Poet Laureate
Read, experience, write.
Billy Collins Poet Laureate —
I recently discovered
Billy Collins:
National Poet Laureate
I love his work:
The soulful
Way he examines
Mundane things.
So,
my heart connects,
Like so many
Millions of others.
I expect this is normal,
This is why he is celebrated so.
But, I don’t know what a
Laureate is.
Nor even
How to spell
It unless
The software helps me out.
But he sells a lot of books.
And the work
Makes me feel
Intelligent, nonetheless.
Good for us both.
Art is supposed
To have that
Effect.
I like the idea of being a poet. Of writing in a terse, rhythmic way that incites emotion in others. In order to do this, according to Mr Collins, is to read a lot of poetry. And that takes time.
And experience. Which, I think at 52, having traveled to 46 of the 50 United States and 3 of the 7 continents, I’m going okay. Still a ways to go, but fearlessly engaging whenever I can is good for a story or twenty. Like, getting nearly-arrested on the Golden Gate Bridge, lost in the north of Ghana, experiencing the absolute lack of light a thousand feet underground in Colorado. Nothing a million other humans hasn’t experienced, but I’m not writing for them. I’m doing it for me.
In the interim, I’ll keep banging out my best efforts and learn via trial by fire and read as much and as often as I can.
