Amanda Westmont's Reviews > Horoscopes for the Dead

Horoscopes for the Dead by Billy Collins

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2359677
's review
Apr 30, 11

bookshelves: recommended
Read from April 27 to 30, 2011 — I own a copy, read count: 1

I dislike poetry as a rule - it usually feels so written, like it's trying too hard. But everything Collins writes is magic. I wish I could try on his brain for a day just to see the world in his vocabulary.

My favorite poem in Horoscopes for the Dead was this one, called, What She Said:

When he told me he expected me to pay for dinner,
I was like give me a break.

I was not the exact equivalent of give me a break.
I was just similar to give me a break.

As I said, I was like give me a break.

I would love to tell you
how I was able to resemble give me a break
without actually being identical to give me a break,

but all I can say is that I sensed
a similarity between me and give me a break.

And that was close enough
at that point in the evening

even if it meant I would fall short
of standing up from the table and screaming
give me a break,

for God's sake will you please give me a break?!

No, for that moment
with the rain streaking the restaurant windows
and the waiter approaching,

I felt the most I could be was like

to a certain degree

give me a break.


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