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Billy Collins
Billy Collins
(22 March 1941 - / New York City)
Poems by Billy Collins : 16 / 52
Introduction To Poetry - Poem by 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.
Poems by Billy Collins : 16 / 52
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Read poems about / on: poem, light, poetry
Poem Submitted: Monday, January 13, 2003
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Edgar Allan Poe
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Caged Bird
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If
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Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening
Robert Frost
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A Dream Within A Dream
Edgar Allan Poe
...dropp a mouse into a poem. Nicely written and well communicated. SYLVA-ONYEMA UBA (Report) Reply
Your poem was amazing (Report) Reply
I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out, Love it. (Report) Reply
Plain diction but rich in metaphor. (Report) Reply
i like this poem a lot good job billy (Report) Reply
Over analysis of anything is never good,
You end up with nothing, understood,
Like a dried out dish, that's overcooked.
This is a striking poem not only for the original images and metaphors but also because of how vividly the poet presents his case. (Report) Reply
Yes, we sometimes, truly struggle with some poems. Still, poet may have a definite objective in his/her mind, when the poem is crafted, like viewing it against light like a slide, or dropping a mouse in to it and watching how it would struggle to get out or finding walls in a room of poem etc. etc. It makes us thinking, indeed. Enjoyed. Thanks for sharing. X (Report) Reply
Funny the ways trying to know a poem.Wonderful write.10 (Report) Reply
That's sad!
They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.
The fate of introduction to poetry. (Report) Reply
Poetry like life cannot always be figured out, sometimes the real beauty is simply in the participating in/with it. (Report) Reply
Such a meaningful poem, Billy.... congrats for being picked...10++++ (Report) Reply
Here Them is the word we have to decipher its targeted category first. Otherwise another mistake we will have to commit again to misjudge the Poet. (Report) Reply
The poem's room! ! Thanks for sharing. (Report) Reply
Brilliantly expressed. Beautiful poem with lofty insight. (Report) Reply
Excellent poem. Hilarious situation.. Best Introduction to Poetry, better than I had when I was still studying the matter at my faculty of letters. Thank you for your subtile humor, which I like very much. Thank you for sharing much sun on a grey day. A TEN for your entertainment of this class, Billy. Regards from Silly, I MEAN Sylvie of course, (Report) Reply
This is so lovely.There is this new collection of poems Soul Etchings. It features a new style and refreshing forms. you can get the poem here goo.gl/KkhYF0 (Report) Reply
This is so lovely. There's a new collection Soul Etchings. It portrays Originality, Style and a refreshing sense of form. These poets may be the futrue of Poetry, you can get the collection here goo.gl/KkhYF0 (Report) Reply
But dear Frank, please need not to go, these poems suffice. Thank you.
tom allport
I agree? every prospective poet should sit an exam and on passing it they would be given a license to practice poetry. (Report) Reply
true sometimes we just have to find the meaning to understand what the poem is about
simply because we write with a motive
thanks for sharing love it.
i invite you to read my new poem. What is poetry to you (Report) Reply
Pretty much sums it up. And then you got people trying to tell everyone what some of this surrealistic type material written by Ashbury and Stevens is all about and none of them can arrive at a concensus. It is nice to see something written in plain English about the subject. (Report) Reply