Poetry Reader Response

I have never been big into poetry, so reading Picnic, Lighting by Billy Collins as well as, American Primitive by Mary Oliver was a new experience for me as a reader. I was surprised to see how different the two poets were from each other. I found favorites in both books, as well as poems I could not quite understand.

Billy Collins was by far my favorite, I did not care for Mary Oliver. I felt that Collins poems seemed to flow more smoothly. They also read more like a story and I felt I could connect more with what Collins wrote about. I also liked for some poems the title blended right into the next verse. His poems seemed more dreamy, and focused on nature and the world. One of my favorites, was his last poem Aristotle, how it is written with focus on beginning, middle, and end was neat. I also loved when Collins wrote in What I Learned Today, "No matter what the size the aquarium of one's learning, another colored pebble can always be dropped in"(17). Collins poems dealt with life, and different journeys. Collins smooth writing style drew me in and helped me stay connected with the poem.

Mary Oliver, on the other hand, was much harder to read. Her writing was very short, and to the point. She seemed to use only what she need in her poems and kept the writing very staccato. Oliver's poems seemed more gloomy and dreary at times. Although, short lines of her poems often stuck out to me. I loved in Lighting when she wrote, "the landscape bulging forth like a quick lesson in creation, then thudding away"(7). My favorite poem would have to be the University hospital, Boston. It is both sad and beautiful at the same time, with a love story as its center. One of my favorite lines, taken from In Blackwater Woods, Oliver writes, "To live in this world you must be able to do three things: to love what is mortal; to hold it against your bones knowing your own life depends on it and, when the time comes to let it go, to let it go"(83). The poem is tragic, but it covers loving and leaving, and moving on.

Both books were, for the most part enjoyable reads. I am looking forward to discussing them in class, my knowledge about poetry is slim. I am looking forward to hearing others interpretations or meaning in the poems that I have missed.