Poems Inspired by Billy Collins
#BillyCollins
Poems inspired by the American poet William James Collins (Billy Collins), who was Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 to 2003. Here you'll find poetry using the style or themes found in poems by Billy Collins. Along with poems about Collins himself, including praise and criticism.
PoetsRevenge
Poem Published
29th Feb 2020 4:03am
29th Feb 2020 4:03am
Madmen (Unwritten Truth)
The truth is just art laid bare
in its fastidious museum.
The poems are just the labels for it.
The admission is free, but we
pay it anyway.
I told you how I write poems with wings
then keep them in the cage of my heart
until needed for a just cause.
Even though the world needs my poems,
it will only dissect them with knives
and pound them with hammers;
reduce them to bitter truths.
They won't fly once wounded,
Just flap and stagger in circles.
I swear their portraits will be
hung in museums one day,...
in its fastidious museum.
The poems are just the labels for it.
The admission is free, but we
pay it anyway.
I told you how I write poems with wings
then keep them in the cage of my heart
until needed for a just cause.
Even though the world needs my poems,
it will only dissect them with knives
and pound them with hammers;
reduce them to bitter truths.
They won't fly once wounded,
Just flap and stagger in circles.
I swear their portraits will be
hung in museums one day,...
#WritingPoetry
#BillyCollins
612 reads
8 Comments
Josh
Joshua Bond
Joshua Bond
Poem Published
26th Feb 2020 11:00pm
26th Feb 2020 11:00pm
Recalibration
I do not admit that a great wrong has been done to the Red Indians of America or the black people of Australia . . . by the fact that a stronger race, a higher-grade race . . . has come in and taken their place.” (Winston Churchill, 1937, speaking before the Palestine Royal Commission).
For those who still feel, the world is a tragedy
and it stings in places one wonders
were better left unvisited
but time offers crossed slots of opportunity
where historical pain needs recalibration
when iconic figures are revealed as merely human; ...
For those who still feel, the world is a tragedy
and it stings in places one wonders
were better left unvisited
but time offers crossed slots of opportunity
where historical pain needs recalibration
when iconic figures are revealed as merely human; ...
#conflict
#politics
#historical
#philosophical
#BillyCollins
1155 reads
16 Comments
javalini
Poem Published
16th Feb 2020 3:07pm
16th Feb 2020 3:07pm
Regret (for Billy Collins)
There is this sense of the irony here,
and of subtle humor --
clever twists on universal truths
not producing a so-called horselaugh or even a giggle
but more a smirk of acknowledgment
or maybe a snort or a nod
or just a twinkle in the eye
indicating that yes, we get it and yes, it is funny
especially if one likes his humor
dipping a baby toe in the mildly acidic waters of ironic drollery.
Which is, like it or not, where truth often resides.
Because we might as well accept the slapstick antics
involved in...
and of subtle humor --
clever twists on universal truths
not producing a so-called horselaugh or even a giggle
but more a smirk of acknowledgment
or maybe a snort or a nod
or just a twinkle in the eye
indicating that yes, we get it and yes, it is funny
especially if one likes his humor
dipping a baby toe in the mildly acidic waters of ironic drollery.
Which is, like it or not, where truth often resides.
Because we might as well accept the slapstick antics
involved in...
#funny
#philosophical
#BillyCollins
577 reads
10 Comments
slipalong
Poem Published
16th Feb 2020 1:00pm
16th Feb 2020 1:00pm
Ten to Eleven
As we ran with fleeting chance
like insects, fly from summer's grass
like dogs just let off a lead
dirty hands, and dirty knees
See no danger, pay no heed
lied when I said I cleaned my teeth
tremble as I braved a "dare"
with impish grin and tousled hair
Did my mind just twist the facts
reminisce through hazy cataracts
Just outlines, as we squint the past
was my ten, just that far back
Old photographic remnants, in hand-me downs
refractions of that life in sepia...
like insects, fly from summer's grass
like dogs just let off a lead
dirty hands, and dirty knees
See no danger, pay no heed
lied when I said I cleaned my teeth
tremble as I braved a "dare"
with impish grin and tousled hair
Did my mind just twist the facts
reminisce through hazy cataracts
Just outlines, as we squint the past
was my ten, just that far back
Old photographic remnants, in hand-me downs
refractions of that life in sepia...
