Poet's Prodigy

Painting by Marko Jacobi


Poet's Prodigy


1.
The person in the poem is a character like a
character in fiction whom the poet has invented--
without clothes or a family, or a place of birth,
just a voice--to convey himself. Any resemblance
he bears to the poet you meet on a signing line
is slightly less than coincidental. Meeting the
author is one of life's most reliably
disappointing experiences, not because authors
are such nasty people, but because you have
already met them under the best possible
circumstance--on the page.

2.
The person in the poem is a character
like a character in fiction
whom the poet has invented--
without clothes or a family,
or a place of birth,
just a voice--to convey himself.
Any resemblance he bears to the poet
you meet on a signing line
is slightly less than coincidental.
Meeting the author is one of life's
most reliably disappointing experiences,
not because authors are such nasty people,
but because you have already met them
under the best possible circumstance--
on the page.

Billy Collins

Posted over on BookRags
1. Collins prose quote
2. Line breaks by Glenn Buttkus