We saw the poet Billy Collins last night at the new Union South Building at the University of Wisconsin.
I usually drink at poetry readings so that I can concentrate and make sense out of what's being read and said. Last night I simply sat in silence.
Billy Collins is a gentlemanly poet; soft spoken, considerate, wry. With a quiet, calm voice , he read us mostly short, humorous, elegant pieces . I felt something beautiful happen in my head and heart at the same time. Words as butterflies, ghosts........
“One of the things I do love about poetry is that you can mix the serious and the silly,” he said.
Where a poem ends up is also something Collins experiments with in his works. He said one reason that people find poetry difficult is the action that happens from the beginning to the end and how stable it is.
“Many of the poems start out kind of straightforwardly and try to go somewhere,” he said. “And where they try to go is a less clear place, a less stable place — stuff like that interests me.”
( Quote courtesy of Wisconsin Badger newspaper)
Billy Collins Reads from 'The Lanyard' by FORAtv
I usually drink at poetry readings so that I can concentrate and make sense out of what's being read and said. Last night I simply sat in silence.
Billy Collins is a gentlemanly poet; soft spoken, considerate, wry. With a quiet, calm voice , he read us mostly short, humorous, elegant pieces . I felt something beautiful happen in my head and heart at the same time. Words as butterflies, ghosts........
“One of the things I do love about poetry is that you can mix the serious and the silly,” he said.
Where a poem ends up is also something Collins experiments with in his works. He said one reason that people find poetry difficult is the action that happens from the beginning to the end and how stable it is.
“Many of the poems start out kind of straightforwardly and try to go somewhere,” he said. “And where they try to go is a less clear place, a less stable place — stuff like that interests me.”
( Quote courtesy of Wisconsin Badger newspaper)
Billy Collins Reads from 'The Lanyard' by FORAtv
Comments