A new year has come and I have curiously found myself addressing poetry in the same respect as the former semester: with an "Introduction to Poetry" from Billy Collins. I read the same lines, I notice the same themes, but this time, the poem is different. What has changed? I am older, more versed in literature, more poetically aware, so to speak. No longer is my instructor holding my hand and walking me through meaning. I'm not beating it with a hose either. Poetry isn't a solitary interrogation--it's a conversation. With new beginnings, I am capable of asking the poem for reason, following the point of a fiber optic, being lead to importance and meaning.
Billy Collins addresses the 'normal' approach to poetry with disgust and contempt. Voicing his requests politely and in sequence, each a symbol of respect for poetry. Then he labels the bad readers. "Them." An ominous pronoun. "they begin beating it with a hose...." Collins characterized the unnamed readers as criminals.
Truly a new beginning, this semester looks bright.
Love this! I thought it would be fun to revisit this poem mid-year. :)
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