My favorite modern-day poet is Billy Collins, former U.S. poet laureate (2001 – 2003).His work continues to astound me, at every turn.
Reading him has revolutionized my own poetic endeavors, I must admit. I just think he is fantastically good.
I am currently in the midst of reading his latest collection (2005) entitled The Trouble With Poetry.
Here is an excerpt, (just a portion of the whole) from his poem The Long Day. I just love this whimsical moment, when the poet closes his eyes, and imagines....
I closed my eyes and thought
about the alphabet,
the letters filing out of the halls of kindergarten
to become literature.
if the British call z zed,
I wondered, why not call b bed and d dead?
And why does z, which looks like
the fastest letter, come at the very end?
unless they are all moving east
when we are facing north in our chairs.
-- Billy Collins --
Have a great Friday!
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