For most Americans, poetry plays no role in their everyday lives. But also for most Americans, contemporary painting or jazz or sculpture play no role either. I'm not saying poetry is singled out as a special thing to ignore.


Billy Collins

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Most people ignore most poetry because most poetry ignores most people
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Most people ignore most poetry
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I am not pretty. I am not beautiful. I am as radiant as the sun.
SUZANNE COLLINS
I knew you'd kiss me."
"How?" I say. Because I didn't know myself.
"Because I am in pain,...
SUZANNE COLLINS
I realize, for the first time, how very lonely I've been in the arena. How comforting the presence o...
SUZANNE COLLINS
Katniss. I remember about the bread.
SUZANNE COLLINS
Delly lost her temper at Peeta over how he treated you. She got very squeaky. It was like someone st...
SUZANNE COLLINS
Gale is mine. I am his. Anything else is unthinkable.
SUZANNE COLLINS
At some point, you have to stop running and turn around and face whoever wants you dead.The hard thi...
SUZANNE COLLINS
Fire beats roses again.
SUZANNE COLLINS
In the end, the only person I truly want to comfort me is Haymitch, because he loves Peeta, too.
SUZANNE COLLINS
Peeta,” I say lightly. “You said at the interview you’d had a crush on me forever. When did fo...
SUZANNE COLLINS
You're alive," I whisper, pressing my palms against my cheeks, feeling the smile that's so wide it m...
SUZANNE COLLINS
I just...I just miss him. And I hate being so alone.
SUZANNE COLLINS
You're punishing him over and over for things that are out of his control. Now, I'm not saying you s...
SUZANNE COLLINS
I had to do that. At least once.
SUZANNE COLLINS
No problem," Gale replies. "I wake up ten times a night anyway."
"To make sure Katniss is still...
SUZANNE COLLINS
Because I can count on my fingers the number of sunsets I have left, and I don't want to miss any of...
SUZANNE COLLINS
All those months of taking it for granted that Peeta thought I was wonderful are over. Finally, he c...
SUZANNE COLLINS
Stay with me.

Always.
SUZANNE COLLINS
I'll tell them how I survive it. I'll tell them that on bad mornings, it feels impossible to take pl...
SUZANNE COLLINS
I know what blood poisoning is, Katniss," says Peeta. "Even if my mother isn't a healer."
I'm j...
SUZANNE COLLINS
No. Now, shut up and eat your pears.
SUZANNE COLLINS
You have a... remarkable memory."
"I remember everything about you. You're the one who wasn't p...
SUZANNE COLLINS
Really, the combination of the scabs and the ointment looks hideous. I can't help enjoying his distr...
SUZANNE COLLINS
I realize only one person will be damaged beyond repair if Peeta dies. Me.
SUZANNE COLLINS
Deep in the meadow, hidden far away
A cloak of leaves, a moonbeam ray
Forget your woes and...
SUZANNE COLLINS
What about Gale?"
"He's not a bad kisser either," I say shortly.
"And it was okay with bo...
SUZANNE COLLINS
Oh, Peeta, Don't make me sorry I restarted your heart.
SUZANNE COLLINS
There's a chance that the old Peeta, the one who loves you, is still inside. Trying to get back to y...
SUZANNE COLLINS
But collective thinking is usually short-lived. We're fickle, stupid beings with poor memories and a...
SUZANNE COLLINS
At a few minutes before four, Peeta turns to me again. "Your favorite colour . . . it's green?"
SUZANNE COLLINS
She's not here," I tell him. Buttercup hisses again. "She's not here. You can hiss all you like. You...
SUZANNE COLLINS
I raise my left arm and twist my neck down to rip off the pill on my sleeve. Instead my teeth sink i...
SUZANNE COLLINS
They'll either want to kill you, kiss you, or be you.
SUZANNE COLLINS
That what I need to survive is not Gale's fire, kindled with rage and hatred. I have plenty of fire ...
SUZANNE COLLINS
Closing my eyes doesn't help. Fire burns brighter in the darkness.
SUZANNE COLLINS
I think....you still have no idea. The effect you can have.
SUZANNE COLLINS
I drag myself out of nightmares each morning and find there's no relief in waking.
SUZANNE COLLINS
Technically, I am unarmed. But no one should ever underestimate the harm that fingernails can do. Es...
SUZANNE COLLINS
Are you, are you coming to the tree?
Wear a necklace of rope, side by side with me.
Stra...
SUZANNE COLLINS
Ally." Peeta says the words slowly, tasting it. "Friend. Lover. Victor. Enemy. Fiancee. Target. Mutt...
SUZANNE COLLINS
I clench his hands to the point of pain. "Stay with me."
His pupils contract to pinpoints, dial...
SUZANNE COLLINS
There are much worse games to play.
SUZANNE COLLINS
Some walks you have to take alone.
SUZANNE COLLINS
You're a painter. You're a baker. You like to sleep with the windows open. You never take sugar in y...
SUZANNE COLLINS