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Author: COLLINS, BILLY Matches Found: 421 Collins, Billy Poet's Biography 421 poems available by this author A HISTORY OF WEATHER Poem Text First Line: It is the kind of spring morning - candid sunlight Subject(s): Weather A NIGHT ON EARTH First Line: I got home late and drank most Subject(s): Dreams; Life; Night; Nightmares; Bedtime A PORTRAIT OF THE READER WITH A BOWL OF CEREAL Poem Text First Line: Every morning I sit across from you Subject(s): Breakfast A SENSE OF PLACE Poem Text First Line: If things happened differently ABSENCE First Line: This morning as low clouds %skidded over the spires of the city Last Line: The moves I was making him do %over and over in my palm ADVICE TO A NIGHTWALKER First Line: You do not want to linger on a bridge engulfed in fog Last Line: And take courage from their songs, %their brave, spirited anthems ADVICE TO WRITERS First Line: Even if it keeps you up all night AFTER First Line: It occurred to me this evening Last Line: The same dark, star-troubled sky AFTER THE STORM First Line: Soft yellow-gray light of early morning Last Line: To lie down beside us in our dark and quiet beds AFTERLIFE First Line: While you are preparing for sleep, brushing your teeth Last Line: And stand at a window examining the winter trees, %every branch traces with the ghost writing of sno AFTERNOON WITH IRISH COWS First Line: There were a few dozen who occupied the field Last Line: Above the wall with one wild, shocking eye AIMLESS LOVE Poem Text First Line: This morning as I walked along the lake shore AIMLESS LOVE First Line: This morning as I walked along the lake shore Last Line: And caught the scent of lavender and stone AMERICAN SONNET Poem Text First Line: We do not speak like petrarch or wear a hat like spenser Subject(s): Poetry & Poets AMERICAN SONNET First Line: We do not speak like petrarch or wear a hat like spenser Last Line: A few square inches of where we have strayed %and a compression of what we feel AND HIS SEXTET First Line: Now that all the twilight has seeped Last Line: On october 4th, 1951 ANOTHER REASON I DON'T KEEP A GUN IN THE HOUSE Recitation Subject(s): Dogs ANOTHER REASON WHY I DON'T KEEP A GUN IN THE HOUSE First Line: The neighbors' dog will not stop barking Last Line: That endless coda that first established %beethoven as an innovative genius APRIL First Line: I never bought the notion Last Line: And let all the birds fly out of my body ARISTOTLE Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: This is the beginning Subject(s): Poetry & Poets; Aristotle (384-322 B.c.) ARISTOTLE First Line: This is the beginning Last Line: A hat on a peg, and outside the cabin, falling leaves ART First Line: The way you leaned against me Last Line: That lets them, without exertion, slip back down ART OF DROWNING First Line: I wonder how it all got started, this business Last Line: The surface, now overrun with the high travel of clouds AXIOM First Line: And the two are braided together Last Line: Feeling every ton %as they add more to the pile Variant Title(s): Aphoris BAR TIME Poem Text First Line: In keeping with universal saloon practice Last Line: The late edition like a flag in his pocket Subject(s): Bars & Bartenders; Pubs; Taverns; Saloons BAR TIME First Line: In keeping with universal saloon practice Last Line: The late edition like a flag in his pocket Subject(s): Bars And Bartenders BEREFT Poem Text First Line: I liked listening to you today at lunch Last Line: The sound of the newcomers weeping Subject(s): Death; Mourning BEST CIGARETTE First Line: There are many that I miss Last Line: Pointed down at all the words in parallel lines BIOGRAPHY OF A CLOUD First Line: It would have been easier to follow johnson Last Line: And feel the sun, warm and intermittent, on my face BIRDS OF AMERICA First Line: Early this morning Last Line: And fly alongside you BIRTHDAY First Line: Before it was over %I took out a pencil and a notepad Last Line: Introduction and notes by one angus ross BLOCK First Line: The way to get through the block is to write about the block Last Line: Pointing ahead to where the gulf stream was running BLUE First Line: You can have egypt and nantucket BLUES First Line: Much of what is said here Last Line: But that woman's sure going to make you cry BONSAI First Line: All it takes is one to throw a room Last Line: On her annual, thousand-mile journey BOOKS Poem Text First Line: From the heart of this dark evacuated campus Subject(s): Books & Reading BOOKS First Line: From the heart of this dark, evacuated campus BOYHOOD Poem Text First Line: Alone in the basement Subject(s): Childhood Memories BREATHLESS Poem Text First Line: Some like the mountains some like the seashore Last Line: And no dreams to frighten me anymore Subject(s): Death; Sleep; Dead, The BREATHLESS First Line: Some like the mountains some like the seashore Last Line: The roots of trees inching nearer %dream after dream parading slowly by Subject(s): Death; Sleep BROOKLYN MUSEUM OF ART First Line: I will now step over the soft velvet rope BUDAPEST First Line: My pen moves along the page Last Line: While I gaze out the window and imagine budapest %or some other city where I have never been BY A SWIMMING POOL OUTSIDE SIRACUSA Poem Text First Line: All afternoon I have been struggling Subject(s): Language; Words; Vocabulary BY A SWIMMING POOL OUTSIDE SYRACUSA First Line: All afternoon I have been struggling Last Line: At this special time of day, or as we say in america, now CANADA Poem Text First Line: I am writing this on a strip of white birch bark Subject(s): Canada; Canadians CANADA First Line: I am writing this on a strip of white birch bark Last Line: And one of them, the taller one minus the straw hat, is me CANCER First Line: When you need to say the word CANDLE HAT First Line: In most self-portraits it is the face that dominates CELEBRATION First Line: The day we walked side by side Last Line: Maybe a national holiday in some faraway country CENTER First Line: At the first chink of sunrise Last Line: As wide awake as I will ever be CHEERS Poem Text First Line: Already tonight: I have lifted my glass to jackie CHEERS First Line: Already tonight I have lifted my glass to jackie Last Line: Here's to the wind blowing against this lighted house %and to the vast windless spaces between the s CHILD DEVELOPMENT Poem Text Recitation First Line: As sure as prehistoric fish grew legs Subject(s): Children; Childhood