The Road Home From the Hospital

POETRY FOR THE PANDEMIC

One of William Carlos Williams's (1883-1936) best known poems is "Spring and All." I thought it was right on target for COVID-19, with its first line, "By the the road to the contagious hospital." It also contains one of his most famous lines where he refers to spring as a "new world naked."

At the time Williams wrote the poem, diseases like polio, measles whooping cough, diphtheria circulated, but not AIDs or COVID-19.

When the AIDS epidemic was at its peak. I wrote my own version of Spring and All, in which I speak directly to Williams, and so I tried to capture his voice.

Music ©Bensound