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Poems
Random House
September 2008
On Sale: September 9, 2008
128 pages
ISBN: 1400064910
EAN: 9781400064915
Hardcover
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Fiction Poetry
A Billy Collins poem is instantly recognizable. “Using
simple, understandable language,†notes USA Today, the
two-term U.S. Poet Laureate “captures ordinary life–its
pleasure, its discontents, its moments of sadness and of
joy.†His everyman approach to writing resonates with
readers everywhere and generates fans who would otherwise
never give a poem a second glance. Now, in this stunning new collection, Collins touches on a
greater array of subjects–love, death, solitude, youth, and
aging–delving deeper than ever before. Ballistics comes at
the reader full force with moving and playful takes on life.
Drawing inspiration from the world around him and from such
poetic forebears as Robert Frost, Paul Valéry, and
eleventh-century poet Liu Yung, Collins drolly captures the
essence of an ordinary afternoon: All I do these drawn-out days
is sit in my kitchen at Pheasant Ridge
where there are no pheasants to be seen
and, last time I looked, no ridge. Collins reflects on his solitude: If I lived across the street from myself
and I was sitting in the dark
on the edge of the bed
at five o’clock in the morning, I might be wondering what the light
was doing on in my study at this hour. And he meditates on the effects of love: It turns everything into a symbol
like a storm that breaks loose
in the final chapter of a long novel. And it may add sparkle to a morning,
or deepen a night
when the bed is ringed with fire. As Collins strives to find truth in the smallest detail,
readers are given a fascinating, intimate glimpse into the
heart and soul of a brilliantly thoughtful man and exemplary
poet.
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