CHILD DEVELOPMENT First Line: As sure as prehistoric fish grew legs CITY OF TOMORROW First Line: No matter which illustrator was called on Last Line: Waiting for the climbers of the future to seek them out CLASS PICTURE Poem Text First Line: I am the third one Subject(s): School CLICHE First Line: My life is an open book. It lies here Last Line: And, always the student, make an asterick, a little star, in the margin COME RUNNING First Line: I spot the neighbor's dog scampering across the lawn Last Line: Hands cupped around her mouth, calling my name, %and I will leap the hedge and come running CONSOLATION Poem Text First Line: How agreeable it is not to be touring italy this summer Last Line: A road that will never lead to rome, not even bologna Subject(s): Play CONSOLATION First Line: How agreeable it is not to be touring italy this summer Last Line: Down a road that will never lead to rome, not even bologna Subject(s): Play CONSTELLATIONS First Line: Yes, that's orion over there Last Line: The outline of the paddle, raised and dripping stars? CONVERSATIONAL ITALIAN First Line: It seems the only reason I have come to italy Last Line: I have lost the key. %look! There's the runway! Subject(s): Italy; Travel CONVERSION First Line: I would like to spend the day on the slope Last Line: Flicker on the low ceiling and the walls of stone CREATURES Poem Text First Line: Hamlet noticed them in the shapes of clouds, CREATURES First Line: Hamlet noticed them in the shapes of clouds Last Line: And stop bothering innocent beachgoers like us, %stop ruining everyone's summer DANCING TOWARD BETHLEHEM Poem Text First Line: With surplice and cassock, cruet, thurible and candle DANCING TOWARD BETHLEHEM First Line: If there is only enough time in the final Last Line: And all our attention devoted to humming %whatever it was they were playing DAYS Poem Text First Line: Each one is a gift, no doubt DAYS First Line: Each one is a gift, no doubt Last Line: Place this cup on yesterday's saucer %without the slightest clink DEAD First Line: The dead are always looking down on us, they say Last Line: Which makes them lift their oars fall silent %and wait, likeparents, for us to close our eyes DEAR READER Poem Text First Line: Baudelaire sees you as his brother Subject(s): Writing & Writers DEAR READER First Line: Baudelaire considers you his brother Last Line: Of a road we can't help traveling together DEATH First Line: In the good old days news of it travelled by foot Last Line: Ready to summon you, ready to fall from your hand DEATH BEDS First Line: The ancients were talkative on theirs Last Line: And pick out the dot of a hawk lost in the blue DEATH OF ALLEGORY First Line: I am wondering what became of all those tall abstractions Last Line: The one that winds up a green hillside and disappears %into an unseen valley where everyone must be DEATH OF THE HAT First Line: Once every man wore a hat Last Line: A lighter one of cloud and sky -- a hat of wind DEATHBEDS Poem Text First Line: The ancients were talkative on theirs Subject(s): Death; Dead, The DESIGN Poem Text First Line: I pour a coating of salt on the table DESIGN First Line: I pour a coating of salt on the table Last Line: Touching my finger to my tongue DESIRE First Line: It would be easier to compile an encyclopedia DHARMA Poem Text First Line: The way the dog trots out the front door Subject(s): Dogs DHARMA First Line: The way the dog trots out the front door Last Line: If only I were not her god DIRECTIONS First Line: You know the brick path in back of the house Last Line: Piercing the ground with your stick DISCOVERY OF SCAT First Line: Long before dizzy, %high on the rising tower at babel Last Line: And said something %that sounded like %bop ah dooolyah bop DOG Poem Text First Line: I can hear him out in the kitchen Last Line: Like a strange naked hermit in a cave Subject(s): Animals; Dogs DOG First Line: I can hear him out in the kitchen Last Line: His tongue hidden in his long mouth %like a strange naked hermit in a cave Subject(s): Animals; Dogs DRAWING CLASS First Line: If you ever asked me %how my drawing classes are going Last Line: And placed beside a luminous morning window DREAM First Line: Last night I labored in a cold scriptorium Last Line: Turning the pages of the morning paper DRIVING MYSELF TO A POETRY READING First Line: Halfway there I pull on the headlights Last Line: And begin singing every song it ever knew DRIVING THROUGH THE LIGHT First Line: I woke up in the dark this morning Last Line: And about the long watery body of that nameless swimmer DRIVING WITH ANIMALS First Line: I drive this road that whips through woods at night DUCK/RABBIT First Line: The lamb may lie down with the lion Last Line: And never see the two of us together EARTHLING First Line: You have probably come across Last Line: A respectful distance from the sun. EGYPT First Line: Alone under the bright swords of sunlight Last Line: And sweeps the sand from my face with her delicate brush ELK RIVER FALLS Poem Text First Line: Is where the elk river falls Subject(s): Waterfalls ELK RIVER FALLS First Line: Is where the elk river falls Last Line: Then feels the sudden sting of salt EMBRACE Poem Text Recitation First Line: You know the parlor trick EMBRACE First Line: You know the parlor trick Last Line: To fit you for a straitjacket, %one that would hold you really tight END OF THE WORLD First Line: It is a subject so profound I feel I should Last Line: We will behold the starry-eyed messiah of the night ENDANGERED First Line: It is so quiet on the shore of this motionless lake Last Line: The ultimate paddling of ducks and pitying of turtledoves %and, his bell tolling in the distance, th ENGLISH COUNTRY HOUS First Line: I pass under the arched entrance to my hedge-maze Last Line: I remember them all as I stand here in the dark green %center ETYMOLOGY First Line: They call basque an orphan language EVENING SHOWER First Line: Here I am alone at last Last Line: And all the piercing winters yet to come EXPLORING THE COAST OF BIRDLAND First Line: This time it wasn't a sea gull landing on a spar Last Line: Shining, along the borders of my dark goatee FEEDBACK Recitation by Author FIELD GUIDE Poem Text First Line: No one I ask knows the name of the flower Subject(s): Wisteria FIELD GUIDE First Line: No one I ask knows the name of the flower Last Line: Then, ad if he were giving me the time of day, a passenger %looks up from his magazine and says wist FIFTIETH BIRTHDAY