Al Filreis
Who shall say I am not the happy genius? (WCW)
William Carlos Williams, “Danse Russe”
If I when my wife is sleeping
and the baby and Kathleen
are sleeping
and the sun is a flame-white disc
in silken mists
above shining trees, —
if I in my north room
dance naked, grotesquely
before my mirror
waving my shirt round my head
and singing softly to myself:
“I am lonely, lonely.
I was born to be lonely,
I am best so!”
If I admire my arms, my face,
my shoulders, flanks, buttocks
again the yellow drawn shades, —
Who shall say I am not
the happy genius of my household?
[c. 1917]
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Shawn Walker and I discuss the poem — an audio mini-lesson recorded for an all-online version of my English 88 course around ten years ago. Williams recorded the poem a number of times, but here is a version made in 1950.