BY BILLY COLLINS

I ask them to take a poem

and hold it up to the light

like a color slide

or press an ear against its hive.

I say drop a mouse into a poem

and watch him probe his way out,

or walk inside the poem’s room

and feel the walls for a light switch.

I want them to waterski

across the surface of a poem

waving at the author’s name on the shore.

But all they want to do

is tie the poem to a chair with rope

and torture a confession out of it.

They begin beating it with a hose

to find out what it really means.

This poem convicts teachers and AP students for tearing poems up poems with analysis instead of just enjoying them. Sometimes we need to just enjoy. I once was so anti-test, that I refused to do "prep." Then I realized these test are so important, but this peom reminds me that art is art and should also be enjoyed.

Out of the night that covers me, 

      Black as the pit from pole to pole, 

I thank whatever gods may be 

      For my unconquerable soul. 

In the fell clutch of circumstance 

      I have not winced nor cried aloud. 

Under the bludgeonings of chance 

      My head is bloody, but unbowed. 

Beyond this place of wrath and tears 

      Looms but the Horror of the shade, 

And yet the menace of the years 

      Finds and shall find me unafraid. 

It matters not how strait the gate, 

      How charged with punishments the scroll, 

I am the master of my fate, 

      I am the captain of my soul. 

This poem has so much meaning bedded within it. Last year, as a class, we went through it and wrote an essay about the poem. While doing this we all came up with what we thought the poem meant. To me this poem is about staying strong and pushing through in the hardest times. One reason this poem stuck out to me was because Nelson Mandela said this slew of words is what kept him strong when he was wrongfully put in jail.

 

protested

but not enough, we opposed them but not

 

enough. I was

in my bed, around my bed America

 

was falling: invisible house by invisible house by invisible house.

 

I took a chair outside and watched the sun.

 

In the sixth month

of a disastrous reign in the house of money

 

in the street of money in the city of money in the country of money,

our great country of money, we (forgive us)

 

lived happily during the war.



In this poem, I get the feel that the people in the poem are doing much like people do in the time of war. People will want things to change but do very little if the first to attempts do not succeed. So eventually we learn to live with what our lives have become. 

at every dead deer on the road, as if that braces me, as if I believe
it will protect me from losing anything good.

I can’t stop dreaming I’m hiding

my own prints in the snow, convinced
my mouth is a metal trap, a part of it, apart

from you, & when you pull me awake
it’s because I’m lining my body with burrs,

because I’m antlers & talons & I know

the smell of cedar is home, is a ring of sky
I love, but I can’t take it when

you say Only deer, only hawks.

Why is there nothing wild in you
to explain it, nothing killing; why

This poem basically connects to each of our lives in the scenes that it is describing. From the first line about Indiana to the lines about the dead deer, the hawks, and the smell of cedar, this poem might as well have been written by one of us in this very classroom.

The poem connects to wanting to being ready for anything that can come. The poem shows how important one person can be in the greater scheme of things. Each person can achieve a lot if they are pushed to be their best.

Couldn't bear the buzzing of a fly; 

I hid my love to my despite 

Till I could not bear to look at light: 

I dare not gaze upon her face 

But left her memory in each place; 

Where'er I saw a wild flower lie 

I kissed and bade my love good-bye. 

I met her in the greenest dells, 

Where dewdrops pearl the wood bluebells; 

The lost breeze kissed her bright blue eye, 

The bee kissed and went singing by, 

A sunbeam found a passage there, 

A gold chain round her neck so fair; 

As secret as the wild bee's song 

She lay there all the summer long. 

I hid my love in field and town 

Till e'en the breeze would knock me down; 

The bees seemed singing ballads o'er, 

The fly's bass turned a lion's roar; 

And even silence found a tongue, 

To haunt me all the summer long; 

The riddle nature could not prove 

Was nothing else but secret love. 

I chose this poem in theatre, and I am going to choose it again. This poem speaks to me, because it talks about hidden emotions and love. We all have something hidden and if not then good for you. Hiding something inside and letting it "eat" at you amounts to nothing, and I think that everyone could use that reminder sometimes.

They say that we only live once. 
I don't believe that's true
As we become different people
Depending on what we go through.
From the day that we arrive on earth
We grow, develop and change
So how can we remain as one
When nothing stays the same?
Some people are enchanted by babies 
Seeing magic in all that they do. 
Of course, you also lived as a baby
But that's no longer you. 
Yesterday's you has gone away
But do not mourn for her
For you're all you can be today;
She's just the girl you were. 


This poem reminds me that you do not always have to be the same person. You can grow out of things that you loved before. This makes me feel that you may be something one day, but with hard work you can become a new person later on in life. As a young teen you may have been awkward or not popular, but you can grow out of that and become a different person.

my blood approves,
and kisses are a better fate
than wisdom
lady i swear by all flowers. Don’t cry
—the best gesture of my brain is less than
your eyelids’ flutter which says

we are for each other: then
laugh, leaning back in my arms
for life’s not a paragraph

And death i think is no parenthesis

This poem explains why life should not be lived carefully and by every rule. Living in the moment will always be better than thinking every step through. I know everyone is trying to look perfect for college and scholarships, but this poem reminds us that enjoying life is necessary.

 

From the moment

I started rolling my dad’s tube socks

And shooting imaginary

Game-winning shots

In the Great Western Forum

I knew one thing was real:

I fell in love with you.

A love so deep I gave you my all —

From my mind & body

To my spirit & soul.