EVE Poem Text First Line: The figure alone is enough to keep me awake Subject(s): Middle Age FIFTIETH BIRTHDAY EVE First Line: The figure alone is enough to keep me wide awake Last Line: That is cutting silently across the dark sky FIRST DREAM First Line: The wind is ghosting around the house tonight Last Line: To ever fall in love with the sadness of another FIRST GEIUSSES First Line: It is so early almost nothing has happened Last Line: Not the whereabouts of north or the notion of zero %not even how to sharpen a stone to a deadly poin FIRST LINE OF A POEM First Line: Before it flutters into my mouth Last Line: The color of his thread FIRST READER Poem Text First Line: I can see them standing politely on the wide pages Subject(s): Books & Reading FIRST READER First Line: I can see them standing politely in the wide pages Last Line: Alphabetical ourselves in the rows of classroom desks, %we were forgetting how to look, learning how FISHING ON THE SUSQUEHANNA IN JULY Poem Text First Line: I have never been fishing on the susquehanna Subject(s): Home FIVE FONDLY REMEMBERED PASSAGES FROM MY CHILDHOOD READING First Line: When they had inched about as close as they dared, they crouched Last Line: Delicate china tea things FLAMES First Line: Smokey the bear heads FLOCK First Line: I can see them squeezed into a holding pen Last Line: One of the few things they already know FLYING THROUGH CLOUDS First Line: Harder for me to understand than calculus Last Line: About the ultimate purpose of life on earth Subject(s): Clouds; Earth FLYING TO A FUNERAL First Line: A realm of the visible world rolls below FORGETFULNESS Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: The name of the author is the first to go Subject(s): Aging FORGETFULNESS First Line: The name of the author is the first to go Last Line: No wonder the moon in the window seems to have drifted %out of a love poem that you used to know by FORSYTHIA Poem Text First Line: It caught my eye a while ago, lit up Subject(s): Flowers FORSYTHIA First Line: It caught my eye a while ago, lit up Last Line: And hear the sound of yellow fill the morning air FRANKENSTEIN POET First Line: Pursued by the mob of townspeople FUR First Line: The night is full of the bulldog policemen GENIUS Poem Text First Line: Was what they called you in high school Subject(s): Genius GENIUS First Line: Was what they called you in high school Last Line: Me with my head up in the light morning breeze GENIUS First Line: Is standing at a stove in a bathrobe Last Line: Which is slowly taking the shape %of an astonishing idea GOING OUT FOR CIGARETTES Poem Text First Line: It's a story as famous as the three little pigs Last Line: Downstream, and its upturned reflection in the water Subject(s): Alienation (social Psychology); Dissenters; Exiles; Marginality, Social; Estrangement; Outcasts GOING OUT FOR CIGARETTES First Line: It's a story as famous as the three little pigs Last Line: Nothing but the arc of the stone bridge he notices %downstream, and its upturned reflection in the w Subject(s): Alienation (social Psychology); Dissenters; Exiles; Marginality, Social GRAVE Recitation by Author Subject(s): Graves; Parents; Tombs; Tombstones; Parenthood GREAT WALTER PATER First Line: In the middle of the formal gardens Last Line: Under a smooth, translucent sheet of ice HART CRANE First Line: This time when I think of his leap HER Poem Text First Line: There is no noisier place than the suburbs, Subject(s): Suburbs HERE, THERE, AND ELSEWHERE First Line: This late afternoon landscape in perigord Last Line: Never to be seen in such exact secluded light Subject(s): Landscape HIGH STICK First Line: Bobby orr's marble Subject(s): Sports HISTORY OF WEATHER First Line: It is the kind of spring morning - candid sunlight Last Line: At the passing of enormous faces and animal shapes, %his jacket bunched into a pillow, an open book HISTORY TEACHER First Line: Trying to protect his students' innocence Last Line: Designed to make the enemy nod off Subject(s): Education; Schools HOME AGAIN First Line: The black porcelain lamp Last Line: Your silent fealty, your steadfast repose HOPELESS BUT NOT SERIOUS First Line: These days every morning begins like a joke HORIZON First Line: You can use the brush of a japanese monk Last Line: Or standing on the ledge of a winter beach %watching the light on the water, light in air HORSEMAN, PASS BY! First Line: When I show you the photograph of me Last Line: Between me and that phantom self %who could just drive by and now was miles away HOUSE Poem Text First Line: I lie in a bedroom of a house Subject(s): Houses HOUSEFLY First Line: You never know where the floating tub Last Line: Through my big, honeycombed eyes HUNGER First Line: The fox you lug over your shoulder HUNT First Line: Somewhere in the rolling hills and farm country Last Line: Swinging their sticks and calling out to one another %as they wade through a field of waist-high bar I CHOP SOME PARSLEY WHILE LISTENING TO ART BLAKEY'S VERSION First Line: And I start wondering how they came to be blind Last Line: Cannot be said to be making matters any better I GO BACK TO THE HOUSE FOR A BOOK First Line: I turn around on the gravel Last Line: That fateful winter morning and got the book IDIOMATIC First Line: It is a big question so early in the morning Last Line: Juggling balls of cotton,' as they like to say in france IN ALL THE EXCITEMENT I FORGOT TO ASK HIS NAME Poem Text First Line: In the middle of a walk Subject(s): Whippets IN ALL THE EXCITEMENT I FORGOT TO ASK HIS NAME First Line: In the middle of a walk Last Line: He had 11 seconds dancing in his eyes IN THE EVENING Poem Text First Line: The heads of roses begin to droop Last Line: Nothing but an only child with two different masks Subject(s): Time IN THE ROOM OF A THOUSAND MILES Poem Text First Line: I like writing about where I am Subject(s): Poetry & Poets IN THE ROOM OF A THOUSAND MILES First Line: I like writing about where I am Last Line: The one that sings, %pauses, %then sings again INDOORS First Line: I lose perspective in national museums INFLUENCE Poem Text First Line: All these years and I never realized INFLUENCE First Line: All these years and I never realized Last Line: Did not remind me somewhat of marianne moore INSOMNIA (1) First Line: After counting all the sheep in the world INSOMNIA (2) Poem Text First Line: Even though the house is deeply silent Last Line: The tiny hands that keep pointing this way and that