Is there a collection of "This is just to say" poems by MeFites?

April 17, 2019 9:24 PM

I ran into yet another of these in the 2017 post about Truck Nutz, and realized I've been seeing them for years. Didn't see anything about them on the Wiki, but is anyone collecting them somewhere? Obvs. not an easy phrase to search.

I'm talking about the vague homage to William Carlos Williams's "This is just to say" poem, a la:


This is just to say

I have stolen
the plums
that were on
your truck hitch

and which
you were probably
saying
you invented

Forgive me
they were pendulous
so low
and so bold

(posted by mandolin conspiracy in aforementioned Truck Nutz thread)

posted by aspersioncast to MetaFilter-Related at 9:24 PM (17 comments total)

I'm not sure there's any up-to-date roundup; a few years back (which apparently means, christ almighty, a decade) Jofus had been collecting 'em a bit but I think that went out of date quite a while back.

I might? have done a db query round up at one point enough years ago that I no longer remember if I ever did.
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:26 PM on April 17, 2019 [1 favorite]

Have you seen this Metatalk from 2016? As I said in that thread, I try to favourite one whenever I see it, but it's hard to search my favourites for them afterwards.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 10:13 PM on April 17, 2019 [1 favorite]

The words that tend to appear reliably in any iteration are "you were probably" and "forgive" so a site-delimited google search for that those words/phrases in quotes turns up most of them.
posted by drlith at 3:48 AM on April 18, 2019 [1 favorite]

Have you seen this Metatalk from 2016

Jeez no, I hadn't managed to find that or the Jofus collection, and now I feel like a bad librarian.
posted by aspersioncast at 4:58 AM on April 18, 2019

Truck Nutz

Now that's a name I've not heard in a long, long time.
posted by octobersurprise at 7:48 AM on April 18, 2019 [3 favorites]

The words that tend to appear reliably in any iteration are "you were probably" and "forgive" so a site-delimited google search for that those words/phrases in quotes turns up most of them.

Saw one just yesterday that completely defied those parameters (because it was an e-less lipogram).
posted by dlugoczaj at 8:19 AM on April 18, 2019

There's a machine learning masters thesis out there waiting to be written on accurately identifying such poems. Metafilter is the ideal training set.
posted by eotvos at 9:23 AM on April 18, 2019 [6 favorites]

This Just To Say

My DNA was on
the plums
that were in
the cold case

just a smidge
you were probably
saving
for free breakfast

forgive me
they were my revenge
so sweet
and so cold.
posted by Oyéah at 10:24 AM on April 18, 2019 [1 favorite]

my name is Cast
and wen I rite
or wen I reed
from old mefites

and all the pomes
of days gone by
i cannot find
i Ask.MeFi

Sorry, was that the wrong poetic form?
posted by jacquilynne at 12:36 PM on April 18, 2019 [19 favorites]

Huh. I had forgotten about writing that. Still stands up, I must say.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 1:13 PM on April 18, 2019 [3 favorites]

Or hangs around.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 1:14 PM on April 18, 2019 [3 favorites]

The Grauniad/Guardian Meta from 2015 has quite a few. Including a link to Cortex's plum poem generator.
posted by zinon at 2:53 PM on April 18, 2019 [2 favorites]

This Is Just To Say

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
posted by clavdivs at 8:09 PM on April 18, 2019 [2 favorites]

aspersioncast: Didn't see anything about them on the Wiki

So I made this page for nothing then? It's listed in the In Jokes section.
posted by Too-Ticky at 1:51 AM on April 19, 2019 [1 favorite]

So what you're saying is

We're missing
an index
to all the
plum poems

Which
we were probably
not writing
for posterity

Forgive us,
they were so common
so slapdash
and so reflexive.
posted by deludingmyself at 8:58 AM on April 20, 2019 [5 favorites]

Forgive us,
they were so common
so slapdash
and so reflexive meta
posted by lalochezia at 12:12 PM on April 21, 2019 [2 favorites]

So I made this page for nothing then? It's listed in the In Jokes section.
*Smacks google hand*
posted by aspersioncast at 2:51 PM on April 21, 2019