(Cathedral Rocks and Spires)


Aimless Love

This morning as I walked along the lakeshore,
I fell in love with a wren
and later in the day with a mouse
the cat had dropped under the dining room table.

In the shadows of an autumn evening,
I fell for a seamstress
still at her machine in the tailor’s window,
and later for a bowl of broth,
steam rising like smoke from a naval battle.

This is the best kind of love, I thought,
without recompense, without gifts,
or unkind words, without suspicion,
or silence on the telephone.

The love of the chestnut,
the jazz cap and one hand on the wheel.

No lust, no slam of the door –
the love of the miniature orange tree,
the clean white shirt, the hot evening shower,
the highway that cuts across Florida.

No waiting, no huffiness, or rancor –
just a twinge every now and then

for the wren who had built her nest
on a low branch overhanging the water
and for the dead mouse,
still dressed in its light brown suit.

But my heart is always propped up
in a field on its tripod,
ready for the next arrow.

After I carried the mouse by the tail
to a pile of leaves in the woods,
I found myself standing at the bathroom sink
gazing down affectionately at the soap,

so patient and soluble,
so at home in its pale green soap dish.
I could feel myself falling again
as I felt its turning in my wet hands
and caught the scent of lavender and stone.

~ Billy Collins ~

(Nine Horses)

Web version: www.panhala.net/Archive/Aimless_Love.html
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William A. ("Billy") Collins (born March 22, 1941) is an American poet. He served two terms as the Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 to 2003. In his home state, Collins has been recognized as a Literary Lion of the New York Public Library (1992) and selected as the New York State Poet for 2004.
External links
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Billy Collins

* Watch a collection of 11 animated poems read aloud by Billy Collins
* 33 poems read aloud by Billy Collins, no charge (Creative Commons)
* Poems by Billy Collins at PoetryFoundation.org
* Author interview with Collins in Guernica Magazine (Guernicamag.com)
* Poem by Collins
* Billy Collins Fan site
* Steven Barclay Agency for Bookings - web page with a list of external links
* Griffin Poetry Prize biography (2004 judge and award emcee)
* Billy Collins at poets.org
* Review of the opus of Billy Collins at The Contemporary Poetry Review
* Billy Collins at poetenladen.de (poetshop)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Collins