Subject(s): Insomnia; Sleep; Sleeplessness INSOMNIA (2) First Line: Even though the house is deeply silent Last Line: The tiny hands that keep pointing this way and that Subject(s): Insomnia; Sleep INSTRUCTIONS TO THE ARTIST First Line: I wish my head to appear perfectly round Last Line: Sign the painting on my upper lip %so your name will always be my mustache INTO THE VALLEY First Line: This is the kind of valley I would be happy Last Line: That looks like the folded arms of a sleeping giant INTRODUCTION TO POETRY Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: I ask them to take a poem Subject(s): Poetry & Poets INTRODUCTION TO POETRY First Line: I ask them to take a poem INVECTIVE First Line: Turn away from me, you, and get lost in the past Last Line: I will stand in pastures of watercress by the salmon-lashing%sea. %I will sater into the cold, unbli INVENTION Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: Tonight the moon is a cracker, Subject(s): Moon INVENTION OF THE SAXOPHONE First Line: It was adolphe sax, remember Last Line: That will blow them all to kingdom come IRISH POETRY Poem Text First Line: That morning under a pale hood of sky ISTANBUL First Line: It was a pleasure to enter by a side street Last Line: Bearing my body, my clean, lucky body out to sea IT IS BITTER COLD TONIGHT AT SEA Last Line: Upon julia's breasts, or even joan's JACK First Line: Just when I am about to telephone her Last Line: I will compose it while pacing back and forth %in his palm JANUARY IN PARIS Poem Text Recitation First Line: That winter I had nothing to do Subject(s): Paris, France JAPAN First Line: Today I pass the time reading Last Line: And moves like a hinge in the air above our bed JAPANESE WATER First Line: There is a quality to japanese water JAZZ AND NATURE First Line: It was another clear sunny morning Last Line: The only book I can never put down JEALOUSY Poem Text First Line: It is not the tilted buildings or the blind alleys Subject(s): Jealousy JEALOUSY First Line: It is not the tilted buildings or the blind alleys Last Line: From a window then burying your face %in the plumage of an angel Subject(s): Jealousy JOURNAL First Line: Ledger of the head's transactions Last Line: Have the slightest idea what they are for KEAT'S HANDWRITING First Line: In print, his poems look as inert as anyone's Last Line: And the long, billowing hair of the muses LADYBUG Poem Text First Line: I first spotted her moving across LADYBUG First Line: I first spotted her moving across a copy Last Line: The incontestable news of her tiny being LAST MAN ON EARTH First Line: Once there was a time when the moon swept Last Line: And when I walked out and heard the noise of geese %I looked up as if they were calling my name LATE SHOW First Line: No wonder everyone loved the private dick Last Line: Your hat hanging on the rack where you %tossed it on the way in LENSES First Line: Take a look through these binoculars LESSON First Line: In the morning when I found history LIFE OF RILEY: A DEFINITIVE BIOGRAPHY First Line: He was born one sunny florida morning Last Line: Whose life it was he was living. %he died in a hammock weighing a cloud LIGHTYEAR First Line: Light did not do much travelling this year LINES COMPOSED OVER THREE THOUSAND MILES FROM TINTERN ABBEY First Line: I was here before, a long time ago Last Line: That drew to a close sometime shortly after lunch LINES LOST AMONG TREES First Line: These are not the lines that came to me Last Line: Just as I was waking up LIST OF ANCIENT PASTIMES First Line: First must have come listening Last Line: Or real, floating on the darkness of the water LISTENER First Line: I cannot see you a thousand miles from here Last Line: Of his tread and his high keening LITANY Poem Text Recitation First Line: You are the bread and the knife, Subject(s): Man-woman Relationships; Male-female Relations LITERARY LIFE First Line: I woke up this morning Last Line: She had just finished writing her autobiography LIU YUNG Poem Text Recitation First Line: This poet of the sung dynasty is so miserable Subject(s): Liu Yung (sung Dynasty) LOOKING WEST First Line: Just beyond the flower garden at the end of the lawn Last Line: Feet planted firmly on the ground LOST First Line: Now that all road signs have disappeared LOVE First Line: The boy at the far end of the train car Last Line: Something that identifies him as god LOVE IN THE SAHARA First Line: The small camel leaves his common place Last Line: Planted in the distance, and the man %whose shirt pocket I ride in all afternoon LOWELL, MASS. Poem Text First Line: Kerouac was born in the same town Last Line: To let him off at the next light Subject(s): Beatniks; Kerouac, Jack (1922-1969); Lowell, Massachusetts LOWELL, MASS. First Line: Kerouac was born in the same town Subject(s): Beatniks; Kerouac, Jack (1922-1969); Lowell, Massachusetts MADMEN Poem Text First Line: They say you can jinx a poem Last Line: Staring down at me with tiny illuminated eyes Subject(s): Art & Artists; Poetry & Poets; Vandalism MAN IN SPACE Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: All you have to do is listen to the way a man Subject(s): Man-woman Relationships; Male-female Relations MAN IN SPACE First Line: All you have to do is listen to the way a man Last Line: Their breasts protected by hard metal disks MAN IN THE MOON First Line: He used to frighten me in the nights of childhood Last Line: His round mouth open %as if he had just broken into song MAN LISTENNG TO DISC Poem Text First Line: This is not bad Last Line: As he would be with us today Subject(s): Music & Musicians MANY FACES OF JAZZ First Line: There's the one where you scrunch up Last Line: In total and absolute agreement MAPPAMUNDI Poem Text First Line: On the pages I am turning are early pictures of the world Subject(s): Geography MAPPAMUNDI First Line: On the pages I am turning are early pictures of the world Last Line: So wide I can feel the slight curvature of the earth %as I work effortlessly on my imaginary tan MARGINALIA Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: Sometimes the notes are ferocious Subject(s): Writing & Writers MARGINALIA First Line: Sometimes the notes are ferocious Last Line: Pardon the egg salad stains, but I'm in love MATCHES First Line: I will smoke my next cigarette immediately MEDIEVAL SHIPBUILDING First Line: I listened to the lecture of the lecturer Last Line: Lurking ahead in one of history's blind alleys MEDIUM Poem Text First Line: