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OP As poet laruate of the US Billy Collins has singlehandly turned the direction of contemporary American poetry from psuedo-heavy beat streettalk into a direct and unpretentious poetry that is fun for everyone.
Here is one such from an anthology of short poems compiled by Billy Collins. Not bad, but not the best, but chosen by me because it is about English grammar.
Grammar Lesson
A noun's a thing. A verb's the thing it does.
An adjective is what describes the noun.
In "The can of beets is filled with purple fuzz"
of and with are prepositions. The's
an article. a can's a noun.
a noun's a thing. A verb's the thing it does.
A can can roll- or not. What isn't was
or might be. might meaning not yet known.
"Our can of beets is filled with purple fuzz"
is present tense. While words like our and us
are pronouns- i.e. it is mouldy,they are icky brown.
A noun's a thing. a verb's the thing it does.
is is a helping verb, It helps because
filled isn't a full verb.Can's what our owns
in "Our can of beets is filled with purple fuzz"
See? There's almost nothing to it. Just
memorize these rules...or write them down!
A noun's a thing. a verb's the thing it does.
The can of beets is filled with purple fuzz.
______________________________________ Steve Kowit
Oversimplification of the complex, the poem is still a sweet little plum! Thanks, Milo. I'll have my kids copy it out.
"former poet laureate"
so who is it now?
I'm pretty sure Billy Collins came and read at my school Wednesday. I didn't hear about it, though, until yesterday.
Correction: he's coming this Wednesday.
OP "former poet laureate" so who is it now?
You got me tswum, maybe Billy got a real job and quit.
To replace him I would vote for...
Maverick
Plutarch
Puff Daddy
But not necessarily in that order.
Ted Kooser. And before that, Louise Glück. I'd never heard of either. Read more about it:
http://www.loc.gov/poetry/laureate.html
I love Billy Collins. He sticks out like a breath of fresh air from all the stuffy academic trifle. I saw him present his work at the Geraldine Dodge Poetry Festival a few years back, and it was a delightful and inspiring experience. For all his stature humor is one of his favorite tools, and he uses it liberally throughout his work....he's an academic who keeps the academics down, iof you will.
OP Is there an echo in this room?
That is what I would have said, Whitman, if I had said it.
How's tricks, Whit?
Billy Collins: the PBR of poets.
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