Purchase
Poems
Random House
September 2008
On Sale: September 9, 2008
128 pages
ISBN: 1400064910
EAN: 9781400064915
Hardcover
Add to Wish List
Fiction Poetry
A Billy Collins poem is instantly recognizable. รขโฌลUsing simple, understandable language,รขโฌย notes USA Today, the two-term U.S. Poet Laureate รขโฌลcaptures ordinary lifeรขโฌโits pleasure, its discontents, its moments of sadness and of joy.รขโฌย 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 subjectsรขโฌโlove, death, solitude, youth, and agingรขโฌโdelving 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 Valรยฉry, 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 oรขโฌโขclock 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.
 Media BuzzDiane Rehm Show - NPR - October 8, 2008
| 
© 2003-2026