The way I like to lay it down sometimes MEDIUM First Line: The way I like to lay it down sometimes Last Line: To read with your eyes shut tight, %kneeling in the sand, facing the open sea MEMORIZING €ŚTHE SUN RISING€? BY JOHN DONNE Poem Text First Line: Every reader loves the way he tells off Subject(s): Donne, John (1572-1631) METAMORPHOSIS First Line: If kafka could turn a man into an insect in one sentence Last Line: I would stare over fifth avenue with a perfectly straight %face METROPOLIS First Line: These are my favorite museum rooms Last Line: Still life with wild strawberries in a wan li bowl MODERN PEASANT First Line: This mourning is the same as all other mornings Last Line: I will wonder how many thousands of days %it would take the two of us to walk to the moon MOMENTO MORI First Line: There is no need for me to keep a skull on on my desk Last Line: Like an old servant, dragging the tail of its cord, %the small circle or mourners parting to make ro MONDAY Poem Text First Line: The birds are in their trees Last Line: The stone caught in the throat of her poet-lover Subject(s): Poetry &n Poets MONDAY MORNING First Line: The complacency of this student, late Last Line: Dorm of nobody who would bother to pull an a or care MONOCULAR First Line: I caught this morning a young hawk Last Line: As the wind sank in the bare winter woods, %perfectly encircled in glass Subject(s): Birds; Hawks; Photography And Photographers MOON First Line: The moon is full tonight Last Line: As the moon climbs high into the night MORE THAN A WOMAN Poem Text First Line: Ever since I woke up today MORE THAN A WOMAN First Line: Ever since I woke up today Last Line: Whose lights I can just make out through the clouds MORNING Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: Why do we bother with the rest of the day Subject(s): Mornings MORNING First Line: Why do we bother with the rest of the day Last Line: In the early morning MORNING AFTER MY DEATH First Line: On the morning that follows my death, the sun MOVIES First Line: I would like to watch a movie tonight Last Line: My faithful, amorous wife, and my children- %molly, lucinda, and harold, jr MUSEE DES BEAUX ARTS REVISITED First Line: As far as mental anguish goes Last Line: Secure in its brown leather scabbard MY HEART First Line: It has a bronze covering inlaid with silver Last Line: Within the intricate craftsmanship of its encasement MY LIFE First Line: Sometimes I see it as a straight line Last Line: Even the heavy, leafy trees along the shore MY NUMBER Poem Text First Line: Is death miles away from this house Last Line: I will ask, as I start talking myself out of this Subject(s): Mortality MY NUMBER First Line: Is death miles away from this house NEUROLOGY First Line: I don't resent Last Line: As he blinks into the rain Subject(s): Reason; Thought NEXT POEM First Line: Whenever the question comes up Last Line: The final striped umbrella on the vacant beach of my soul NIGHT HOUSE First Line: Every day the body works in the fields of the world Last Line: Before bending again to its labor NIGHT ON EARTH First Line: I got home late and drank most Last Line: What you touched %and how it made you feel Subject(s): Dreams; Life; Night NIGHT SAND First Line: When you injure me, as you must one day Last Line: Now can you see the silhouettes of ranchers' hats %and sticks raised against the pink desert sky? NIGHTCLUB Poem Text First Line: You are so beautiful and I am a fool Subject(s): Love NIGHTCLUB First Line: You are so beautiful and I am a fool Last Line: We have become beautiful without even knowing it NO TIME Poem Text First Line: In a rush this weekday morning Subject(s): Death; Parents; Dead, The; Parenthood NO TIME Poem Text First Line: In a rush this weekday morning Subject(s): Cemeteries; Family Life; Death; Parents; Graveyards; Relatives; Dead, The; Parenthood NORTON ANTHOLOGY OF ENGLISH LIERATURE First Line: It is easy to find out if a poet is a contemporary poet Last Line: And I am amazed at how tall and solemn she looks %and how immaculate are her robes NOSTALGIA Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: Remember the 1340s? We were doing a dance called the catapult Subject(s): Wit & Humor NOSTALGIA First Line: Remember the 1340's we were doing a dance called the catapul Last Line: Where people are doing a dance we cannot imagine, %a dance whose name we can only guess NOT TOUCHING First Line: The vanlentine of desire is pasted over my heart Last Line: Just before they drifted out of the room %through a window of perfectly realistic sunlight NOVEMBER Poem Text First Line: After three days of steady rain- Last Line: While my mother calmly tells him to lie back down Subject(s): Death; November; Dead, The NOVEMBER First Line: After three days of steady rain- Last Line: And carrying away the bodies of the dead Subject(s): Death; November ON CLOSING ANNA KARENINA First Line: I must have started reading this monster ON THE READING IN THE MORNING PAPER THAT DREAMS MAY BE .... First Line: We might have guessed as much, given the nightly Last Line: Or waking up to the chilling evidence on the bedroom floor: %a small pile of sand, a white bow tie ON TURNING TEN First Line: The whole idea of it makes me feel Last Line: I skin my knees. I bleed ONE LIFE TO LIVE First Line: This is the only life I have, this one in my head Last Line: The rope flying around me, moving up to encircle my head %like an equator of a halo or a zero ONE SELF First Line: I am trying to imagine that I am someone else Last Line: Somewhere on the outskirts of columbus, ohio ONLY THING I BROUGHT TO READ First Line: On this winter evening Last Line: They would stop being so idle and begin to fall OSSO BOCO Poem Text First Line: I love the sound of the bone against the plate Subject(s): Food & Eating OSSO BUCO First Line: I love the sound of the bone against the plate Last Line: Into the broken bones of the earth itself, %into the marrow of the only place we know PAPERWORK Poem Text First Line: Enough tea and cigarettes have been consumed here Subject(s): Writing & Writers PAPERWORK First Line: Enough tea and cigarettes have been consumed here Last Line: On a roadside bench and he begins to recount %his etymology - the long, sad, wondrous story of his % PARADELLE FOR SUSAN First Line: I remember the quick, nervous bird of your love Last Line: Darken the mountain, time and find was my into it was with to to PARIS Poem Text First Line: In the apartment someone gave me