I Ask You by Billy Collins

What scene would I want to be enveloped inmore than this one,
an ordinary night at the kitchen table,
floral wallpaper pressing in,
white cabinets full of glass,
the telephone silent,
a pen tilted back in my hand?

It gives me time to think
about all that is going on outside--
leaves gathering in corners,
lichen greening the high grey rocks,
while over the dunes the world sails on,
huge, ocean-going, history bubbling in its wake.
But beyond this table
there is nothing that I need,
not even a job that would allow me to row to work,
or a coffee-colored Aston Martin DB4
with cracked green leather seats.

No, it's all here,
the clear ovals of a glass of water,
a small crate of oranges, a book on Stalin,
not to mention the odd snarling fishin a frame on the wall,
and the way these three candles--each a different height--
are singing in perfect harmony.
So forgive meif I lower my head now and listen
to the short bass candle as he takes a solo
while my heart
thrums under my shirt--frog at the edge of a pond--
and my thoughts fly off to a province
made of one enormous sky
and about a million empty branches.


I like this poem because I could see myself thinking about nature, like in the second stanza. I also often find myself much like the first stanza in the same situation when we are given a buzz word at the beginning of class. This poem is very prettily written. I really like this part:

"my thoughts fly off to a province
made of one enormous sky
and about a million empty branches."

To My Drums

I love my drums,
From the kick drum to the snare.
My neighbors don't like them
Because all they hear is a blare.

It feels good playing them,
But it's better to smash.
From the pounding of the bass
To the cymbal's crash.

When I bang on my drums,
I feel a big surge
Of jamming to my favorite song
I can't resist the urge.

Every break and every beat,
All the sounds collide.
The way it comes together,
You'd say it was a bona fide
Masterpiece.