I know I’ve been taking a break from Poetry Wednesday, but my son asked me to help him learn a poem for school that he would recite in front of the class. The poet’s name is Billy Collins, and the name of the poem he chose to recite is entitled, “On Turning Ten“. I was unfamiliar with this poet, and I was so moved by the poem, that I thought I would share it with all of you. I hope you enjoy it. Feel free to leave your comments below. Thanks for listening.

You are listening to:
Autumn To May
by Peter, Paul, and Mary – written in 1963

On Turning Ten
by Billy Collins

The whole idea of it makes me feel
like I’m coming down with something,
something worse than any stomach ache
or the headaches I get from reading in bad light–
a kind of measles of the spirit,
a mumps of the psyche,
a disfiguring chicken pox of the soul.

You tell me it is too early to be looking back,
but that is because you have forgotten
the perfect simplicity of being one
and the beautiful complexity introduced by two.
But I can lie on my bed and remember every digit.
At four I was an Arabian wizard.
I could make myself invisible
by drinking a glass of milk a certain way.
At seven I was a soldier, at nine a prince.

But now I am mostly at the window
watching the late afternoon light.
Back then it never fell so solemnly
against the side of my tree house,
and my bicycle never leaned against the garage
as it does today,
all the dark blue speed drained out of it.

This is the beginning of sadness, I say to myself,
as I walk through the universe in my sneakers.
It is time to say good-bye to my imaginary friends,
time to turn the first big number.

It seems only yesterday I used to believe
there was nothing under my skin but light.
If you cut me I could shine.
But now when I fall upon the sidewalks of life,
I skin my knees. I bleed.

From Sailing Alone Around the Room by Billy Collins

About the Poet

Billy Collins has been called “The most popular poet in America” by the New York Times. When he moved from the University of Pittsburgh Press to Random House, the advance he received shocked the poetry world– a six-figure sum for a three-book deal, virtually unheard of in poetry. The deal secured for Collins through his literary agent, Chris Calhoun of Sterling Lord Literistic, with the editor Daniel Menaker remained the talk of the poetry world, and indeed the literary world, for quite some time.

As U.S. Poet Laureate, Collins read his poem “The Names” at a special joint session of the United States Congress on September 6, 2002, held to remember the victims of the 9/11 attacks. As Poet Laureate, Collins instituted the program, “Poetry 180,” for high schools. Collins chose 180 poems for the program and the accompanying book, Poetry 180: A Turning Back to Poetry— one for each day of the school year. Collins edited a second anthology, 180 More Extraordinary Poems for Every Day to refresh the supply of available poems. The program is online, and poems are available there for no charge.

Over the years, Poetry has awarded Collins several prizes in recognition of poems they publish. During the 1990s, Collins won five such prizes. The magazine also selected him as “Poet of the Year” in 1994. In 2005 Collins was the first annual recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for Humor in Poetry, bestowed by the Poetry Foundation (Poetry Magazine). He has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation in 1993, and the New York Foundation for the Arts.

Collins is a distinguished professor of English at Lehman College in the Bronx, where he joined the faculty in 1968 and has taught for over thirty years. Additionally, he is a founding Advisory Board member of the CUNY Institute for Irish-American Studies at Lehman College. He also has taught and served as a visiting writer at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York as well as teaching workshops across the U.S. and in Ireland. Collins is a member of the faculty of SUNY Stonybrook Southampton College, where he teaches poetry workshops. Collins was named U.S. Poet Laureate in 2001 and held the title until 2003. Collins served as Poet Laureate for the State of New York from 2004 until 2006.

Billy Collins’ biography – Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Collins

[mp3j track=”Autumn_To_May.mp3″]

deletereply sweetpotatoqueen wrote on Mar 3, ’10 It’s so nice to see some poetry on Wednesday around Multiply! Billy Collins is a wonderful poet…and this bio is great!

deletereply pestep55 wrote on Mar 3, ’10 I posted on Collins a bit ago http://pestep55.multiply.com/journal/item/629/Poetry_Wednesday_New_York_Highlighted_Collins and it is wonderful to see a Poetry Wednesday /:-)

deletereply josfreshlybrewedmood wrote on Mar 3, ’10 I have never heard of Mr. Collins, but from what I read here, I know I will be reading some more. He sure did capture things from a child’s eye in that poem. Have missed ya’, Laura!!!

deletereply starfishred wrote on Mar 3, ’10 love this one laurita – I have been doing a poem every wed-

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Mar 4, ’10 Hey guys! I missed you, too! I’m still here…just taking a break.

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Mar 4, ’10 josfreshlybrewedmood said He sure did capture things from a child’s eye in that poem. Yes, that’s one of the things I like about him. How are you doing?

deletereply josfreshlybrewedmood wrote on Mar 4, ’10 Hangin’ in there, Laura. You? Hope your break is productive, but hurry back ;).

deletereply forgetmenot525 wrote on Mar 5, ’10 Hi Laurita………….hope you had a good break, nice to see you around again. This is quite a sad poem, my eldest granddaughter is 9 today and she seems so big and grown up now. It’s all a bit sad really.

deletereply readymeal wrote on Mar 5, ’10 READ the poem, it was really good read it twice actually.finely have managed to get on line yup’s. ONE DAY I was walking down the beach with some friends,.when some one shouted ‘ Look at that dead bird!,,,,,,Some one looked up at the sky and said ”where”? lol. Hope you all have a great evening,…cold in Kent. Nite x x x x x

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Mar 7, ’10 Kid’s seem to grow up too fast these days. I wish we could turn back the clock and let them just be kids longer. I think that’s what the poem is saying.