Last Line: As they float down the river of this momentous day Subject(s): Baths & Bathing; Paris, France; Tourists; Showers & Showering PARIS First Line: In the apartment someone gave me Last Line: The boats of the strange %as they floated down the river of whatever day it was Subject(s): Baths And Bathing; Paris, France; Tourists PASSENGERS Poem Text First Line: At the gate, I sit in a row of blue seats Subject(s): Travel; Journeys; Trips PASSENGERS First Line: At the gate, I sit in a row of blue seats Last Line: At least quietly wrote something down PAST First Line: There is no doubt we all had one PAVILION Poem Text First Line: I sit in the study Last Line: A kind of smile on my long dark lips Subject(s): Books; Writing & Writers; Weariness PENNSYLVANIA First Line: When I spotted the hex sign Last Line: When crossed by a sudden breeze PENSEE First Line: All of paris must have been away on holiday Last Line: To make our lives seem more complex, more arduous, %to make our leaving the room seem heroic PERSONAL HISTORY First Line: A long time ago when cataclysms were common PHILOSOPHY First Line: I used to sit in the cafe of existentialism Last Line: Her tail straight back, her body low to the ground PIANO LESSONS First Line: My teacher lies on the floor with a bad back Last Line: This curious beast with its enormous moonlit smile PICNIC, LIGHTNING Poem Text First Line: It is possible to be struck by a meteor Last Line: To burrow back under the loam Subject(s): Accidents; Death; Dead, The PIE MAN Poem Text First Line: I am carrying my homemade pies down a cobblestone road Last Line: The shapes of clouds, the wooden sign above the cheese shop Subject(s): Food & Eating; Pies PIE MAN First Line: I am carrying my homemade pies down a cobblestone road Last Line: Think of the color of the shutters, the painted bridge, %theshapes of clouds, the wooden sign above Subject(s): Food And Eating; Pies PIN-UP Poem Text First Line: The murkiness of the local garage is not so dense Subject(s): Pin-ups PINUP First Line: The murkiness of the local garage is not so dense Last Line: Upturned palm extended coyly into the rain PLIGHT OF THE TROUBADOUR First Line: For a good hour I have been singing lays POEM First Line: Some poems name their subjects POEM First Line: It's like writing a short letter Last Line: Or of a blooming flower to speed it on its way POEM WITH A PROPELLER First Line: The prow is a simple up-curving Last Line: Past a red buoy clanging in the night PORLOCK BEACH First Line: The horizon is clear enough to show PORTRAIT OF THE READER WITH A BOWL OF CEREAL First Line: Every morning I sit across from you Last Line: Your spoon dripping milk, ready to listen PRINT Poem Text First Line: In the dining room there is a brown fish First Line: In the dining room there is a brown fish Last Line: With his one, small, spellbound eye PROGRAMS Poem Text First Line: Even the earth I am balancing on feels thin Last Line: Accusing each otgher of murder Subject(s): Doubt PROGRAMS First Line: Even the earth I am balancing on seems thin PURITY First Line: My favorite time to write is in the late afternoon Last Line: Passing stone walls,farmhouses, and frozen ponds, %all perfectly arranged like words in a famous son PUTTI IN THE NIGHT First Line: It is raining so hard and the jazz on the radio Last Line: It makes you stop and listen to bud powell pounding %in the silence and feel the old embrace of eart PUTTING DOWN THE CAT First Line: The assistant holds her on the table QUESTIONS ABOUT ANGELS Poem Text First Line: Of all the questions you might want to ask Subject(s): Angels QUESTIONS ABOUT ANGELS First Line: Of all the questions you might want to ask Last Line: To glance at his watch because she has been dancing %forever, and now it is very late, even for musi RAIN Recitation by Author Subject(s): Censorship RAINY DAY First Line: It has been raining all morning Last Line: As we all go bobbing out to the open sea Subject(s): Day; Rain RCA VICTOR First Line: The dog is seated by the victrola Last Line: The dog wonders %trembling slightly Subject(s): Animals; Dogs READING AN ANTHOLOGY OF CHINESE POEMS OF THE SUNG DYNASTY, I PAUSE TO ADMIRE THE LENGTH AND CLARITY Poem Text First Line: It seems these poets have nothing Last Line: Cross my legs like his, and listen Subject(s): Poetry & Poets READING IN A HAMMOCK First Line: With one arm raised, I am holding Last Line: Condemned to swing gently in the shade until dead READING MYSELF TO SLEEP First Line: The house is all darkness except for this corner bedroom Last Line: In the morning when I surface, wet and steaked with %daylight REINCARNATION AND YOU First Line: To come back at all would be outlandish enough Last Line: Covered with deep snow, all year round REMEMBERING DREAMS First Line: No one seems to be a champ at this REMISSION First Line: The neurologist begins his visit REPORT FROM SICILY First Line: We are staying for a week in a stucco house Last Line: In low voices, chairs tilted back against their cabin wall RETRACTION First Line: There should be no problem with me Last Line: When I began these frightful lines Subject(s): Death RIP VAN WINKLE First Line: The illustrations always portray him outdoors Last Line: As I open my eyes after a paltry eight hours %pointlessly alert, gaudy with consciousness RIVAL POET First Line: The column of your book titles ROMANTICISM Poem Text First Line: There are the sick rooms of the nineteenth century ROMANTICISM First Line: There are the sick rooms of the nineteenth century Last Line: Hands locked behind your back %in the manner of vasco nunez de balboa ROOM IN WINTER First Line: As I lie in bed in the dark Last Line: The icy surface of a lake together ROYAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY First Line: Will finance no more expeditions SARTRE First Line: This is the only reality, wrote sartre Last Line: Dark wings spread, and their sharp teeth flashing SATURDAY MORNING First Line: I wonder if I have become smaller or has the bedroom Last Line: But no matter. The television is right next to the bed %and donald duck is taking his nephews ice-sk SCHOOLSVILLE Poem Text First Line: Glancing over my shoulder at the past Last Line: Quizzing the chandeleir, reprimanding the air Subject(s): Education; Schools; Students SCHOOLSVILLE First Line: Glancing over my shoulder at the past Last Line: Quizzing the chandelier, reprimanding the air Subject(s): Education; Schools SCIENTIFIC STUDY First Line: Has shown