Poet: Billy Collins

I discovered him very recently, but I'm already quite delighted!

Embrace

You know the parlor trick.

wrap your arms around your own body

and from the back it looks like

someone is embracing you

her hands grasping your shirt

her fingernails teasing your neck

from the front it is another story

you never looked so alone

your crossed elbows and screwy grin

you could be waiting for a tailor

to fit you with a straight jacket

one that would hold you really tight.

---

On Turning Ten

The whole idea of it makes me feel

like I'm coming down with something,

something worse than any stomach ache

or the headaches I get from reading in bad light--

a kind of measles of the spirit,

a mumps of the psyche,

a disfiguring chicken pox of the soul.

You tell me it is too early to be looking back,

but that is because you have forgotten

the perfect simplicity of being one

and the beautiful complexity introduced by two.

But I can lie on my bed and remember every digit.

At four I was an Arabian wizard.

I could make myself invisible

by drinking a glass of milk a certain way.

At seven I was a soldier, at nine a prince.

But now I am mostly at the window

watching the late afternoon light.

Back then it never fell so solemnly

against the side of my tree house,

and my bicycle never leaned against the garage

as it does today,

all the dark blue speed drained out of it.

This is the beginning of sadness, I say to myself,

as I walk through the universe in my sneakers.

It is time to say good-bye to my imaginary friends,

time to turn the first big number.

It seems only yesterday I used to believe

there was nothing under my skin but light.

If you cut me I could shine.

But now when I fall upon the sidewalks of life,

I skin my knees. I bleed.

---

I'm excited to post this Author in particular because he uses simple language and universal themes that any reader can resonate with, with ease. For example the first poem Embrace has such succinct wording; it's a reference to a funny modern thing. However, by the end of the single stanza we feel weirdly affected and moved by his acknowledgement of human loneliness.

If you liked these poems, I'd highly recommend checking out the following poems-

I Go Back To The House For A Book and The Art Of Drowning explore the concepts of time and death with the perfect mix of Beige and Purple writing. (or so I think, let me know your thoughts and opinions)

Do you like this series?

• Yep, keep 'em coming!
• No, I prefer the Originals
• Maybe, with some tweaks?

Toodles!