Billy Collins is one of the best poets live. While I really like his poetry in books, I love how he reads them. He really connects with his audience. About one poem, he mentioned having read a book about how to write a novel:
"There were lists of do's* and don'ts on facing pages. One of the do's* was 'Do make sure your dialogue matches the accompanying verb.' Some examples of failure to do this were, 'Help me! I'm drowning!' she suggested. Or 'Fuck you!' he explained."
Oh Billy.
He also read one of my new favorites, Hippos on Holiday. I'd heard him read this at AWP this year and really hoped it would be in his new collection, Ballistics. A little bit of it here:
Hippos on Holiday
is not really the title of a movie
but if it was, I would be sure to see it.
I love their short legs and big heads...
Only a mean-spirited reviewer
would ask on holiday from what?
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Mean-spirited reviewer Larry Chumpface has struck once again. His scathing review of smash summer hit "Hippos on Holiday" has left many in the hippo and human community alike furious. "I mean, what is he trying to say, that hippos are lazy? That we don't deserve a holiday?" asks Holly the hippo, remarking on Chumpface's demand to know "On a holiday from what?" Sarah McBranch, a human, says she supports Holly and the other hippos. "I may not be a hippo, but I stand in solidarity with the hippo community in trying to erase these horrible stereotypes." Many have demanded to know, how can Chumpface be so mean-spirited? "Fuck you," Chumpface explained.
PS- I think Billy Collins should be BFF with Michael Levenson.
Oddly enough, Levenson also stands in solidarity with hippos. Hippo lovers are friends forever!
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