Water, Water: Poems - Billy Collins

NATIONAL BESTSELLER - From the former Poet Laureate of the United States and New York Times bestselling author of Aimless Love comes a wondrous new collection of poems focused on the joys and mysteries of daily life. \nAmong the best poems that [Billy] Collins has ever written.--Maureen Corrigan, NPR \n \nWitty, wry and tender when it hurts, Water, Water is a pleasure to read and easy to give.--The Washington Post \n \nCollins remains the most companionable of poetic companions.--The New York Times \n \nOne of People's Best New Books \n \nIn this collection of sixty new poems, Billy Collins writes about the beauties and ironies of everyday experience. A poem is best, he feels, when it begins in clarity but ends with a whiff of mystery. \n \nIn Water, Water, Collins combines his vigilant attention and respect for the peripheral to create moments of delight. Common and uncommon events are captured here with equal fascination, be it a cat leaning to drink from a swimming pool, a nurse calling a name in a waiting room, or an astronaut reciting Emily Dickinson from outer space. With his trademark lyrical informality, Collins asks us to slow down and glimpse the elevated in the ordinary, the odd in the familiar. It's no surprise that The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal both call Collins one of America's favorite poets. \n \nThe Monet Conundrum \n \nIs every one of these poems \ndifferent from the others \nhe asked himself, \nas the rain quieted down, \n \nor are they all the same poem, \nhaystack after haystack \nat different times of day, \ndifferent shadows and shades of hay?\n