Of death the barber the barber talked to me cutting my life with sleep to trim my hair— It's just a moment he said, we die every night— And of the newest ways to grow hair on bald death— I told him of the quartz lamp and of old men with third sets of teeth to the cue of an old man who said at the door— Sunshine today! for which death shaves him twice a week

From Spring and All, reissued by New Directions. Copyright © 1962, 2011 by William Carlos Williams. Used by permission of the publisher. All rights reserved.

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Poems by This Author

A Love Song by William Carlos Williams What have I to say to you Approach of Winter by William Carlos Williams The half-stripped trees Asphodel, That Greeny Flower [excerpt] by William Carlos Williams Of asphodel, that greeny flower, Complaint by William Carlos Williams They call me and I go Complete Destruction by William Carlos Williams It was an icy day Danse Russe by William Carlos Williams If when my wife is sleeping Details for Paterson by William Carlos Williams I just saw two boys For the Poem Paterson [1. Detail] by William Carlos Williams Her milk don't seem to For the Poem Paterson [3. St. Valentine] by William Carlos Williams A woman's breasts Gulls by William Carlos Williams My townspeople, beyond in the great world It Is a Small Plant by William Carlos Williams It is a small plant Landscape With The Fall of Icarus by William Carlos Williams According to Brueghel Marriage by William Carlos Williams So different, this man Peace on Earth by William Carlos Williams The Archer is wake Poem [Daniel Boone] by William Carlos Williams Daniel Boone, the father of Kentucky Poem [on getting a card] by William Carlos Williams on getting a card Queen-Anne's-Lace by William Carlos Williams Her body is not so white as Smell by William Carlos Williams Oh strong-ridged and deeply hollowed Spring and All [By the road to the contagious hospital] by William Carlos Williams By the road to the contagious hospital Spring Storm by William Carlos Williams The sky has given over Summer Song by William Carlos Williams Wanderer moon The Descent by William Carlos Williams The descent beckons The Great Figure by William Carlos Williams Among the rain The Hurricane by William Carlos Williams The tree lay down The Red Wheelbarrow by William Carlos Williams so much depends The Uses of Poetry by William Carlos Williams I've fond anticipation of a day The Widow's Lament in Springtime by William Carlos Williams Sorrow is my own yard This Is Just To Say by William Carlos Williams I have eaten To a Poor Old Woman by William Carlos Williams munching a plum on To Elsie by William Carlos Williams The pure products of America Tract by William Carlos Williams I will teach you my townspeople Winter Trees by William Carlos Williams All the complicated details

Further Reading

Poems about Hair Evasive Action by Charlie Smith Good Hair by Sherman Alexie Hair by Orlando Ricardo Menes Haircut by Elizabeth Alexander Refugio's Hair by Alberto Ríos Sally's Hair by John Koethe The Forest of My Hair by James Tolan The Healing Improvisation of Hair by Jay Wright