Short Poems With Billy Collins

This week I have been enjoying Billy Collins' anthology of short poems, .Musical Tables.' Short poems possess a jocularity and a touch of everyday life. Their brevity often comes with surprise and delight. Billy Collins presents over one hundred examples of short poetry that glitter and shine with both sad and funny observations of our world.

'Small poems are drastic examples of poetry's way of squeezing large content into tight spaces.'

Billy Collins

When reading 'Musical Tables' I began to think of my own connection to this genre. I have for many years included time for writing this distinct form of poetry which offers opportunity for both humour and reflection. A variety of syllabic forms, limericks, free verse and rhyming couplets have been extensively explored in the making of poetry. I'm with Billy all the way on this.

From an extensive collection I have selected three short poems to share.

Chimes In The Wind

I wonder how the passing breezes

Feel about the wind chimes in our garden

Are they an encumbrance

They would prefer to avoid?

-Blowed if I know…

Alan j Wright.

Cloud Nine

I was lying on my back

In the summer grass

Counting clouds

As they drifted across the sky.

For some unaccountable reason,

-Cloud 9 was unoccupied.

Alan j Wright.

Making Good Choices

Shelley’s poem works

Because he gave his king of kings

The highly commanding name

-Ozymandias.

A name with impact,

Quite unforgettable.

Clearly the poem risked

Falling into obscurity

If Shelley had written

My name is Wally, king of kings.

Alan j Wright.

It is yet again Poetry Friday and our host this week is Ruth Bowen Hersey from -There Is No Such Thing As A God Forsaken Town . Ruth resides in Uganda and the focus of her post is -My world, your world, our world

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