Beneath the Surface

So this week I have been reading up on some of the poetry that has been produced within the last ten years or so.  To explain what a strange phenomenon this is for me, I must admit that I haven’t read this much contemporary poetry since I was a grade-schooler addicted to the whimsical poetry of Mr. Shel Siverstein.  (“Boa Constrictor” and “Sick” are still among my favorites!)  Basically I have been looking at 21^st-century poetry to see if I could make a comparison between it and the poetry of the modern era, and much to my delight, I happened upon some poetry that I so enjoyed I didn’t want to stop reading.

The author of this poetry is Billy Collins, American poet who was the Poet Laureate of the U.S. from 2001 to 2003.  To be truthful, I simply wandered into his poetry while trying to figure out who the “big” poets are nowadays.  I just don’t read poetry much anymore, and even when I used to (in small doses), the authors were always dead ones that lived at least 100 years or so before my time.  So I found myself on poets.org where I found Collins’ name at the top of the site’s “Most Popular Contemporary Poets” list.  I first read his poem “Litany,” and from there I was hooked.  From there, I kept reading poem after poem, truly delighted by his light-hearted wit and subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) sarcasm.  I even laughed out loud when reading his poem “Candle Hat,” where he mentions Francisco de Goya “laughing like a birthday cake” while showing his wife his now-famous hat.

Perhaps the heart-warming playfulness found in his verse reminds me of Silverstein a bit; every once in a while I enjoy reading poetry that doesn’t require me to wade through its depths—that doesn’t confound me at every turn of phrase.  Yet in this same vein, Silverstein’s poetry is not the only comparison to be made to Collins’.  A connection can also be made to the poetry of the modern British poet Stevie Smith.  I have also been reading her poetry this week as well, and I see at least one very striking similarity between her writing and that of Collins.  Although they both have written light, fun and playful poems, beneath the surface of much of their poetry lays greater depth and meaning.  Now, don’t get me wrong—they both have written poetry that is simply fun and humorous (see Smith’s “The Englishwoman” and Collins’ “Flames”), but they both also have a wonderful knack for using their light-hearted verse to make a deeper point.  Two poems that do just that and in very similar ways:  “Not Waving but Drowning” by Smith and “Embrace” by Collins, which both speak of people who are not doing as well as they seem to be.

So all in all, I’ve had a pretty enjoyable week in the world of poetry.  And another thing that I thought was kind of interesting:  Stevie Smith illustrated much of her poetry with black and white line drawings much like the illustrations that accompany Silverstein’s own poems.  Well… no wonder I like Smith’s poems!