#childhood
#BillyCollins
463 reads
4 Comments
Jade-Pandora
jade tiger
jade tiger
Poem Published
14th Feb 2020 10:49am
14th Feb 2020 10:49am
Reading Myself to Sleep in My Hometown of Manhattan
( after Billy Collins )
I look forward to enlightenment as I am about to
retire to a bedroom in a master suite overlooking
the upper Manhattan skyline of lights that remain
burning while I plan to sail in a glorious sendoff.
A snifter of brandy helps to set aside anticipation
of watching fireworks at midnight from forty floors,
to put me on track the choice of leather I’ll read.
A soft swish of diaphanous curtains sway across
from stem to stern with a click by remote control ...
I look forward to enlightenment as I am about to
retire to a bedroom in a master suite overlooking
the upper Manhattan skyline of lights that remain
burning while I plan to sail in a glorious sendoff.
A snifter of brandy helps to set aside anticipation
of watching fireworks at midnight from forty floors,
to put me on track the choice of leather I’ll read.
A soft swish of diaphanous curtains sway across
from stem to stern with a click by remote control ...
#dreams
#city
#books
#sleep
#BillyCollins
674 reads
13 Comments
AspergerPoet56
Poem Published
12th Feb 2020 3:15am
12th Feb 2020 3:15am
Silence
A gathering silence
Thoughts on lips
Silence
Before uttering words
Of no importance
The silence in churches
Before prayers
Silence in the dew drops
That hydrate flower petals
Silence of the birds at night
The breathless silence
Of an athlete before competition
The guilty silence of a sinner
Tranquil silence
Of the falling man
I find silence everywhere
If you would only stop, listen
Random silences of the day
Deeper feeling of silence
In the darkness
...
Thoughts on lips
Silence
Before uttering words
Of no importance
The silence in churches
Before prayers
Silence in the dew drops
That hydrate flower petals
Silence of the birds at night
The breathless silence
Of an athlete before competition
The guilty silence of a sinner
Tranquil silence
Of the falling man
I find silence everywhere
If you would only stop, listen
Random silences of the day
Deeper feeling of silence
In the darkness
...
#WritingPoetry
#nature
#BillyCollins
531 reads
3 Comments
Ahavati
Tams
Tams
Poem Published
12th Feb 2020 00:57am
12th Feb 2020 00:57am
Ploughshare
( After Billy Collins )
Observing an ocean of rain—
so many fishtails, hydroplaning
amid a merriment of muddy streets
reflections quaver under light—
deadwood trash washed out
to the air by waning wind
—commuters, rippling
toward landing places
I press on despite the storm;
its downpour uterin warm
—the alchemy of each breath
a gift terraforming myself—
in the recourse of clouds I realize
every departure is an undergone act—
every step-toward an eternal record ...
Observing an ocean of rain—
so many fishtails, hydroplaning
amid a merriment of muddy streets
reflections quaver under light—
deadwood trash washed out
to the air by waning wind
—commuters, rippling
toward landing places
I press on despite the storm;
its downpour uterin warm
—the alchemy of each breath
a gift terraforming myself—
in the recourse of clouds I realize
every departure is an undergone act—
every step-toward an eternal record ...
#earth
#universe
#spiritual
#philosophical
#BillyCollins
903 reads
9 Comments
Jade-Pandora
jade tiger
jade tiger
Poem Published
3rd Feb 2020 9:34am
3rd Feb 2020 9:34am
Shoveling Snow with Buddha
( after Billy Collins)
He shows up from out of nowhere,
of dazzling blue once the storm passes by.
Approaches with a smile, eyes of crescent moon,
offering a hand of strength and of mirth,
as honest labor of brotherly love.
I could be overthinking an uncommon sight
added to an otherwise common act.
Besides, there’s nothing out of place
when it comes to Winter at this time of year,
with my neighborhood inundated in white powder.
And I don’t question his abbreviated attire,
a...
He shows up from out of nowhere,
of dazzling blue once the storm passes by.
Approaches with a smile, eyes of crescent moon,
offering a hand of strength and of mirth,
as honest labor of brotherly love.
I could be overthinking an uncommon sight
added to an otherwise common act.
Besides, there’s nothing out of place
when it comes to Winter at this time of year,
with my neighborhood inundated in white powder.
And I don’t question his abbreviated attire,
a...
#winter
#Buddhist
#spiritual
#LifeAsAWriter
#BillyCollins
792 reads
19 Comments
DU Poetry : Poems Inspired by Billy Collins
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#BillyCollins is curated by Ahavati (Tams).
