Book Review -- "Nine Horses"

     Today I am reviewing a poetry collection written by Billy Collins entitled "Nine Horses".  Billy Collins is one of the more well-known poets writing today.  Mr. Collins was the Poet Laureate of the United States, and he has written approximately ten other books of poems.

     Many people who don't read poetry on a regular basis find much of contemporary poetry to be difficult to read and understand.  This is not the case with Billy Collins' poetry.  Like Mary Oliver, who is one of my favorite poets, Collins expresses himself in images that readers are able to grasp.  His subject matter is often the simple and everyday things that we encounter in life.

     If you are not a regular reader of poetry, or if you read poetry everyday, I believe that you will enjoy the poems in "Nine Horses".  

     I have worked as a poet for several years, and I've been privileged to be published in a number of literary journals.  So few people that I meet have any desire to read poetry.  I think that in a number of cases that they just haven't given poetry a try.  Billy Collins, Mary Oliver, Ted Kooser and Dana Goia are good, modern poets to begin reading.  Robert Frost is a great poet of the twentieth century whose work is very accessible.  

     Some of the other poets who I enjoy are Juan Ramon Jimenez, Frederico Garcia Lorca, Robert Herrick, William Wordsworth, Robinson Jeffers, William Carlos Williams and Mark Doty.  There are so many more to mention.  I recommend just going to the library and choosing a few poetry books and reading them.  You never know what you might discover.