I offer the following poem to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of National Poetry Month.
After Billy Collins
by Martin H. Levinson
Kudos to those
heroically manning
the ramparts of
accessible verse,
for clarity is courage
and efforts to convey
lyric thought with
coherent invention
and sharp intention
is a godsend, like
Billy Collins who says
poetry fills him with joy,
leading him to rise like
a feather in the wind,
and poetry fills him with
sorrow, leading him to
sink like a chain flung
from a bridge, and the
trouble with poetry is
it encourages the writing
of more poetry, which
is a problem I
can relate to.
