On Fridays, I usually post a poem for my students to read and discuss. This week we looked at Billy Collins’s poem Today. This has been a favorite of mine for a long time. When I looked back on my blog, I found a poem I wrote after Today in 2011. (See the post here.) My students were shocked by this because none of them were even born at that time.
Today begins with a wonderful line for getting into a poem, “If ever there were a spring day so perfect,” As the poem continues with two lined stanzas, there is no end punctuation until the last line, “today is just that kind of day.” The whole poem is one sentence. I love how this works to make the poem sound more urgent and energized.
I invited my students to use these lines to create their own poems about a perfect day.
Spring 2025
after Billy Collins
If ever there were a spring day so perfect,
so full of bird song
that it made you want to join
with your own singing
and open your whole mouth
to the world of nature,
a day when dew drops cool grass,
and the garden roses popping
with red reflect the sun, so much light
that you feel like breathing,
releasing the grief you’ve held in
and cry real tears at the beauty
of it all, walk with light
pink and orange rising before
you, welcoming you with open arms
of rose and green and sky.
Today is that kind of day.
Margaret Simon, draft
As we head into spring, Avalyn and some other students are still dreaming about the amazing snow we had this winter. She asked if she could write about a winter day. “Of course, it’s your poem.”
If there were a winter day so perfect
so cold with icy air
Could I pretend to hunt ghosts
while drinking a warm cup of hot chocolate
Could I put on layers of clothes
and roll in the snow
Could I sit in my warm bed
watching TV and “being productive”
Could I play outside bands
performing plays
Could I read a book
my best days
Dreaming of presents can you imagine?
Well you can because today is that day.
Avalyn, 5th grade
Reflections on the Teche 
I love that Avalyn is still dreaming about winter when the rest of us seem so intent on dreaming spring to life!
This slice is so many things. It is a glimpse into you sharing poetry with students. I laughed as you shared a poem written before they were born! It is a how to use a mentor text and you picked one of my favorite poets – Billy Collins. It is your wriitng from before (because I clicked your link) and then today. I toggled back and forth and noticed how they were similar and different. Then how a student took it and wrote about winter! So much here. Thanks for sharing!
A gorgeous poem, Margaret, and thank you for this reminder to reread Billy Collins. I love the twist Avalyn put on that final line. Now I’m imagining my own “today” poem about my favorite season, fall, which I will no doubt be dreaming of just as soon as it hits 80 degrees in Pittsburgh!
Margaret,
Avalon’s poem reminds me how different students experiences the part of the country they live in. Here, students leave coats all over the playground, even in snow. I wrote about an abandoned coat (a poem) a few months ago. Kids here do t bundle up much, and older kids wear shorts and sandals in the snow. My neice who lives in Chicago and is a flight attendant for American Airlines went skiing in a bikini a couple weeks ago while in Colorado. Anyway, I love that Billy Collins poem and celebrate his work in making poetry more accessible to all of us, especially young poets like your students.
This week a student asked me who mt favorite poet was, and I told them Margaret Simon. This poem is one more reason why! My OLW is today, and I had not read this poem by Billy Collins. Thank you for sharing his poem, your poem, and Avalyn’s. I like how she asked the “could I” questions in hers.
Such a lovely poem by Avalyn. I hope she continues to write.