Musical Tables

"I’ve grown old–
now my own name
rings a bell."

In each of the short poems in Billy Collins’s Musical Tables, the former United States Poet Laureate tempers his characteristically jocular voice with what he calls the “thrill of mortality” – flashes of profundity amongst the mundane, startling reminders of the wonder of being alive.

Through the brevity of these poems, Collins’ knack for...