billy collins · friday poetry · poetry

Poetry Friday: A Poem by Billy Collins

Stacey Shubitz

I’m still on my Billy Collins kick. This has been going on since Saturday… I’m just loving his work. Here’s one I especially like:

Introduction to Poetry

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.

–Billy Collins

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Published by Stacey Shubitz

Stacey Shubitz is a K-6 literacy consultant and former elementary teacher. She is the author of CRAFT MOVES and other professional books on writing workshop. Her forthcoming book, MAKE THE SCHOOL SYSTEM WORK FOR YOUR CHILD WITH DISABILITIES (Guilford Press, 2026), empowers parents to navigate the special education system.

One thought on “Poetry Friday: A Poem by Billy Collins”

  1. I love this poem. I always use it in my classroom. My students and I love to refer back to the “beating it with a hose” line anytime someone attempts to overanalyze a poem, and we always wave to the author’s name.

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