William Carlos Williams was a wonderful 20th-century American poet who had a true gift for writing poems that were simple and yet extremely powerful. One of his best-known poems is The Red Wheelbarrow. In just a few lines, he describes a red wheelbarrow near some chickens, glazed with rainwater.

I like thinking about this poem. I have heard both adults and children express surprise at how short some of Williams’ poems are and how odd the subjects can seem at first. Why would someone write a poem about something as ordinary as a wheelbarrow?

But then I start thinking about the ordinary things in my own life.

I think about a coffee cup I love using every day that says, “Take life one cup at a time.” And I think about my own wheelbarrow, which came with my house and has been an invaluable tool to me when gardening. These aren’t big or extraordinary things. They’re simply small things that bring comfort, pleasure, and beauty to an ordinary day.

Maybe that’s part of what makes The Red Wheelbarrow so powerful. It reminds us to notice what is right in front of us.

I hope today is full of beautiful small things for you, things that might seem ordinary but make your world a little better.

I also think this is a wonderful poem to use with children. What begins with confusion, “Why would someone write a poem about a wheelbarrow?” can become a conversation about the small, ordinary things in our own lives that bring us joy.