{"product_id":"the-trouble-with-poetry-and-other-poems","title":"The Trouble with Poetry: And Other Poems","description":"Playfulness, spare elegance, and wit epitomize the poetry of Billy Collins.\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003eWith his distinct voice and accessible language, America's two-term Poet Laureate has opened the door to poetry for countless people for whom it might otherwise remain closed. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eLike the present book's title, Collins's poems are filled with mischief, humor, and irony, \"Poetry speaks to all people, it is said, but here I would like to address \/ only those in my own time zone\"-but also with quiet observation, intense wonder, and a reverence for the everyday: \"The birds are in their trees, \/ the toast is in the toaster, \/ and the poets are at their windows. \/ They are at their windows in every section of the tangerine of earth-the Chinese poets looking up at the moon, \/ the American poets gazing out \/ at the pink and blue ribbons of sunrise.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThrough simple language, Collins shows that good poetry doesn't have to be obscure or incomprehensible, qualities that are perhaps the real trouble with most \"serious\" poetry: \"By now, it should go without saying \/ that what the oven is to the baker \/ and the berry-stained blouse to the drycleaner \/ so the window is to the poet.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn this dazzling new collection, his first in three years, Collins explores boyhood, jazz, love, the passage of time, and, of course, writing-themes familiar to Collins's fans but made new here. Gorgeous, funny, and deeply empathetic, Billy Collins's poetry is a window through which we see our lives as if for the first time.\r","brand":"Billy Collins","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44445124067564,"sku":"9780375755217","price":16.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/1791\/3068\/files\/9780375755217.jpg?v=1719129095","url":"https:\/\/allstora.com\/products\/the-trouble-with-poetry-and-other-poems","provider":"Allstora","version":"1.0","type":"link"}