I WOULD LIKE TO WRITE A BILLY COLLINS’ POEM 
 
I would like to write a Billy Collins poem-  
Not for Billy Collins  
But to show that I could be as imaginative in story  
As humorous and humane as he is-  
 
But I can’t write that poem. 
 
I don’t have his gift for the everyday experience 
And for surprising metaphor  
For those qualities good poets ordinarily have- 
 
I would like to write a Billy Collins poem 
To show that I can be a good poet too. 
But probably I am just a different kind of thing entirely. 
  
Still reading Billy Collins poems has added a bit  
To my sense of what Poetry is-  
 
It is remarkable all the wonderful gifts others have  
One can appreciate  
Without having oneself.
Shalom Freedman
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/i-would-like-to-write-a-billy-collins-poem/