that laboratory rats exhibit SCOTLAND First Line: It was a weekday afternoon, around two Last Line: And a woman in a drab raincoat walking over to see Subject(s): Scotland SERPENTINE First Line: This morning I saw suddenly Last Line: Forming millions of tiny squares SHADOW First Line: The sun finally goes down like the end Last Line: And a passing cloud darkens my page SHAKESPEARE First Line: I get up from the couch and move outside Last Line: Above a line of luminous clouds Subject(s): Dramatists; Plays And Playwrights; Poetry And Poets; Shakespeare, William (1564-1616) SHOVELING SNOW WITH BUDDHA First Line: In the usual iconography of the temple or the local wok Last Line: Deep into the sparkling white snow SICK ROOM Poem Text First Line: Every time canaletto painted venice Subject(s): Canal, Giovanni (canaletto) (1697-1768) SICK ROOM First Line: Every time canaletto painted venice Last Line: And its monstrous wallpaper, is not venice SILENCE Poem Text Recitation First Line: There is the sudden silence of the crowd Subject(s): Silence SILENCE First Line: Now it is time to say what you have to say Last Line: His cold hearing-horn inserted in one ear SNOW First Line: I cannot help noticing how this slow monk solo Last Line: The snow would even go perfectly with that SNOW DAY Poem Text Recitation First Line: Today we woke up to a revolution of snow Subject(s): Snow SOME DAYS Poem Text First Line: Some days I put the people in their places at the table, SOME DAYS First Line: Some days I put the people in their places at the table Last Line: Staring straight ahead with your little plastic face SOME FINAL WORDS First Line: I cannot leave you without saying this Last Line: A thin reed blowing in the night SONNET Poem Text First Line: All we need is fourteen lines, well, thirteen now Last Line: Blowout the lights, and come at last to bed Subject(s): Poetry & Poets SONNET First Line: All we need is fourteen lines, well, thirteen now Last Line: Blow out the lights, and come at last to bed Subject(s): Poetry And Poets SPHERE First Line: I listen in a small rectangular Last Line: Of a geometrical embrace in which %men play ball SPLITTING WOOD Poem Text First Line: Frost covered this ages ago Subject(s): Wood Cutting SPLITTING WOOD First Line: Frost covered this decades ago Last Line: That, once opened, can never be closed STARE First Line: With a basin of warm water and a towel Last Line: A pinpoint caught in the very glass itself STATUES IN THE PARK Poem Text First Line: I thought of you yesterday Last Line: Forever begging for just one more day Subject(s): Statues STILL LIFE First Line: Here I am in westchester among ordinary things Last Line: Grow hard and black against the background of the sky STRANGE LANDS First Line: The photographs of the summer trip are spread STUDENT OF CLOUDS Poem Text First Line: The emotion is to be found in the clouds Subject(s): Clouds STUDENT OF CLOUDS First Line: The emotion is to be found in the clouds STUDY IN ORANGE AND WHITE Poem Text First Line: I knew that james whistler was part of the paris scene Last Line: Some water into the glass, milky-green Subject(s): Paintings & Painters SUNDAY MORNING WITH THE SENSATIONAL NIGHTINGALES First Line: It was not the five mississippi blind boys Last Line: Caught up in the annunciation %of these high, most encouraging tidings SWEET TALK First Line: You are not the mona lisa Last Line: Upon the dark green lawn, baby TAKING OFF EMILY DICKINSON'S CLOTHES Poem Text First Line: First, her tippet made of tulle Subject(s): Dickinson, Emily (1830-1886); Love - Erotic; Love TAKING OFF EMILY DICKINSON'S CLOTHES First Line: First, her tippet made of tulle Last Line: That looks right at you with a yellow eye Subject(s): Dickinson, Emily (1830-1886); Erotic Love; Love TEACHER First Line: There is that part of us that believes Last Line: Like ripples moving toward the center instead of away THE AFTERLIFE Poem Text First Line: When you are preparing for sleep, brushing your teeth Subject(s): Death; Dead, The THE ART OF DROWNING Poem Text First Line: I wonder how it all got started Subject(s): Drowning THE BEST CIGARETTE Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: There are many that I miss Subject(s): Cigarettes THE BIOGRAPHY OF A CLOUD Poem Text First Line: It would have been easier to follow johnson Subject(s): Clouds THE BREATHER Poem Text First Line: Just as in the horror movies THE BROOKLYN MUSEUM OF ART Poem Text First Line: I wil now step over the soft velvet rope Last Line: My steps toward the misty vanishing point Subject(s): Brooklyn Museum Of Ar THE CHAIRS THAT NO ONE SITS IN Poem Text First Line: You see them on porches and on lawns Subject(s): Chairs THE DEATH OF ALLEGORY Poem Text First Line: I am wondering what became of all those tall abstractions Subject(s): Allegory THE END OF THE WORLD Poem Text First Line: It is a subject profound I think I should Subject(s): Doomsday THE FIRST NIGHT Poem Text Subject(s): Night; Death; Bedtime; Dead, The THE GENIUS Poem Text First Line: Is standing at a stove in a bathrobe THE GOLDEN YEARS Poem Text First Line: All I do these drawn-out days Subject(s): Old Age THE HANGOVER Recitation by Author Subject(s): Hangover; Wit & Humor THE HISTORY TEACHER Poem Text First Line: Trying to protect his students' innocence Subject(s): Education; Schools; Students THE IRON BRIDGE Poem Text First Line: I am standing on a disused iron bridge Last Line: With no end or name, some boundless province of water Subject(s): Cormorants; Bridges; Mothers; Water; Death THE LANYARD Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: The other day I was ricocheting slowly THE LISTENER Poem Text First Line: I cannot see you a thousand miles from hear Subject(s): Sound THE LONG DAY Poem Text First Line: In the morning I ate a banana Subject(s): Human Behavior; Conduct Of Life; Human Nature THE MOMENT Poem Text First Line: It was a day in june, all lawn and sky THE MORNING AFTER MY DEATH Poem Text First Line: On the morning that follows my death, the sun Last Line: And low gray clouds will sweep over this neighborhood Subject(s): Death; Life THE MOST COMMONLY USED WORDS IN CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN POETRY First Line: That light is again number one surprises me Subject(s): Poetry & Poets THE MOVIES Poem Text First Line: I would like to watch a movie tonight Subject(s): Motion Pictures; Movies; Cinema THE NEXT POEM Poem Text First Line: Whenever the question comes up