Olson, as far as the eye can see, the New East is the Old West and vice-versa

...shamans who've learned to talk
brightly about tomorrow
from yesterday in India,
before the sun's closed its
occidental eye at dawn in Rivendell. -From Obleo's Lament

http://poemtalkatkwh.blogspot.com/2010/07/back-to-geography-poemtalk-34.html

The shorter the poem, the longer the conversation about it. Seems to me anyway.

So much does depend upon the wheel barrel but so much depends on the wheel as well, the screw and the wedge. You see? The six simple machines of poetry are variables and likely, there are way more than six.

Knowledge, Accidence, Bias, Memory, Inspiration, Time. There's six and they are crucial to the development of any poem be it long or short, stylized or accidentalized.

Knowledge (and truth) comes to us from a variety of places and one could argue, is asociated with all of the other tools of poetry in some way or another. Each of them depends upon the expertise (historical/foundational knowledge) of the poet and their exposure to a variety of pressures be they personal or universal in nature or as well, influence from other poets who also have a certain level of expertise. Some poets, particularly the immature poet, seek to eliminate the influence of all 'old' knowledge by avoidance (I did this at one time) as if knowledge were some type of contaminant to the very nature of poetry itself and in particular, their 'special gift' as individual poets. Some mistake the Make It New poetry fatwa for the idea that there actually is something new to be relayed to the starving readers out there. Luckily, this stance doesn't survive very long out there because poetry is a dog eat dog world you know and there's only so much other poets who have worked hard to obtain a little chunk of knowledge for themselves will or can tolerate. Poets who are necessarily the gatekeepers of poetry inevitably have hyper-sensitive bull-shit meters, but do they also then, have knowledge? Could it be that there's a black hole of intensity just waiting to be filled and it is based on what has been avoided (in history) rather than what has been included? I think so and the New Age of poetry isn't so much "new" as it is "better informed".

Accidence will make or break a poem. A poet not in control of that is one less poet.

Bias will generate more bang for the buck than most poets realize. Bias can betray the poet and the poet should be, if anything at all, aware of their own if not also completely aware of the bias of the reader be it a whole population of similars or a single individual interested in poetry and specifically, that particular poetry produced by that particular poet (the schools of poetry are great machines for the production of such types). The modern salesmanship of poets and the pobiz coerces and has coerced its own readership into a hole that is discussed ad nauseum by those that care about 'what happens to it'. The paternalistic notion that "we" as poets know what's good for a person is evident in anything even remotely attached to a 'school'. Schools of poetry are innately biased toward the paternal notion (and you can ask feminist poets what they think about that!). Furthermore, when a bias is no longer necessary or has been found to be a faulty one (Republican right wing for example), it dies an important if unsightly death. It seems to be blind to its own shortcomings and in a fit of dying passion begins producing a miserable amount of hot air which is known as Cheyne-Stoking.

Memory is dependent on both knowledge and bias. It is present in a poem whether a poet wants it there or not. The idea that confessionalist work (the largest body of memory based poetry) is somehow the anti-thesis of modern or somehow easier to write is ludicrous and ignores the fact that what is present in a poem is often times much more important than what isn't and that would be alot of stuff including that which is excluded on purpose by the poet writing a great confessional/narrative piece as well as that which is not known by the poet (the future, to name the most important of that which is left out of all poems) which has an inevitable impact on the work over time.

Inspiration isn't something that can be willed into existence and if it could be so, it wouldn't be 'inspiration' or that which unwillingly/unwittingly rises to the top and leaves the pack behind it panting. The most ellusive of the simple machines of poetry. At the heart of a good poem is the angel-dust of revelation both in a mythological sense and an actual historical sense. One could argue that inspiration is a function of knowledge, memory and bias however, if it were the case, we'd have a lot more good work and a lot less junk. The volume would remain the same perhaps but the quality would ultimately be better. It isn't any wonder to me why so many people fail nowdays to see the value of 'modern poetry'. Much of it is generated by the soul-free machinery of the times which includes the machinery of the publishing process itself.

Time. Where would we be without a time, an application of the poem (read: work) in society. The reason some poems feel timeless depends to a high degree on universality or "the human condition" over time. The human condition over time does not change. The circumstances however do and the application of universal themes in context matters more to academics than it does to the general population. The general population is interested much more in their own context and for the most part they have little idea that Mr. Olson was pushing back history with his arms and defining an era in Time as one of change, willfulness and contempt for the ages while simulataneously embracing "the Ages" by mentioning them in the first place, bringing them to the attention of the less well-informed.

So yes. A lot does depend on the wheel barrow. Plus all of the things that the wheel barrow/barrel contends to carry on, forward or around. In the case of this wheelbarrow, the poem is greater than the poet and when that happens, it's a bingo.

The Red Wheelbarrow
-William Carlos Williams

so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens.

With the white chickens/beside the rain glazed wheel barrow/so much depends upon a red.

Could so much have depended on a rooster? Or a green John Deer?

Probably not.