Envoy, by Billy Collins

Hello Poets,
I'm not a writer, but if I was, my first book would be sent out into the dark world with similar feelings. 
Billy Collins, thanks goodness, is an exceptional writer. This was the last poem in his 2008 collection, Ballistics. 
Best,
Sam


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 jitter pen,
far from the desk and the 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, infants of the brain,
with a wave and some bits of fatherly advice:

stay out a late as you like,
don’t bother to call or write
and talk to as many strangers as you can.

by Billy Collins, from Ballistics, 2008

Towards A New Renaissance, by Rachael Boast

Hello Poets,
The remarkable Scottish English poet Rachael Boast writes a note to a friend.
How many such seekers do we know?
Best,
Sam


Towards A New Renaissance

Dear Friend with a crescent moon above your door,
I have heard that you are overcome by poetry,

that you are afloat somewhere inside the world’s great
sorrow, with the language of love as your compass.

You have been gone a long time, a white sail
full of clear sky, and no land in sight.

One such as you will become an ocean unto itself
because you learn and live your craft well.

Don’t forget to report back to us - I have a feeling
the universal winds are sensitive to words.


by Rachael Boast, from The Heart as Origami, 2005