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In the years when I was studying poetry a lot, Billy Collins was one of the great, contemporary poets that I ran into. At the time, he was the American Poet Laureate, which I believe he was able to keep for two years in a row.
What sets Collins apart from just about any other poet, is that he doesn’t take his drama so seriously. He is known because he has taken poetry and given it a humorous touch. Even when he is talking about drama, grief or love, he adds in just a little bit of laughter. It makes a complete turn in how he is able to get his poetry through to the reader.
It’s not just this major technique that sets Collins apart. He is also very good about being a poet for the common man. I know that most of us are turned off by the poets of the past, who tend to talk above what we are used to and that create a space that is difficult to understand. The idea of analyzing poetry probably comes before enjoying poetry for the majority of us.
Collins doesn’t take that idea on. While you can easily analyze his poetry and think about it for a while, and re-read it, you don’t necessarily have to. You can also enjoy it at face value and take it as it is. It’s one of the genius things that he is able to do. His poetry creates a layer of emotions, information and joy that can be understood, no matter where we are at in our lives. That’s what makes him so great.
So, just for your enjoyment… A Billy Collins poem for you to enjoy.
“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 water – ski
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