Welcome back to The Daily Poem, a podcast from Goldberry Studios.

I'm Sean Johnson, and today is Friday, March 22, 2004.

Today's poem is by Billy Collins.

The former U.S. Poet Laureate turns 83 today.

Though to me, he will always be the sardonic poet in his mid-50s, reading his works

aloud on the audio collection, the best cigarette that he released in 1997.

And one of the poems he reads on that album, I was originally published the year before in poetry magazine, it's called Marginalia.

This is a poem ostensibly about the way that humans tend to write on the edges of their pages as they read books.

But one of the things I love about the poem,

one is that it's a collection of relatable experiences

and also some nice concrete images.

But two, that it ends up being a poem about the reason that we read.

I could say reasons, but ultimately the reason that we read, which is not to be alone,

although sometimes you read more successfully alone.

I know that there are times when I try and hide from my children so that I can read in peace for a few minutes.

But we ultimately read to know that we're not alone.

Reading is a communal act.

We read so that we can talk about the things

we've read with other people, but we also read because to read is to be part of a conversation

with other people and to feel a common human feeling with other people and be reminded and

reassured that there are others out there who feel common human feeling with other people and be reminded and reassured that there are others out there who feel common human feeling with us,

which is where the poem ultimately arrives in the end.

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