A note on lanyards

Out of all the poetry readings I’ve ever attended, I’ve laughed the most while listening to Billy Collins. There’s one poem in particular that I’ve been meaning to share with you, and the other day… I was reminded of it.

I was watching an episode of the West Wing, and one of the characters complained about what he was asked to do. “You want me to go overseas,” he asked, “wear a whistle and teach everyone how to make lanyards?”

It’s a weird word, lanyard, and one that jumped out. I was immediately reminded of the Billy Collins poem of the same title, and remembered how much it made me laugh.

I’m not going to provide you a definition, as Collins does so in the poem. I didn’t know what a lanyard was when I first heard it, but the poem still made sense to me.

This is a big pet peeve with me and poems – using terms/phrases that may be unfamiliar to the reader. Things like mythological references, for example. Not everyone knows them. A good poem, in my mind, does its fair share of the work. If literary references are made then the poem does its part, helping readers who might otherwise not be familiar with them.

That said, this is one of the big reasons why I like Collins so much, and why I think he’s so successful as a poet. His poems are inviting and warm. If he drops a name or a reference, his poem helps to guide any reader who might feel lost. A lot of poetry out there is willfully mysterious, requiring a lot out of the reader before allowing them in. A difficult barrier to entry is, in my opinion, one of the main reasons why more people aren’t reading poetry; those “willfully mysterious” poems are what cause people to link the word “poetry” with the word “pretentious.”

Whew! That little rant sort of came out of nowhere. What I meant to say is that I like this poem. I think it does a good job familiarizing readers who might not know what a “lanyard” is. And to top it off, this poem cracks my shit up.

Will and Karen know what I’m talking about, as the three of us heard Collins read last October.

I was able to track down an audio file of him reading the poem. Hearing Collins read this poem is quite the hoot, as he’s an excellent reader. Go to this installment of Prairie Home Companion and listen to Segment 2. Collins’ reading kicks in at about 12:45.

And for those of you who want to avoid using the evil Real Player, check out Real Alternative.