Reading in the Dark
Billy Collins on George Bilgere’s “Schwinn”
Schwinn
One day my mother astonished me
by getting astride my bike,
the heavy old balloon-tired Schwinn
I used for my afternoon paper route,
and pedaling away down the street,
skirt flying, hair blown back,
a girl again in the wind and speed
that had nothing to do
with pulling double shifts at the hospital,
or cooking meatloaf, or sewing up my jeans,
the old bike carrying her away
from my father dead of booze,
and her own nightly bottle
of red wine in front of the news.
She flew down the road so far
I could barely see her,
then slowly pedaled back to me,
and stepped off the bike, my mom again.
From Blood Pages (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2018). All rights reserved. Reprinted with the permission of the author.
In response to the Coronavirus pandemic, we asked poets to write about the poems they return to in difficult times—to find solace, perspective, or even a moment of delight. Subscribe to the PSA newsletter for more Reading In The Dark responses and to keep updated with the PSA.
I’m in the habit of reading a poem, or often a few of them, first thing in the morning. The language of the world in the form of conversations, email and the like will soon fill my ears and my head. I like to get some poetry in there before that happens.
Like many others, I’m not someone one who turns to poetry only in times of crisis. The phrase turning to poetry
suggests to me that people in non-crisis times, that is most of the time, are usually turned away from poetry, even have their backs to it. I think that’s because many people have a limited and distorted idea of what poetry is and what it can do.
The notion that a crisis like the terrorist attacks of 9/11 or even the overwhelming coronavirus pandemic would cause one to seek out poetry or a single poem emphasizes only one of its functions—that is, to console. This puts us on shaky ground because one person’s consolation can seem maudlin or even hilarious to another person. A preference for comic poetry as a relief from the seriousness and darkness of a crisis might strike some as irreverent or (gasp) inappropriate. Yet the high goofiness of Ron Padgett’s poems or the seriocomic charm of George Bilgere’s, to pick two examples that readily come to mind, might be just what a person needs to leaven the fear and fretting that comes with troubled times.
—Billy Collins
Billy Collins has published numerous collections of poetry. His collection, Whale Day And Other Poems, is forthcoming in September. He was the United States Poet Laureate from 2001-2003.
