Quote of the Day:  Poetry is a snapshot of life. Mary Aalgaard. That’s how I think of poetry.

I admire poets. I love reading poetry. In fact, my comfort book is The Music Lover’s Poetry Anthology. I like to read before I go to sleep, but sometimes, I’m too sleepy to read a chapter, or barely a page of a novel, so I read a poem which fills my emotional and imaginative needs, then quickly drift off to sleep. Of course, picture books are filled with poetry, and lyrics to any song are poems. So, daily, I experience poetry. It’s the rhythm and sound which speak to my soul.

Billy Collins, book signing at CLC in Brainerd, MN Photo by Krista Rolfzen Soukup

Billy Collins, book signing at CLC in Brainerd, MN, his books sold out!
Photo by Krista Rolfzen Soukup

Some people think that poetry is boring, something you read only in English class that you barely understood. Billy Collins would argue that if you think that, then you’re not really reading poetry. And, yes, there are plenty of long, dreary poems out there. Just like some songs/styles appeal to one person over another, so it is with poetry. Because the beauty of a poem is that it can be about anything. And, guess what, it can be humorous! I’m not kidding. If you were in the audience on Tuesday at noon, listening, along with all the others who packed the house, you would have laughed out loud, like I did, like they did, and been truly delighted and entertained by the whole affair. His poem called “Dog” cracked us all up. Told from the dead dog’s perspective with a line “You always scratched me in the wrong place.” He has a great one on “Forgetfulness” and eating a peach with a humorous nod at T.S. Eliot.

Billy Collins, Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001-03,  is also a jazz pianist and poet comedian. (I marked his poem, Nightclub as one of my favorites in the poetry anthology.) He’s one of a kind, unique, and filled with a spark for life that he brings to light in his poems. And, really, in our world of short attention spans, why wouldn’t poetry be more popular. It doesn’t take that long to read a poem. They’re more fun when shared with a friend, and you might even get a new perspective on life and the objects that fill it!

Thank you, Mr. Collins, for filling our little spot on the globe with your wit and words.

Go. Create. Inspire!

Journaling Prompt:  Write a funny poem.