The Sensational Nightingale

I'll never be as good a writer as Billy Collins. Sometimes I like to take refuge in thinking that I am young, still developing my abilities - Grandma Moses didn't start painting until she was in her seventies. I have good ideas stored up, some things that, if I can get them recorded properly, might make people try to smile and cry at the same time - the hallmark of the best writing, in my opinion. But Billy Collins does that to me with practically every poem. I can see the trajectory ahead, and I can see I'll fall short, perhaps disastrously short. I should just sigh and be grateful that there is a Billy Collins out there, producing all of the poems I wish I could.