Poetry Friday: Evasive Maneuvers (by Billy Collins)

I headed to southern Minnesota for two days of school visits, which went great. Part of my presentation involves sharing with kids how I was always reading as a kid, even when my parents insisted I go outside to play and get fresh air. I share a picture of me sitting up in a tree, reading a book.

Now I’m snowed in for an extra day because a ginormous snowstorm hit yesterday when I was supposed to drive home. I was driving on a highway able to see nothing in front of me except white and one dimming pair of red taillights (dimming as they quickly covered with ice). It was terrifying. Couldn’t see the road…and meanwhile, as snow was dumping from the sky, it was actually thundering and lightning occasionally too, since I was right near the border of where it switched from thunderstorm to blizzard. It was amazing. And I was much happier once I reached a safe hotel to spend the night!

I pulled out one of the books I brought with me, Ballistics, by Billy Collins. It was a Christmas gift from my husband, Randy. I hadn’t had a chance to read yet, and it was a treat to read some of it over the past couple of quiet nights. This poem in particular made me smile in recognition.

Evasive Maneuvers I grew up hiding from the other children. I would break off from the pack on its patrol of the streets every Saturday and end up alone behind a hedge or down a dim hallway in a strange basement. No one ever came looking for me, which only added to the excitement. … And I hid behind books, usually one of the volumes of the encyclopedia that was kept behind glass in a bookcase, the letters of the alphabet in gold. Before I knew how to read, I sat in an armchair in the living room and turned the pages, without a clue about the worlds that were pressed between D and F, M and O, W and Z. Read the complete poem here.

This poem also made me smile because Randy grew up reading the Book of Knowledge encylopedias over and over again. Which partially explains why he always wins the trivia games.