"Poet laureate leaves them laughing at OU"

Abstract

America's Poet Laureate Billy Collins sent more than 500 OU students, faculty, staff and visitors through a whirl of emotions Sept. 13, knocking them off their chairs with hilarious sentiments about his dog's freedom from material possessions and leaving them awestruck as they imagined an exquisite moment between a man and woman on a subway train. Since 2000, when he accepted the post of poet laureate and its accompanying Library of Congress office with its 'CNN view of the Capitol,' Collins has tried to take poetry back to the people."