The Power of Image

so much depends
upon

a red wheel
barrow

glazed with rain
water

beside the white
chickens.

     William Carlos Williams

Without a doubt, images are more indelible than words. That is why we are moving from a print driven society to an image driven one. Images catch the eye, send more information in fewer lines and leave a longer impression. So, learning to use images in writing is crucial. They focus the power of metaphor with lethal accuracy.

Dr. Williams was the greatest imagist of the 20th century. He leaned on images to help him deal with the stress of his medical practice. His poems were often short (if you go to the Library of Congress, check out the originals written on his prescription pads), yet they were pithy.

When Dr. Williams retired from medicine, he traveled the college circuit and delivered his poems with rock star status to gobs of students.

The poem above was a particular favorite. Was it talking about creation? How man intrudes on life, yet life keeps going? The insidious beauty and fertility of life?

It turns out Dr. Williams lost a patient on the operating table while performing a simple surgery. It left an impression on him. He came into his office, looked out the window, and the little red wheelbarrow is what he saw.

The image somehow anchored him in reality and comforted him.

Let's use his opening to create our own images:

So much depends

On a fish

Filling my nostrils 

and belly.

     Try being more concrete. Expand one of your caption poems:

So much depends 

Upon the sails flapping

Then filling with wind

As the boat leans in the water.

     Now reach into your past:

So much depends upon

A little red wagon

Rusted by the rainwater

Beside the blonde puppies.