What I like about his writing is the way he is able to take everyday objects, situations, and events and bring them to life in a splendidly imaginative way. What we may think of as ordinary, he somehow manages to make them seem extraordinary. Whether he's talking about table settings, animals, events and places of history, friends and relatives, or just getting moving in the morning with a cup of coffee, he gives them meaning beyond mere daily existence.
I've used a few of his poems in sermons I've preached through the years, but I'm not sure I did them justice. However, you can find him on YouTube reciting some of his poetry. I would list for you some of my favorites to read, but the problem is that there are too many to mention.
Here's the thing at least for me: when I need to refresh my perspective on life for the better; when things get too heavy personally, politically and otherwise, I turn to the inspiration of appreciation for everyday reality such as I experience in reading the poetry of Billie Collins.
I realize that not everyone finds poetry that satisfying or interesting. However, hopefully many of us can at least recapture a sense of wonder by occasionally pausing for a moment or two, taking a deep breath, looking around us, and observing that everything is filled with the rich energy of life.
In the room in which I am writing these words, my guitar is but a small reach away waiting for me to pick it up and play; the desk at which I sit provides a cozy center for creativity; the TV is waiting to be turned on to provide news and entertainment should I want such a thing; but that's not all--everything--the books on the shelf, the lamps on the tables, the objects on the dresser, etc.--are all filed with the energy of life because they hold stories of their own to tell.
Now before you think that I have finally lost it and someone needs to come and take me away to a place of rest, I encourage anyone who is experiencing a low spirit to pick up a copy of Billy Collins' poetry or the works of some other poet with an imaginative view of life (Robert Frost is also good for that) and get into a comfortable chair and be healed by renewed appreciation for life and the present moment.
We love Billy Collins... we got to see him give a reading down here in a listener-friendly setting once, years ago; his reading voice sounded to me exactly like I thought it would.
ReplyDelete(Same thing was true of David Sedaris, by the way, in case you don't know him... he's NOT a poet, but a humorist, I guess you'd say. I pretty much always leave a session of reading either of their work in a better frame of mind than when I started.)