ODE TO BILLY COLLINS
Posted by: Gary Niebuhr
I am poetry impaired.
However, there is one poet who I was introduced to who has captivated my heart. I used his poem The Dead in a PowerPoint I put together for my family about the death of my father, and his unknowing contribution to that work never fails to make the whole room cry.
The poet is Billy Collins, a former Poet Laureate of the United States.
His latest collection, Ballistics, continues to impress me with its ability to open avenues of insight without baffling me with the thing about poetry that I often don’t like: poetry.
His poems appear to me to be brilliant short essays with odd formatting. Because he so approachable in his style, he makes poetry a delight.
Besides, what guy couldn’t like that cool cover! Here is a work of poetry that could easily become a great book discussion title. You might have to convince someone to try them, but Collins’ wonderful poems will do the rest of the work.