Subject(s): Poetry & Poets THE ONLY DAY IN EXISTENCE Poem Text First Line: The morning sun is so pale THE PARADE Poem Text First Line: How exhilarating it was to march Subject(s): Parades THE TEACHER Recitation Subject(s): Death; Maps; Future Life; Dead, The; Retribution; Eternity; After Life THE THREE WISHES Poem Text First Line: Because he has been starving Last Line: A decent bottle of italian or even chilean red Subject(s): Story-telling; Wishes THE TROUBLE WITH POETRY Recitation by Author Subject(s): Poetry & Poets THE WAITRESS Poem Text First Line: She brings a drink to the table Last Line: Beyond these late-night, practically empty streets Subject(s): Life; Night; Waiting; Bedtime THE WIRES OF THE NIGHT Poem Text First Line: I thought about his death for so many hours, Subject(s): Death; Dead, The THEME First Line: It's a sunny weekday in may Last Line: But met only and always with frosty disregard THESAURUS Poem Text First Line: It could be the name of a prehistoric beast Subject(s): Thesaurus THESAURUS First Line: It could be the name of a prehistoric beast Last Line: A small chapel where weddings like these, %between perfect strangers, are known to take place THIS MUCH I DO REMEMBER First Line: It was after dinner Last Line: That we pace through every day THREE WISHES First Line: Because he has been starving Last Line: A decent bottle of italian or even chilean red Subject(s): Story-telling; Wishes THREESOME Poem Text First Line: Two drakes and one duck standing still THREESOME First Line: Two drakes and one duck standing still %on a frozen pond Last Line: In the cold on your thin orange legs TO A STRANGER BORN IN SOME DISTANT COUNTRY First Line: Nobody here likes a web dog Last Line: Even the children, pushes her away TODAY Poem Text First Line: If ever there were a spring day so perfect Last Line: Well, today is just that kind of day Subject(s): Spring TOMES Poem Text First Line: There is a section in my library for death Last Line: That foams around my waist Subject(s): Books TOURIST: DROMAHAIR, CO. SLIGO First Line: After dinner you stroll from the hotel TRAVELING ALONE Poem Text First Line: At the hotel coffee shop that morning Subject(s): Travel; Journeys; Trips TROMPE L'OEIL First Line: It was one thing to notice Last Line: The reality of its succulent green tips TUESDAY, JUNE 4, 1991 First Line: By the time I got myself out of bed, my wife has left Last Line: Offering a handful of birdsong and a small cup of light TUESDAY, JUNE 4TH, 1991 Poem Text First Line: By the time I get myself out of bed, my wife has left Subject(s): Paintings & Painters; Chores VADE MECUM First Line: I want the scissors to be sharp VANISHING POINT First Line: You thought it was just a pencil dot Last Line: This is the nostril of the ant that inhaled the universe VELOCITY First Line: In the clubcar that morning I had my notebook Last Line: And from the edges of her perfectly motionless body VICTORIA'S SECRET First Line: The one in the upper left-hand corner Last Line: Still burning from all the glossy lights of day VODKA First Line: Cold as water drawn from the bottom of a winter fyord WAITRESS First Line: She brings a drink to the table Last Line: Beyond these late-night, nearly empty streets Subject(s): Life; Night; Waiting WALKING ACROSS THE ATLANTIC First Line: I wait for the holiday crowd to clear the beach WATER TABLE Poem Text First Line: It is on dry sunny days like this one that I find myself Subject(s): Water WATER TABLE First Line: It is on dry sunny days like this one that I find myself Last Line: Lost for a while in the home of the rain WEDDING ANNIVERSARY First Line: The restaurant said it overlooked the wide river Last Line: And to lift our wineglasses and toast the night shift Subject(s): Anniversaries WEIGHING THE DOG First Line: It is awkward for me and bewildering for him Last Line: And now we are both lost in strange and distant %neighborhoods WHAT I LEARNED TODAY Poem Text First Line: I never heard john bernard flannagan Subject(s): Knowledge WHAT I LEARNED TODAY First Line: I had never heard of john bernard flannagan Last Line: A million forgotten hours WHAT SHE SAID Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: When he told me he expected me to pay for dinner Subject(s): Wit & Humor WHERE I LIVE First Line: The house sits at one end of a two-acre trapezoid Last Line: In pools on the ground WHILE EATING A PEAR Poem Text First Line: After we have finished here WHILE EATING A PEAR First Line: After we have finished here Last Line: Light on one smooth green side %shadow on the other WHY I WOULD RATHER BE A PAINTER Poem Text First Line: For one thing Subject(s): Paintings & Painters; Likes & Dislikes WHY I WOULD RATHER BE A PAINTER First Line: For one thing %instead of just sitting in a straight back chair Last Line: As the new perfect title for my new painting WILLIES First Line: There is no known cure for them Last Line: But don't expect miracles: %the willies are the willies WINTER NIGHT First Line: I would not bother to point out the moon Last Line: Burning warm and yellow in the night Subject(s): Night; Winter WINTER SPARROW Poem Text First Line: The first thing I heard early that morning Subject(s): Sparrows WINTER SPARROW First Line: The first thing I heard early that morning Last Line: A light snow tumbling through the windless dark WINTER SYNTAX First Line: A sentence starts out like a lone traveler WIRES OF THE NIGHT First Line: I thought about his death for so many hours Last Line: And all the days to follow, and it moved into the future %like the sharp tip of a pen moving across WOLF First Line: A wolf is reading a book of fairy tales Last Line: Later that night, lost in a town of pigs, %he knocks over with his breath WONDER OF THE WORLD First Line: It is now just coming into view Last Line: As you glide closer and closer to it %ocver the cold streaming surface of these waters WORKSHOP Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: Might as well begin by saying how much I like the title. WORKSHOP First Line: I might as well begin by saying how much I like the title Last Line: Maybe that's just the way I read it WRITING IN THE AFTERLIFE Poem Text First Line: I imagined the atmosphere would be clear Subject(s): Death; Future Life; Writing & Writers; Dead, The; Retribution; Eternity; After Life YOU, READER First Line: I wonder how you are going to feel Last Line: Near some blue hydrangeas, reading this |
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