My Review of Sailing Alone Around The Room

I love the poems in this book with a subtle message. One poem in particular is Advice to Writers. In this poem, Collins says that good writing is polished writing. Therefore, the writing process should be deliberate and never rushed. I loved the poem Aristole. It has so many creative metaphors about the cycle of life contained in the poem. Collins compares the beginning of life to a fish wriggling onto land. He also compares the beginning of life to a first move in a chess game. In the same poem, he compares the middle of life like cities filled with people with a million schemes and looks. Finally, Collins compares the end of life to the last elephant in a parade. I found all the metaphors in this poem to be so insightful.

Billy Collins has several poems about animals in this book. He associates different animals with several human feelings. He writes about the plight of tortured cows in the poem Afternoon with Irish Cows. He ponders the reason for the blindness of mice which is an allusion to the nursery rhyme Three Blind Mice. He writes about how a dog can feel so alone and unwanted in the poem To A Stranger Born in Some Distant Country Hundreds of Years From Now.

Some of Billy Collins poems are obviously composed just by observing everyday life. A good example of this is poem The Waitress. In this poem, he writes about all the people who have waited on him in his life. Collins imagines how liberating it must feel for waitresses to be free of their duties in a wonderful metaphor. He writes about how the movies can help someone escape the pressures of everyday life. Sailing Alone Around the Room is an excellent book. Reading it has inspired me to continue writing my own poetry.