So much depends upon…
by Steven McCabe
Like a certain famous red wheel barrow
so much depends
upon the red
wagon.
My brothers decided to light up a tree. Not sure how much damage the (few) matches did to the knobby crevice where the unfortunate had, seemingly, been struck once upon a time by lightning. Nevertheless, our father, with an abundance of caution ordered buckets of water to make sure the riverbank didn’t burn. Perhaps to teach a lesson, perhaps out of a respect for fire, he kept the buckets coming. Eventually my brothers tired and remembered the wheel had been invented. Wheels and fire. And for whatever reason, like the wheel barrow for William Carlos Williams, much depends upon the red wagon.
Photo of the wagon from the internet, copyright unknown, used non commercially to refashion a new work for purposes of commentary.
poemimage 
Nice twist on Carlos William’s famous poem Steven. The images, especially the penultimate one, echo the mood of memory and enhance your story. The redness of the barrow calls fire engines to mind…
Thank you John. How brilliant to think of red fire trucks! This image-connection didn’t dawn on me at all! Now I’m thinking of the clanging fire bell in ‘Penny Lane.’ And of course the Beatles were so much, or soon to be, an overarching presence in those years. And now, the riverbank & William Carlos Williams & a fire engine & Beatlemania & family… connected by a very elastic string…(and somebody invented the wheel). thanks again John.
Great juxtaposition – underlining and, at the same time, undermining the content of the text.
Hi Richard, Thank you for your thoughts. Great alliteration in your suggestion of underlining/undermining.’ Yes perhaps so…undermining…in an ironic sense…Very interesting observation…
As an English teacher who only teaches online now (not in the classroom), I wish I would’ve seen this last year to show to my students. I love your take on this poem. I’m sure WCW would’ve as well. I think I read somewhere that he used to write poems in between seeing patients. If only we could all come up with something so thought-provoking when we have a few minutes to spare.
Thank you Kara and I’m heartened to think of WCW approving of this idea.