Introduction to Poetry
Billy Collins
I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide
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,
and watch him probe his way out,
or walk inside the poem's room
and feel the walls for a light switch.
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.
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.
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.
to find out what it really means.
4 comments:
Very interesting. I know nothing about contemporary poetry.
Such a true poem.
Excited for your Poetry Wednesdays.
Sometimes I think art is beaten with a hose, hehe. The other day, I was reading a college professor commenting about recycled paper art with this huge theory about how using a book to make art meant some hidden desire to destroy the written word. Oh geez already! {{EYEROLL}}} xoxo
Oh I like that one! This is going to be fun..... :)
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