{"product_id":"water-water-isbn-9780593731048","title":"Water, Water","description":"\u003cb\u003eNATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the former Poet Laureate of the United States and \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eAimless Love\u003c\/i\u003e comes a wondrous new collection of poems focused on the joys and mysteries of daily life.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e“Among the best poems that [Billy] Collins has ever written.”—Maureen Corrigan, NPR\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e“Witty, wry and tender when it hurts, \u003ci\u003eWater\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eWater\u003c\/i\u003e is a pleasure to read and easy to give.”—\u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e“Collins remains the most companionable of poetic companions.”\u003ci\u003e—The New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOne of \u003ci\u003ePeople\u003c\/i\u003e’s Best New Books\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn this collection of sixty new poems, Billy Collins writes about the beauties and ironies of everyday experience. A poem is best, he feels, when it begins in clarity but ends with a whiff of mystery. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eWater, Water\u003c\/i\u003e, Collins combines his vigilant attention and respect for the peripheral to create moments of delight. Common and uncommon events are captured here with equal fascination, be it a cat leaning to drink from a swimming pool, a nurse calling a name in a waiting room, or an astronaut reciting Emily Dickinson from outer space. With his trademark lyrical informality, Collins asks us to slow down and glimpse the elevated in the ordinary, the odd in the familiar. It’s no surprise that \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e both call Collins one of America’s favorite poets.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Monet Conundrum\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIs every one of these poems\u003cbr\u003edifferent from the others\u003cbr\u003ehe asked himself,\u003cbr\u003eas the rain quieted down,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eor are they all the same poem,\u003cbr\u003ehaystack after haystack\u003cbr\u003eat different times of day,\u003cbr\u003edifferent shadows and shades of hay?“Witty, wry and tender when it hurts, \u003ci\u003eWater\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eWater\u003c\/i\u003e is a pleasure to read and easy to give.”\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e—The Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Poems that center the beauty in the mundane . . . [Collins’s] approachable verses are a delightful balm.”\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e—People\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“These poems offer variations on the theme of finding wonder in everyday things. They shimmer with wry revelation, a bright tonic in a fading year.”\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e—Christian Science Monitor\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Among the best poems that Collins has ever written.”\u003cb\u003e—Maureen Corrigan, NPR\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“Every page of this delightfully readable collection of poems by a former U.S. poet laureate will remind you of the pleasures of the simple act of observation, putting ordinary moments and common sights into words. Collins’s humor, kindness, and unassuming intelligence infuse every subject: a lost dog, a flash of memory, a bowl of cereal and berries, a wife in her yellow robe. A perfect topper for your bedside stack.”\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e—Good Housekeeping\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eBilly Collins\u003c\/b\u003e is a former Poet Laureate of the United States. He is the author of twelve collections of poetry, including the bestsellers \u003ci\u003eAimless Love\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Trouble with Poetry\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eSailing Alone Around the Room.\u003c\/i\u003e He is also the editor of \u003ci\u003ePoetry 180, 180 More,\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eBright Wings\u003c\/i\u003e. A former Distinguished Professor at Lehman College of the City University of New York, Collins also served as New York State Poet. In 2016 he was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He lives in Florida with his wife, Suzannah.\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eFire\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI’m having a swell time reading \u003ci\u003eLonesome Dove\u003c\/i\u003e,\u003cbr\u003eglad I still have 400 pages to go,\u003cbr\u003ebut this paperback is one\u003cbr\u003eof a thousand things around me\u003cbr\u003eI would not grab as I dashed into the street\u003cbr\u003eif the house ever decided to burst into flames.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI probably couldn’t find the cat\u003cbr\u003efor all the smoke filling every room,\u003cbr\u003eso let me see, give me a minute . . . \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI should have thought of this earlier\u003cbr\u003ebefore the fire trucks arrived\u003cbr\u003eand men in helmets were rushing past me.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut here I am out on the lawn in a bathrobe\u003cbr\u003ewith a few sleepy neighbors,\u003cbr\u003ered lights flashing all over us.\u003cbr\u003eI’m holding a photograph to my chest\u003cbr\u003eand the cat is sitting next to me,\u003cbr\u003eapparently mesmerized by the flames.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI’m happy with my choice\u003cbr\u003eas I look down at you and me in a frame.\u003cbr\u003eHere’s a chance for a fresh start, I figure.\u003cbr\u003eAnd as for the ashes of \u003ci\u003eLonesome Dove\u003c\/i\u003e,\u003cbr\u003eI can always get another copy, or maybe\u003cbr\u003ethat’s just where I was meant to stop reading.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMarijuana\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen I was young and dreamy,\u003cbr\u003eI longed to be a poet,\u003cbr\u003enot one with his arms\u003cbr\u003ewrapped around the universe\u003cbr\u003eor on his knees before a goddess,\u003cbr\u003enot waving from Mount Parnassus\u003cbr\u003enor wearing a cape like Lord Byron,\u003cbr\u003erather just reporting on a dog or an orange.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut one soft night in California\u003cbr\u003eI walked outside during a party,\u003cbr\u003elay down on the lawn\u003cbr\u003ebeneath a lively sky,\u003cbr\u003eand after an interlude of nonstop gazing,\u003cbr\u003eI happened to swallow the moon,\u003cbr\u003eyes, I opened my mouth in awe\u003cbr\u003eand swallowed the full moon whole.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd the moon dwelled within me\u003cbr\u003ewhen I returned to the lights of the party,\u003cbr\u003ewhere I was welcomed back\u003cbr\u003ewith understanding and hilarity\u003cbr\u003eand was recognized long into the night\u003cbr\u003eas \u003ci\u003eThe Man Who Swallowed the Moon\u003c\/i\u003e,\u003cbr\u003ehe who had walked out of a storybook\u003cbr\u003eand was dancing now with a girl in the kitchen. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eOde to Joy\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFriedrich Schiller called Joy \u003ci\u003ethe spark of divinity\u003c\/i\u003e,\u003cbr\u003ebut she visits me on a regular basis,\u003cbr\u003eand it doesn’t take much for her to appear—\u003cbr\u003ethe salt next to the pepper by the stove,\u003cbr\u003ethe garbage man ascending his station\u003cbr\u003eon the back of the moving garbage truck,\u003cbr\u003eor I’m just eating a banana\u003cbr\u003ein the car and listening to Buddy Guy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn other words, she seems down to earth,\u003cbr\u003elike a girl getting off a bus with a suitcase\u003cbr\u003eand no one’s there to meet her.\u003cbr\u003eIt’s a little after 4 in the afternoon,\u003cbr\u003eone of the first warm days of spring.\u003cbr\u003eShe sits on her suitcase to wait\u003cbr\u003eand slides on her sunglasses.\u003cbr\u003eHow do I know she’s listening to the birds?National bestseller","brand":"Random House Trade Paperbacks","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48233830613221,"sku":"NP9780593731048","price":17.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780593731048.jpg?v=1767743633","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/water-water-isbn-9780593731048","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}