I am regularly amazed at how unrelentingly and completely relational identity is. I noticed this when my children were old enough to start figuring out who was who in our family. They would say things like, “So Aunt Nancy is Mommy’s sister and Uncle Jim is Daddy’s brother. Grammy is...

I didn’t set out to make February “Billy Collins Month”, but it appears that I have. ☺ So one more of my favorites: “Forgetfulness.” If you have a parent or sibling or friend who has experienced memory loss, you know how painful and frightening it can be. Memory, in so many ways,...

I am on a Billy Collins kick of late. I don’t usually choose from the same poet this often, but you’ll have to forgive me: it’s February. And my school is currently a mess. And I feel I’ve been pulled to one of those unexpected and, frankly, uninvited vocational and existential...

Billy Collins is probably my favorite living poet for several reasons. He never fails to help me see whatever he’s talking about in a new way. He regularly makes me feel like poetry is accessible by making his poetry accessible. He chooses everyday, down to earth topics and uses them to help...

I don’t know what made me think of this poem today. Perhaps it’s that we’re moving into the days of high school graduations, when 17 and 18 year-olds venture out into the world ready to seek out a job, serve their country, or venture into the territory of higher education, or...