Apology by William Carlos Williams

    Why do I write today?
The beauty of
The terrible faces
Of our nonentities
Stirs me to it :

    Colored women
Day workers,
Old and experienced,
Returning home at dusk
In cast-off clothing,
Faces like
Old Florentine oak.

    Also
The set pieces
Of your faces stir me-
Leading citizens :
But not
In the same way.