Introduction to Poetry

Kris has an assignment for Wednesday, she needs to pick out a poem, any poem, and write a little something about it. Up until a few years ago, I wasn't one for poetry. The stuff I remember reading always annoyed me. The meanings were locked up inside the words and I could never crack em. A frustrating experience. Maybe you feel the same way?

I happened to pick up a copy of "Sailing Alone Around the Room" by Billy Collins at the Gotham Book Store in Manhattan. I read a few lovely little poems and—this is freakish—I understood every word. I got to appreciate the beautiful subtleties of language. The precision. The rhythm. Basically, I was introduced to a new art form, which made no sense before then.

I'd like to thank Mr. Collins for becoming my gateway poet. Based on his simple poems, I have worked my way up to a wider array of poets, though some still annoy me. Anyway, in the spirit of Kris' assignment, I've chosen a poem for you by Mr. Collins. Hope he doesn't mind me republishing without permission.

Introduction to Poetry
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.