Lessons of the Line: Charles Simic and me.

This text centers on the author’s early poetic development and mentorship under Charles Simic, a Serbian-American poet and former U.S. Poet Laureate. It explores the author’s engagement with William Carlos Williams’s poem "Young Woman at a Window," contrasting two versions to examine how line breaks affect meaning and reader perception. The narrative details the author’s move from Southern California to New England, her initial encounter with Simic, and their unconventional, rigorous mentorship focused on poetry as a crafted object rather than personal expression. The text also reflects on the author’s limited undergraduate exposure to diverse twentieth-century American poetry and the formative influence of Simic’s philosophy of embracing life’s contradictions through poetry.