But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.
They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.
—Billy Collins
Zitat aus: Introduction to Poetry
Die Library of Congress-Webseite Poetry 180 gibt es seit 2001. Ziel des Initiators Billy Collins ist es, für jeden Tag des amerikanischen High School Jahres ein zeitgenössisches Gedicht auf der Webseite zu präsentieren. Mittlerweile gehört sie zu den meistbesuchten Seiten der amerikanischen Nationalbibliothek. Die Gedichte können auch via E-Mail und RSS abonniert werden. An vielen amerikanischen Schulen sind sie in den Alltag integriert (via blogs.loc.gov):
«Poetry 180, for those of you new to the resource, presents students with a new poem for each of the 180 days of the typical high school year. Participating schools often have the daily poem recited through the school’s public announcement system, read aloud by a teacher or student in the classroom, or printed and posted on a class’s bulletin board. The poems—all of which have been handpicked by Billy Collins–are highly accessible, and are not intended for classroom analysis. Widespread attempts by students to “torture a confession out of” a poem, as Collins writes in his own contribution to Poetry 180, “Introduction to Poetry,” are a surefire way to encourage students to dislike poetry. Poetry 180 provides examples of poems that students can enjoy, and even fall in love with, on a single reading.»