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Picnic, Lightning (Pitt Poetry Series)
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 811.54
EAN: 9780822956709
Edition: 1
ISBN: 0822956705
Label: University of Pittsburgh Press
Manufacturer: University of Pittsburgh Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 104
Publication Date: January 29, 1998
Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press
Studio: University of Pittsburgh Press
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Editorial Review:
In these playful, conversational poems, Billy Collins immerses us in the minutiae of a life--cow viewing, parsley chopping, "buzzing around on espresso"--and restores a sense of wonder. In a voice half confessional, half avuncular, he takes us by the hand and shares his deepest secrets. Whether shoveling snow with the Buddha, releasing Emily Dickinson from her corsets, spoofing Auden and Wordsworth, or putting words in the mouths of Victoria's Secret models ("So what if I am wearing nothing / but this stretch panne velvet bodysuit ... Do you have a problem with that?!"), Collins is a pure delight. In one of several poems in which jazz figures prominently, he amusingly considers well-known but ne'er-acknowledged facial expressions such as "the languorous droop," "pained concentration," and "existential bemusement." Similarly, in "Marginalia" he caps off a list of scribblings with a pointed request for all to step forward who "have managed to graduate from college / without ever having written 'Man vs. Nature'" in a margin.
Though there is plenty to make us laugh, Collins is more than a mere comic genius. On the contrary, he balances the ribald with the poignant, the over-the-top with the serenely beautiful:
And the soul is up on the roof
in her nightdress, straddling the ridge,
singing a song about the wildness of the sea
until the first rip of pink appears in the sky.
Then, they all will return to the sleeping body
the way a flock of birds settles back into a tree...
In the opening poem ("A Portrait of the Reader with a Bowl of Cereal"), Collins defies William Butler Yeats's advice to "never speak directly, / as to someone at the breakfast table." Instead, he promises to "lean forward, / elbows on the table, / with something to tell you." One hundred pages later, we thank him for a promise kept. --Martha Silano
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Picnic, Lightning
I really enjoyed Picnic, Lightning. I like poetry a lot. I really enjoyed this book because you can relate yourself to it in so many differnt ways. Anyone who reads a poem from this book and interpret it in their own way. You can make the poem be whatever you want it to be.
For example, i was reading Aristotle and the futher i got into the poem i started to think he might have been talking to a high school student and giving them a dose of reality. I started to ponder this and realized ... Read More
Rating: - A note to the more gullible members of the audience
I love Billy Collins, he is a genious poet. He can take the most mundane topics, turning ten, a new day, a peach, and make them in to fascinating topics to read about.
I would like to note however - the paradelle is NOT a real form of poetry from 11th century France. He made it up. You've been hoaxed if you believed this. It may be hard to write - but intentionally so. The man prefers free verse - he was mocking fixed styles.
So if you here any comments about the questionable ... Read More
Rating: - good
I don't know what else to say about Billy Collins that I haven't said elsewhere. He's a remarkable poet, who does his thing and does it well. Picnic, Lightning is a pretty solid collection of poems, though if you have Collins's selected poems there's no need to pick this one up. Those that weren't included in the selected aren't very good, with the exception of "I Go Back to the House For a Book," which I think is a marvelous poem and should have been included in the selected poems.
Rating: - A Study in Being
"I like writing about where I am,
where I happen to be sitting,
The humidity or the clouds,
The scene outside the window-
A pink tree in bloom,
A neighbor walking his small, nervous dog."
Billy Collins seems to have moments of brilliance within poems discussing ordinary aspects of everyday living. Is this part of his charm? I think for someone to find beauty in the ordinary, you have to have a vivid imagination and transform the simple into the magnificent.
... Read More
Rating: - Light-lit Vignettes
Billy Collins fulfills Wordsworth's image of "spots of time" captured and later reflected upon. Though Collins's messages and meanings are subtler than Wordsworth's, Collins connects with feelings and moments common to many of us. His inspiration from daily life, from which he draws Keillor-esque observations, quenched my fears that as a writer, I must draw from exotic experiences uncommon to my readers. A peaceful read at Saturday breakfast.
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