This Is Just to Say

I bought some black plums at the grocery store a few days ago. The first one I has was a little woody and without much flavor. Tonight I had two more, and they were perfect: juicy, with the perfect combination of tartness and sweetness. One of those little gifts from the universe.

This Is Just to Say
by William Carlos Williams

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, “This is Just to Say” from The Collected Poems of William Carlos Williams, Volume I, 1909-1939, edited by Christopher MacGowan. Copyright © 1938, 1944, 1945 by New Directions Publishing Corporation.