I’ve spent time away
that I’ve enjoyed
working and beginning
new things that move me.
And even at the back
of my busy thoughts
interspersed in my
times free of tasks,
was the idea
the longing to
return to here to share:
The sounds of the birds
as they conversed loudly
mellifluously
hidden in the leafy branches
heavily dressed by spring.
The late, rapid sprouting
of my honeysuckle plant,
and all the delightful things
my youngest niece does
as she blossoms excitedly
like the lilies in my backyard.
I’m home to the tell you
of all the big events
that kept my full attention
and the quiet sights
that capture my imagination.
Hopefully you’re still willing
to be my companion
traveling through this marvelous
world we live in.
My apologies for so long away. I’ve begun studying a new computer course and have been making plans to move. Writing on my other blogs and all the while wishing I could catch up to here. I decided to just do it! I hope you like my newest draft.
And I’ve got a few more that I just haven’t been posting. So, since things are settling down (somewhat), I’ll try to get back to some semblance of regular. I hope you’re reading and writing poems with the some of the great communities online. If you’re looking for communities, check out the banners I’ve got in my sidebar, and my poets blog list.
Billy Collins is one of the first poets I lighted on while foraging to find poetry that spoke to me.
In my search to improve my writing, I sought read writers whose writing allowed me to hear their messages. The idea of constantly appealing to others for decoding is not appealing to me. I prefer to read through the lines, sift through my knowledge base, and query the verses.
After reading a few of the poems, I made the happy discovery that it was easy for me to be swept up in his lines-become-the-breeze of relating. And so I figured out that not all poets write to befuddle and confound me into giving up. That was about ten years ago. And I’ve enjoyed reading and hearing his poetry ever since.
Billy Collins’ poems make me work in good ways, to understand his meaning. He tells me about beautiful things and simple treasures in the small moments. And he can make me laugh out loud, like in The Lanyard. His writing draws me in until I’m almost looking through his eyes, and I can see the world with new eyes, and new appreciation.
Below are just a few of his poems I’ve enjoyed, that I was able to find online.
Many of the poems in Collins’ collections are unrhymed, free verse, and are subtly rhythmic. Collins writes accessible poetry. He paints lovely, intricate latticework, detailed and strong enough for readers to cross over to that place where understanding is there for the sharing. Here’s one from The Apple That Astonished Paris.
Etymology
They call Basque an orphan language.
Linguists do not know
what other languages gave it birth.
From the high window of the orphanage
it watches English walking alone to the cemetery
to visit the graves of its parents,
Latin and Anglo-Saxon
Some poetry readers and writers may not appreciate this quality, preferring instead to draw blood from us and themselves. I am of a different ilk. I try not to share my poems that no one else will get except for me and my best friends. I think when a writer publishes, the goal is to impart something comprehensible and meaningful for her and for we readers to share. Billy Collins accomplishes this very well for me. So, I thought I’d say so.
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