Aimless Love

Former poet laureate of the United States, Billy Collins has written a good number of books of poems. Why read this one? First of all, the cover art is great. :) But on a more serious note, it's a good book. Collins has an unmistakable voice that welcomes a broad readership to contemporary poetry. The topics of his poems are universal: love, life, death, small rodents that accidentally set fire to the house. Read more here on my blog.

The last 50 are new, the others you may already have. It's hard to write poetry in volume, so this is one way to sell it. Collins' poetry is very accessible and often humorous, but, as others have said, there may be an underlying darkness. Overall, it is superb, and this collection would be a nice place to start. I found an autographed copy at Books & Books in Coral Gables.