Morning Rothko

Satsuma Plum, sliced horizontally, gift of the author, July 27, 2026, 6 am.

What did Williams mean, “there are no ideas but in things.” I once thought I knew what he meant, but by this time I have no idea.

I know Williams poem ‘This is Just to Say’ is about some cold plums he ate from the icebox that were meant to be saved for breakfast, and that he ate them instead because they were delicious, asking in the last stanza of the poem to be forgiven for eating them.

This is just to say I don’t know if there are no ideas but in things, but I would completely trust that a cold ripe plum or two would forgive me for having been eaten.