<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><h1 style="font-weight: normal; padding: 0px; margin: 10px 0px 3px;" class=""><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">Workshop</font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class=""><br class=""></font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">I might as well begin by saying how much I like the title. </font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">It gets me right away because I’m in a workshop now </font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">so immediately the poem has my attention,</font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">like the Ancient Mariner grabbing me by the sleeve.</font></span></div><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;"><span class="s1"><font size="4" class=""> </font></span></p><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">And I like the first couple of stanzas,</font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">the way they establish this mode of self-pointing</font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">that runs through the whole poem</font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">and tells us that words are food thrown down </font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">on the ground for other words to eat. </font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">I can almost taste the tail of the snake </font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">in its own mouth,</font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">if you know what I mean.</font></span></div><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;"><span class="s1"><font size="4" class=""> </font></span></p><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">But what I’m not sure about is the voice,</font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">which sounds in places very casual, very blue jeans, </font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">but other times seems standoffish,</font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">professorial in the worst sense of the word</font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">like the poem is blowing pipe smoke in my face. </font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">But maybe that’s just what it wants to do.</font></span></div><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;"><span class="s1"><font size="4" class=""> </font></span></p><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">What I did find engaging were the middle stanzas, </font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">especially the fourth one.</font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">I like the image of clouds flying like lozenges </font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">which gives me a very clear picture.</font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">And I really like how this drawbridge operator </font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">just appears out of the blue</font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">with his feet up on the iron railing</font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">and his fishing pole jigging—I like jigging—</font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">a hook in the slow industrial canal below.</font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">I love slow industrial canal below. All those <em class="">l</em>’s.</font></span></div><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;"><span class="s1"><font size="4" class=""> </font></span></p><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">Maybe it’s just me,</font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">but the next stanza is where I start to have a problem. </font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">I mean how can the evening bump into the stars? </font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">And what’s an obbligato of snow?</font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">Also, I roam the decaffeinated streets.</font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">At that point I’m lost. I need help.</font></span></div><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;"><span class="s1"><font size="4" class=""> </font></span></p><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">The other thing that throws me off,</font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">and maybe this is just me,</font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">is the way the scene keeps shifting around. </font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">First, we’re in this big aerodrome</font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">and the speaker is inspecting a row of dirigibles, </font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">which makes me think this could be a dream. </font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">Then he takes us into his garden,</font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">the part with the dahlias and the coiling hose, </font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">though that’s nice, the coiling hose,</font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">but then I’m not sure where we’re supposed to be. </font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">The rain and the mint green light,</font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">that makes it feel outdoors, but what about this wallpaper? </font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">Or is it a kind of indoor cemetery?</font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">There’s something about death going on here.</font></span></div><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;"><span class="s1"><font size="4" class=""> </font></span></p><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">In fact, I start to wonder if what we have here </font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">is really two poems, or three, or four, </font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">or possibly none.</font></span></div><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;"><span class="s1"><font size="4" class=""> </font></span></p><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">But then there’s that last stanza, my favorite.</font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">This is where the poem wins me back,</font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">especially the lines spoken in the voice of the mouse.</font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">I mean we’ve all seen these images in cartoons before,</font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">but I still love the details he uses</font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">when he’s describing where he lives.</font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">The perfect little arch of an entrance in the baseboard, </font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">the bed made out of a curled-back sardine can, </font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">the spool of thread for a table.</font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">I start thinking about how hard the mouse had to work </font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">night after night collecting all these things</font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">while the people in the house were fast asleep, </font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">and that gives me a very strong feeling,</font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">a very powerful sense of something.</font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">But I don’t know if anyone else was feeling that. </font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">Maybe that was just me.</font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class="">Maybe that’s just the way I read it.</font></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><font size="4" class=""><span class="s1"></span><br class=""></font></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><font size="4" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>- Billy Collins</font></span></div><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: normal; widows: 1;"><span class="s1"><font size="4" class=""> </font></span></p></h1></body></html>