As a six-year-old boy

Deeply in love with you

I never saw the end of the tunnel.

I only saw myself

Running out of one.

And so I ran.

I ran up and down every court

After every loose ball for you.

You asked for my hustle

I gave you my heart

Because it came with so much more.

I played through the sweat and hurt

Not because challenge called me

But because YOU called me.

I did everything for YOU

Because that’s what you do

When someone makes you feel as

Alive as you’ve made me feel.

You gave a six-year-old boy his Laker dream

And I’ll always love you for it.

But I can’t love you obsessively for much longer.

This season is all I have left to give.

My heart can take the pounding

My mind can handle the grind

But my body knows it’s time to say goodbye.

And that’s OK.

I’m ready to let you go.

I want you to know now

So we both can savor every moment we have left together.

The good and the bad.

We have given each other

All that we have. 

And we both know, no matter what I do next

I’ll always be that kid

With the rolled up socks

Garbage can in the corner

:05 seconds on the clock

Ball in my hands.

5 … 4 … 3 … 2 … 1

Love you always,

Kobe

This is my favorite poem because it reminds me of my childhood. Me and my brothers all running around shooting trash into a trash can or laundry into a basket, always counting down and taking what we imagined at the game winner and shouting “KOBE!” after every shot. I also love this poem because everytime I hear it i’m reminded of Kobe's career. He was one of the first players I started watching and wanting to be like, going to the backyard or balling up some paper and practicing his fade away. I’ll never forget the sadness I felt when he first released this poem and announced that it would be his last season. His last season I tuned in to as many games as I could, to watch one of my childhood idols and favorite players play his last games. I will never forget Kobe, especially his very last game.  

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

I chose this poem because I used to think I had to follow the crowd to be popular. As I have grown, I have changed my outlook on popularity. I no longer follow the crowd, I now take my own path and the people who join are all I truly need. 

She stood on the bridge 
In silence and fear
For the demons of darkness
Had driven her here

They cut her heart 
Right out of her chest
Making her believe 
That the demons knew best 

They were always there
Sometimes just out of sight
Waiting in the background 
Till the time was right 

These demons were destructive 
Knocking down the life she knew 
Hating everything about her
She hated herself too

These demons can't be seen
But they're far from fairy tales 
They live inside your mind 
Their evilness prevails 

So on the bridge she stood
About to end the fight
Then she stopped and thought
I'll fight them one more night

I picked this poem because I deal with depression and so does everyone else in my family so when I saw this poem it made sense to me and I just connected deeply with it.

Write a nutty poem,

Sing a mumble-gumble song,

Whistle through your comb.

Do a loony-goony dance

‘Cross the kitchen floor,

Put something silly in the world

That ain’t been there before.

I chose this poem because it represents the idea that sometimes one just has to let themselves go. One needs to be creative and bring some good into the world. It is not always about being serious and getting stuff done, sometimes it is about being yourself. If one brings his happiness into the world it could make some else happy too. 

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.


I chose this poem because I too would like to take the road not taken but I typically take the easier route. The road not taken will be more challenging but in the end the risk to reward is far greater than the easier path with no reward.

I chose this poem because it shows the love one can have in a mother. It shows the strength a mother has. My mother is my best friend and as said in the poem, my first love.

‘Tis hard to learn so late;
    It seems no sad heart really learns,
But hopes and trusts and doubts and fears,
    And bleeds and burns.

The night is not all dark,
    Nor is the day all it seems,
But each may bring me this relief—
    My dreams and dreams.

I had not known before
    That Never was so sad a word,
So wrap me in forgetfulness—
     I have not heard.


I chose this poem because it represents the strength of words and shows that words can be incredibly long and sad. It demonstrates that words have a significant amount of power in one's life and can cause many emotions. These particular words, forever and never, are opposites, and, when one does not realize the weight of these words, they can cause a great deal of emotions, in this case, heartbreak

Shame, boy, shame

you carry it around in

your back pocket like

you do with that name, 

name, that they’ve given 

you. you hide it on 

your chest where you 

wear your badge with the

name, name, she gave to you

when she saw it on a sign

and thought it was by design.

your eyes, eyes that she

gave to you, is your name, name

like the body that she gave to

you? is your mother going

to die when she finds out

that when she used to see

the sun, sun in your eyes,

that she was seeing the 

son, son through the

windows to your soul?

does your body belong to

the name, name that you

have made for yourself? 

does it belong to the shame,

shame they can’t read, that 

lives on your face, face?

do you feel the pain, pain, 

that burns when you paint your 

face, face, with all the

colors of the sunset?

doesn’t it hurt to hide your 

dodecahedral face, face,

one for every month of the year?

do you pray for your 

saving grace, grace, for a 

day when you wake up 

and they all understand you?

doesn’t it hurt, hurt

when you know all of

this has to be true?

does it feel like

like you’ve somehow dented

and tarnished your 

name,

name?

can you feel it in your

pain,

pain?

can you hear it in your

name, 

Name?

I chose this poem because it represents one carrying around shame and a tarnished reputation and how one is not affected by carrying around the weight of their shame. And I feel as if it relates to many people because everyone carries around a bit of shame in their pockets.

Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

From what I’ve tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire.

But if it had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

To say that for destruction ice

Is also great

And would suffice. 

I would not say this is my favorite poem, but it is one that I have heard several times. I like the contrast of opposites and that they are both observed without negatively categorizing one or the other.