“Yesterday, I lay awake in the palm of the night.”

collins 2 croppedThis is the first line of a poem by Billy Collins, who believes the “signature” of  a poem is its tone. In an interview with George Plimpton for the Paris Review, Collins said, “The basis of trust for a reader used to be meter and end-rhyme. Now it’s tone … Read More

“The name of the author is the first to go, followed obediently by the title, the plot…”

Collins croppedThe poem “Forgetfulness” by Billy Collins continues: “the heartbreaking conclusion, the entire novel which suddenly becomes one you have never read, never even heard of, as if, one by one, the memories you used to harbor decided to retire to the southern hemisphere of the brain, to a … Read More