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 was born in 1941 and grew up in Queens, New York. He became a professor of English at Lehman College in the Bronx in 1968, and taught there for over thirty years. Now, he teaches poetry workshops both nationally and internationally. Billy Collins held the title of Poet Laureate from 2001 to 2003. **

In “Introduction to Poetry,” Billy Collins expresses his frustration with teaching the process of writing poetry. His students do not seem to grasp the creative process correctly. Billy Collins uses this poem as a way to both express his frustration and demonstrate what proper creative poetry sounds like.

Many people who want to write poetry have a preconceived notion of how the poem should look and sound or what specific message they want to convey. Although this sounds like a good idea, it often becomes forced and ruins the poem. I believe this poem preaches the necessity of honesty in writing poetry. In “Introduction to Poetry,” Billy Collins explains that in order to write a good poem, a writer cannot  “tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.” He means to say that the creative writing process should not be forced- otherwise, it is a fair indication that the author is doing something wrong. There should be no challenge to “find out what [the poem] really means” if the author is writing honestly. The writer must open his mind and allow the ideas to flow out naturally into the poem, rather than manipulate them to fit a preconception.

Instead of trying to jam the poem into a certain mold, Billy Collins suggests letting the poem take on its own form. He gives various ideas of how to stir up some genuine imagination such as dropping a mouse into the poem, waterskiing across the surface of the poem, and feeling the walls of the poem for a light switch. I find it very clever that Collins preaches the importance of creativity and allowing a poem to take on its natural form by incorporating several absurd ideas of what to do to a poem himself. He somewhat personifies the poem in question by suggesting that his students do physical actions to it, as if the words and concepts of a poem are tangible. This demonstrates the creativity that he claims is missing in his students’ work.

It is difficult to say without having talked to Billy Collins, but I would venture to assume that he does not usually know how his poetry will turn out. He may start with an idea that, by the end, has completely transformed into something else. I think the fleeting nature of poetry as Collins suggests sounds somewhat frustrating, but it could also be part of the magic involved in the creative process. People are accustomed to being in control at all times; I think it would be cathartic to allow the brain to take the backseat and have creativity guide the way.

**Read more of Billy Collins’ poetry here.