The poets who have written the best poems about war seem to be the poets whose countries have experienced an invasion or vicious dictatorships. Billy Collins countrydictatorshipexperience Change image and share on social
If you write a letter of resignation or something with an agenda, you're simply using a pen to record what you have thought out. In a poem, the pen is more like a flashlight, a Geiger counter, or one of those metal detectors that people walk around beaches with. Billy Collins agendumbeachcounter share on social
I'm a nearly uncontrollable Geoff Dyer fan, who I think is one of the most comically brilliant writers today. Billy Collins brilliantcomicallydyer Change image and share on social
I'm trying to write poems that involve beginning at a known place, and ending up at a slightly different place. I'm trying to take a little journey from one place to another, and it's usually from a realistic place, to a place in the imagination. Billy Collins beginendimagination share on social
I am a nonparticipant of social media. I'm not much attracted to anything that involves the willing forfeiture of privacy and the foregrounding of insignificance. Billy Collins attractforegroundforfeiture Change image and share on social
There are interesting forms of difficulty, and there are unprofitable forms of difficulty. I mean, I enjoy some difficult poetry, but some of it is impenetrable and I actually wouldn't want to penetrate it if I could, perhaps. Billy Collins difficultdifficultyenjoy share on social
I'm a great believer in poetry out of the classroom, in public places, on subways, trains, on cocktail napkins. I'd rather have my poems on the subway than around the seminar table at an MFA program. Billy Collins believerclassroomcocktail Change image and share on social
Poetry is my cheap means of transportation. By the end of the poem the reader should be in a different place from where he started. I would like him to be slightly disoriented at the end, like I drove him outside of town at night and dropped him off in a cornfield. Billy Collins cheapcornfielddisorient share on social
Attempts to put my poems to music have had disastrous results in all cases. And the poem, if it's written with the ear, already has been set to its own verbal music as it was composed. Billy Collins attemptcasecompose Change image and share on social
I learned snails don't have ears. They live in silence. They go slowly. Slowly, slowly in silence. Billy Collins earlearnlive Change image and share on social
