At a Billy Collins Reading

Billy Collins read his poems
And we all sat there, rapt.
Not everybody has those words
Just waiting to be tapped.

His poetry provides the rungs
So happenings mundane
Can climb a ladder, bringing them
To quite a different plane.

An ordinary thought
Would come to naught in many hands;
Yet Billy Collins molds it
With the magic he commands.

I wonder if the audience
Got sucked into believing
That poems like his are easy – 
Their simplicity’s deceiving.

‘Cause anyone who tries to write
Arrives at one conclusion – 
What looks to be a breeze
Is often simply an illusion.

I paid attention to his thoughts of flow
And then revision;
It made me realize he would view
My poems with some derision.

Yet one thing struck me as I listened,
Though this may not show it –
Just like Billy Collins, 
I can call myself a poet.

			Ilene Bauer
http://primetimerhyme.blogspot.com

Copyright © | Year Posted 2011



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Date: 5/20/2022 4:07:00 PM
ilene, i have recently become a fan of Billy Collins and have enjoyed watching his presentations on youtube... one involved an interview with a group of poetry teachers regarding how to end a poem... delightful! my friend has a subscription to the master class series (perhaps you know her, Laura Leiser) and she has invited our writing group over to watch him teach poetry... very exciting! how thrilled i was to see you had posted this tribute poem back in your early days at soup. you are so right how he holds his audience in rapt attention, though there is one inaccuracy in your poem I must point out... i'm sure he would NOT hold your poetry in derision... i believe he would applaud you as a poetry ambassador and acclaim your uncanny ability to convert so many ordinary events of life into sublime poetry. brava, my friend!
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Date: 8/2/2011 10:02:00 AM
Congratulations on your poetry making it through round one in the PoetrySoup International Poetry contest Ilene. I wish you the best in the final round. Love, Carol
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Date: 5/1/2011 6:08:00 AM
Ilene, congratulations on your wonderful poem being featured this week~~
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Date: 4/28/2011 3:20:00 PM
Hello Ilene, congratulatins on your well-crafted featured poem this week. GBU Ernilando
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Date: 4/27/2011 5:39:00 AM
Congratulations on your well deserved poetry being featured this week Ilene. Love, Carol
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Date: 4/25/2011 8:32:00 AM
Congratulations on your poem being featured this week, ilene
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