April 21, Easter 4B (Psalm 23; John 10:11–18)

In the poem “Introduction to Poetry,” Billy Collins laments his students’ tendency to approach a poem with weapons drawn. The former US poet laureate paints a portrait of the delight he hopes they will embrace when encountering verse:

I ask them to take a poem 
and hold it up to the light 
like a color slide

or press an ear against its hive.