Introduction to Poetry

Introduction to Poetry
Billy Collins

I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide

or press an ear against its hive.

I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,

or walk inside the poem's room
and feel the walls for a light switch.

I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author's name on the shore.

But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.

They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.


This is the perfect poem to introduce poetry and what one should take away from reading poems. The message of this poem is to let poems speak for themselves. The reader should take what he or she wants from a poem. An interpretation should be formulated based on one's own perspective. Reading poetry is not going to be easy and quick. The reader must take time to dissect the poem and work through it to understand the poem. This poem has helped me understand what poetry is really about. Finding meaning in every detail of the poem is not a goal. Poetry should be enjoyed.