Introduction To Poetry by Billy Collins

or press an ear against its hive.

I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,

or walk inside the poem’s room
and feel the walls for a light switch.

I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author’s name on the shore.

But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.

They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.

Billy Collins 是美國詩人，出身於紐約市，擅長談話式詩作。我很喜歡這首詩，簡明亦親切地討論看詩的態度。詩人邀請我們看一首詩如同拿著一張色彩的照片在燈光下細察，擠著耳朵聆聽它如蜂巢發出的聲音，又像一隻老鼠運用牠的鬚嗅出通道，亦像走進一間漆黑的房間摸出開燈掣，或像滑雪馳程一樣看見在彼岸的詩人，與詩人產生共鳴，看詩其實可以這樣充滿趣味。

但是，有些詩作很艱深，我們有時也會很苦惱，一直求問究竟它的意思是甚麼。那個時候，我們就會torture a confession out of it 又或者beating it with a hose，這樣的情況好多時都會出現，可是詩人好像不大認同這種看詩的態度呢。