Thanks to Heidi for hosting Poetry Friday today. What I love about our Poetry Friday community is that someone will have an idea and we will run with it. Not only is Heidi hosting, she encouraged us to find a Billy Collins poem in honor of his birthday later this month.
I love this quote by him:
The first line is the DNA of the poem; the rest of the poem is constructed out of that first line. A lot of it has to do with tone because tone is the key signature for the poem. The basis of trust for a reader used to be meter and end-rhyme. Billy Collins
And there is a poem at The Poetry Foundation which I love.
The First Line of a Poem
Before it flutters into my mouth
I might spend days squinting
into the wind
Like an old man
trying to thread a needle
by a window
in the dying light of late afternoon.
The rest of the poem is HERE.
At Deowriter, I took 10 words and wrote a first draft of a poem, At the First Light of Day
Do you want a student made Poetry Postcard? Signup HERE
Happy Friday.
Happy Poetry.
Check It Out 
Oh, that is just lovely! And I don’t usually expect *lovely* from Billy, exactly, and yet there it is, plus the cleverwise treatise on the first line, and the homely familiar image of him sitting by his window stitching. In my travels through my three books I noticed how often there he is…
Wonderful! I didn’t know this one. Thanks so much for sharing. I love how far he took the metaphor. I love that he didn’t stop after needle.
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Oooh…this one is new to me. I can’t wait to share it with my students!
I like this poem you showcased here, Jone. I am excited that your Student Poetry Postcard project is on again for another year.
Fun idea!
It’s astonishing to me that I continue to read new or unremembered poems by BC! Thanks for this one — Love Love Love it!
It’s been so inspiring reading all of these Billy Collins poems, especially the ones that are new-to-me, like this one. Thanks for sharing, Jone!
I like the words you took from it, Jone.
The image of a poem fluttering through one’s mouth – exquisite!