the little bastards get the better of me," were her exact words.

  Her name was Margaret Brown, and she lived on a small farm with her parents just outside of Hackensack. We took a liking to one another, and she extended an invitation to visit if I was ever in the neighborhood. About a week later, after attending to a sick baby near the town of Lodi, I was driving down a country lane and spotted her working in her yard.

  She wore bib overalls, and as it had been raining earlier, her clothes were caked with mud. I sensed something primitive about her, something actual and real,—what Cézanne might have called an energizing force. I stopped, and waved. She was standing near a red wheelbarrow beside some white chickens, and she waved back. It made my heart Spring.

Reflections of a red wheelbarrow

So little is needed
so much is remanded
so little reaches the front
so much is pending.

Everything seems squeezed
          into a single
point, no place
for me.

Maybe it's the rain
water. Maybe
it's the American
way.

I think, maybe it's a joke,
but
somehow
I don't get it.

Oscar night

  (Hollywood) Red Wheelbarrow was resplendent in a black, single-breasted, one-button, shawl-collar tuxedo with black vest by Emporio Armani.

  Accepting the award for his raw, explosive performance in Spring and All, he said, "Thank you, I don't know what to say. I feel such gratitude. Thank you."

  Later, he confided to me that it is not easy to have much of a private life being such a celebrity. No way to move. The papparazzi are watching his every move, so he stays on his farm in upstate New Jersey.

Red, white & blue wheelbarrow

[The following is an excerpt of "Red" Wheelbarrow's testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee on October 20, 1947, as reported in the official Government Printing Office record ("Hearings Regarding Communist Infiltration of the American Literary Consciousness"). The Committee's chairman was J. Parnell Thomas, and Robert Stripling was Chief Investigator.]

Mr. [Robert] Stripling: I gather, then, from your analysis of this poem your personal criticism of it is that it overplayed the conditions that existed on the farm at the time the poem was made; is that correct?

Mr. ["Red"] Wheelbarrow: Well, the poem portrayed the animals in the barnyard in a better economic and
social position than they occupied.

Mr. Stripling: And it would also leave the impression in the average mind that they were better able to resist the aggression of the German Army than they were in fact able to resist?

Mr. Wheelbarrow: Well, that was not in the poem. So far as the Russian war was concerned, nothing was shown about it.

The Chairman: Mr. Nixon.

Mr. [Richard] Nixon: No questions.

The Chairman: All right. The first witness tomorrow morning will by Ayn Rand.

Picture from Williams
                —for Jane

she did a painting, which in
keeping with the spirit was to be
a red wheelbarrow
          rain-drenched
          with chickens
no fuss, straight up

finally, tore the sky
          into four pieces, each
          had a line of verse
and framed the botched wheelbarrow
and too bright interpretation of
chickens with sewn on feathers
by thumbtacking it to a stretcherbar

so much depends upon
that first cup of coffee