for love of billy collins

I was never a poetry person. Sure, I dutifully read my two poems every night, as per Nate Wilson's orders (poor NSA freshmen...we had it so hard). But it was generally out of a sense of obligation or (more to the point) a desire to remain current with my assignments that drove me to the massive volume of poetry at 11:55 pm each night. Aloud, I read them quickly but never truly saying them, never really hearing the sounds bounce off the walls and imprinting the images into my imagination, never savoring the sweet rhythms that lay hidden on every line, just waiting to be enjoyed. That is, until I read Billy Collins. I think it was his poems that made me appreciate poetry, its sounds and smells, its stories and syncopations. And this website just reawakened my love for his works. Ahhhhh.....