I bought the book and read the whole thing in one afternoon. And then I read it again. And again. His poetry is contemporary, moving, funny and sublime. His powerful imagery gently leads you into the world he has created.
Introduction To Poetry
I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide
or press an ear against its hive.
I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,
or walk inside the poem's room
and feel the walls for a light switch.
I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author's name on the shore.
But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.
They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.”
― Billy Collins
I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide
or press an ear against its hive.
I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,
or walk inside the poem's room
and feel the walls for a light switch.
I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author's name on the shore.
But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.
They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.”
― Billy Collins
2 comments:
I can't say there's a lot of poetry in my life - well, this sort, anyway - but that was a cute poem, and it actually evoked images and feelings - and that's what it's supposed to do, right?
That's right, Craig. Every once in a while I get on a poetry writing/reading jag.
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