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THE TROUBLE WITH POETRY: AND OTHER POEMS
By: Billy Collins
Playfulness, spare elegance, and wit epitomize the poetry of Billy Collins. With his distinct voice and accessible language, America?s two-term Poet Laureate has opened the door to poetry for countless people for whom it might otherwise remain closed.
Random House
October 2005
112 pages
ISBN: 037550382X
Hardcover
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Fiction Poetry
Like the present bookโs title, Collinsโs poems are filled with mischief, humor, and irony, โPoetry speaks to all people, it is said, but here I would like to address / only those in my own time zoneโโbut also with quiet observation, intense wonder, and a reverence for the everyday: โThe birds are in their trees, / the toast is in the toaster, / and the poets are at their windows. / They are at their windows in every section of the tangerine of earthโthe Chinese poets looking up at the moon, / the American poets gazing out / at the pink and blue ribbons of sunrise.โ Through simple language, Collins shows that good poetry doesnโt have to be obscure or incomprehensible, qualities that are perhaps the real trouble with most โseriousโ poetry: โBy now, it should go without saying / that what the oven is to the baker / and the berry-stained blouse to the drycleaner / so the window is to the poet.โ In this dazzling new collection, his first in three years, Collins explores boyhood, jazz, love, the passage of time, and, of course, writingโthemes familiar to Collinsโs fans but made new here. Gorgeous, funny, and deeply empathetic, Billy Collinsโs poetry is a window through which we see our lives as if for the first time.
 Media BuzzFresh Air - NPR - June 7, 2006
All Things Considered - November 6, 2005
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