{"product_id":"musical-tables-isbn-9780399589805","title":"Musical Tables","description":"\u003cb\u003eNATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the former United States Poet Laureate and \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eAimless Love, \u003c\/i\u003ea collection of more than 135 small poems, eleven of them new to this edition, and each a thought or observation compressed to its emotional essence\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e“Whenever I pick up a new book of poems, I flip through the pages looking for small ones. Just as I might have trust in an abstract painter more if I knew he or she could draw a credible chicken, I have faith in poets who can go short.”—Billy Collins\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYou can spot a Billy Collins poem immediately. The amiable voice, the light touch, the sudden turn at the end. He \"puts the ‘fun’  back in profundity,” says poet Alice Fulton. In his own words, his poems tend to “begin in Kansas and end in Oz.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNow “America’s favorite poet” (\u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e) has found a new form for his unique poetic style: the small poem. Here Collins writes about his trademark themes of nature, animals, poetry, mortality, absurdity, and love—all in a handful of lines. Neither haiku nor limerick, the small poem pushes to an extreme poetry’s famed power to condense emotional and conceptual meaning. Inspired by the small poetry of writers as diverse as William Carlos Williams, W.S. Merwin, Kay Ryan, and Charles Simic, and written with Collins’s recognizable wit and wisdom, the poems of \u003ci\u003eMusical Tables\u003c\/i\u003e show one of our greatest poets channeling his unique voice into a new phase of his exceptional career.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e3:00 AM\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eOnly my hand\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eis asleep,\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ebut it’s a start.\u003c\/i\u003e“The poetry of Billy Collins has a kindness that glitters with hard truth, and in \u003ci\u003eMusical Tables\u003c\/i\u003e he gives us a book of short, witty, often luminous snapshots of our sad and funny world.”\u003cb\u003e—Paul Simon\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Collins’s short poems warm the soul. Like koans and haiku, these micro-lyrics roam a range of tone and feeling, from elegies to epiphanies to bone-dry witticisms. . . . His formal compression is deft; his insights, arresting.”\u003cb\u003e—Oprah Daily\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Collins has said that the short poem is a sort of test for a poet: just as an artist should be able to draw a simple chicken, the poet should be able to channel meaning, emotion, profundity, and humor all through a couple of lines. Perhaps Collins is also aware of society’s rapidly diminishing attention span, but he has created an undaunting, readable book of poetry that will appeal to all ages and hit you where it hurts.”\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eLitHub\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Billy Collins, a former poet laureate of the United States, is a real gem. He’s a poet whose writing manages to be accessible, poignant and funny at the same time.”\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eThe Palm Beach Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eBilly Collins\u003c\/b\u003e is the 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 served as New York State Poet from 2004 to 2006. In 2016 he was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He lives in Florida with his wife, Suzannah.\u003cb\u003eMusical Tables \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNo one knew what to do \u003cbr\u003ewhen the music stopped, \u003cbr\u003eplus, the big tables were always in the way. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut soon it became the new game \u003cbr\u003ein spite of its pointlessness, \u003cbr\u003eor was that the reason for its popular appeal? \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHighway\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHitchhiking alone,\u003cbr\u003eI notice an ant\u003cbr\u003ewalking in the opposite direction.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAa\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt school,\u003cbr\u003ealways seen together,\u003cbr\u003ecapital and small,\u003cbr\u003eparent and child\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eholding hands,\u003cbr\u003eabout to cross\u003cbr\u003ethe street\u003cbr\u003ein Alphabet City.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Naked Eye\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThere was no eye lid\u003cbr\u003eto cover the naked eye\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eso she covered herself\u003cbr\u003ewith some scenery,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ea meadow she liked to look at\u003cbr\u003ewhen the other eye wasn’t looking.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eArgument from Design\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSix petals on each iris,\u003cbr\u003eevery other one\u003cbr\u003ewith a small yellow streak,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ewhich resembles a tiny vase,\u003cbr\u003eholding a few flowers of its own.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNew Calendar\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe poem of next year—\u003cbr\u003eevery week a line,\u003cbr\u003eevery month a stanza,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eand a tiny sun\u003cbr\u003erising and setting\u003cbr\u003ein every numbered square.National bestseller","brand":"Random House Trade Paperbacks","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46299745943781,"sku":"NP9780399589805","price":17.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780399589805.jpg?v=1767733198","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/musical-tables-isbn-9780399589805","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}