Poetry 180: A Turning Back to Poetry

Billy Collins' purpose was perfectly met with this collection of "readable" poetry. He says in the introduction that poetry is hard enough to write...why should it be hard to read? I totally agree with him. Good poetry is not poetry that is obscure with "hidden" meaning...it is poetry that I can relate to..poetry that makes my heart do a little dance. These poems in Poetry 180 do just that. "No. 6" is the poem that has my name on it...and I never ever get tired of reading it. Get this book and pick out "your" poem. If you're sick of poetry that means nothing to you and makes you feel illiterate and dumb...this anthology will give you all the poems you've wished you could find.

Billy Collins accomplishes exactly what he said he would with this anthology: make modern poetry accessible and enjoyable to modern readers, particularly those without a previous bent toward poetry. "Poetry 180" is simultaneously lighthearted and poignant. I've paged through this book, skipping poems that look boring, only to open it again the next day and fall in love with one of the pages I skipped. Collins, thankfully, avoids poetry that does nothing more than play with language, trudging through the muck of flimsy abstractions to bring his readers the diamonds in the modern rough. Most of his picks are gems, and the poetry-lover cannot go wrong with this volume.

In the introduction, Billy Collins while on a reading tour, stops off at a high school for their Poetry Day. There he is given a copy of the school paper in which a student had written an article about modern poetry. To paraphrase: "Whenever I read modern poetry, I feel like my brother has his foot on my neck at the bottom of a pool" According to the intro., this book would like to make reading poetry more "reader friendly". Whether the story is true or not, Collins succeeds in his goalAmerica's High Poet, Collins, handpicked these selections from such modern masters as Rimbauld, Simic, Salter, Olds, Luz and Levine. Also catching my eye is a superbly sentimental piece entitled "Dead Dog" by John Updike. Collins, often chided and applauded for his simple, open poetry picks his selection along the same vein. This makes Poetry 180 a delightful breeze, a book that keeps your attention and a superbly well rounded work. As a reader I was not left gasping for air, but instead searching for more complete works by some of these fine writers.

I enjoyed the poems in this book very much. It is impossible to pick a favorite, because I loved them all. I really enjoy reading poems about different human experiences. Poetry 180 is filled with almost every human emotion. I loved the poem entitled Love Poem 1990. It is about a man falling in love at different stages in his life from childhood to old age and how he feels about it. Another one of my favorite poems is entitled May. It is about the painful experience of putting a dog to sleep. The Green One Over There is a wonderful but sad poem about the relationship between a sister and a brother. I could really relate to the way siblings compete as described in this poem. The subject matter of the poems in this book are diverse. I never knew a subject could evoke such emotion. One of these poems is entitled What Would I Do. It is an insightful poem about what a husband would do if his wife cheated on him. The Quest is a excellent poem about a mother's fear that her daughter will be hurt and the extent she would take to protect her.I was drawn to some of these poems because of the title. I loved the titles Vegetarian Physics, The Poem of Chalk, 1-800 Hot Ribs, and The Grammar Lesson. These are humorous and descriptive poems I could read over and over just for a laugh. My appreciation for poetry has increased so much. I loved this book.

The premise of this anthology is a poem a day for high school reading, or I might think for a high school reader. It is a wonderful little text. The works are neither simplistic nor obscure and cover the broad range in style and subject of contemporary poetry. Be advised, not all of them are "new" works, and not all important contemporary writers are represented:(Some of the BIG big names are not here). Still, for anyone wanting to develop familiarity with what has been going on in the world of poetry there is a lot of pleasure at a reasonable price.I rather like the idea that there is no obvious agenda here, nor any pretense of "the best." Readability seems to be the standard. It is a book for a bus-stop, or the short ride home. It is light and easily portable. I can envision a poem over breakfast, or one to conclude an evening of study. Along those lines, the print is nicely laid out; it's the sort of book that I can read without my specs - after all my discovery of poetry in high-school was decades ago.