Fire Buffs promote the general welfare of the fire and rescue service and protect its heritage and history. Famous Fire Buffs through the years include New York Fire Surgeon Harry Archer, Boston Pops Conductor Arthur Fiedler, New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia and - legend has it - President George Washington.


Thursday, June 26, 2008

WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS


"The Figure 5 in Gold" by Charles Demuth. William Carlos Williams' poem inspired the 1928 painting.

Williams Carlos Williams, 1883-1963, was a physician and influential American poet whose epic "Paterson'' is considered a personification of and tribute to the city. 

Williams - who practiced at the Passaic General Hospital - penned many other poems, including these lines about an encounter with a
fire engine.



The Great Figure
Among the rain
and lights
I saw the figure 5
in gold
on a red
fire truck
moving
tense
unheeded
to gong clangs
siren howls
and wheels rumbling
through the dark city