BILLY COLLINS READS

     Although his poems are not regular,
     Composed of neatly measured rhyming lines,
     His attitude is so avuncular
     You come to see he has other designs
     By which to cast a true poetic spell,
     Foremost of which: a story line that lures
     You in, hooks you and makes you want to dwell
     In this charmed space as long as it endures.
     Not William Collins or just W. J.,
     He goes unstuffily as merely Billy,
     And when he reads, folks always want to stay
     For what’s profound or what’s just simply silly.
          Here is a Poet Laureate with charm
          Who can the fustiest of us disarm.

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