Ballistics - Book Review

I thoroughly enjoyed Ballistics, Billy Collins' latest collection of poetry, but then I'm a superfan so that shouldn't come as any surprise. More delightful, wryly funny, gently-observed, forgiving poems by the former Poet Laureate of the United States.

It's hard to pick a favorite but let's go with the last one of the book:

Envoy

Go, little book,
out of this house and into the world.

carriage made of paper rolling toward town
bearing a single passenger
beyond the reach of this jittery pen
far from the desk and nosy gooseneck lamp.

It is time to decamp,
put on a jacket and venture outside
time to be regarded by other eyes,
bound to be held in foreign hands.

So off you go, infant of the brain,
with a wave and some bits of fatherly advice:

stay out as long as you like,
don't bother to call or write,
and talk to as many strangers as you can.

"Nosey gooseneck lamp." Love it.

What else can I say about Collins that I haven't already said? Nothing, I suppose, so I'll just leave you with a high recommendation for this book or any others he's written.