Sailing Through Life

Jeanette Hardage found inspiration in the writing of Billy Collins, U.S. Poet Laureate from 2001-2003, to the point that she incorporated some of her favorite phrases from his book Sailing Alone Around the Room into a poem of her own. She called this a “silly” poem in a letter to a relative, which perhaps explains why she did not publish it, but it works both as an homage to Billy Collins as well as a window into her approach to life.

The Collins poems from which Jeanette’s borrowed phrases were taken generally share a theme of living in the present. Don’t dwell on the past, he urges; devote your days to the simple pleasures of daily life, including writing, dancing, walking to the store, frolicking at the beach, and enjoying your coffee and some good music. In her poem, Jeanette applies this light touch to living as she goes about her daily activities as a housewife, flitting about performing her mundane tasks, all the while contemplating poetry and art and other lofty topics.

Jeanette takes poetic license with some of the facts in this poem, especially those having to do with walking the dog–the Hardage family only ever owned a dog once for a couple of days–and with the mysterious “Aunt Sue.” Many people can attest, though, that it would not have been unusual to find her husband Owen “snoring heavily on the couch.” He is shown here in a couch pose from 1960.

The last line of her poem contains a bit of irony. Collins’ Advice to Writers says that “the more you clean, the more brilliant your writing will be.” Jeanette is clearly spending her day at cleaning and other household chores, but claims that it is “just too much work for brilliant writing.” Yet one could say that she was not too overworked to write down this brilliant little piece. (Links to the referenced Billy Collins works are included below.)

Billy Collins

Sailed around the room
And found lots of good stuff
Can a poem fly out the door
Give it a try
Start in the kitchen
But the floor needs scrubbing
And the absurdity of formal clothes
Not your Good Housekeeping Model
Forget it–move on
Bathroom
The orchestra sliding into the sea
Living room best bet
But wait
Pick up after the kids
And hubby
Snoring heavily on the couch
A spot on the carpet
Spot Shot to the rescue
Look at Aunt Sue’s picture
Walking across the Atlantic
Crooked
Again
And another nick in the coffee table
Have to take the dog
For a quick walk
On sun-riddled Tuesday
While I’m sailing
I can get those cobwebs
The paint needs touching up in spots
No time for the whole room
This sailing business
Is just too much work
For brilliant writing.

On lines from Billy Collins’ Sailing Alone Around the Room