I, too, am a fan of Billy Collins, while I agree that the noted poem is not one of his best. I don't consider his accessibility as a negative; he certainly fulfills the poetic bill of presenting a different way of viewing that which we see every day. While many of the poems offered in this venue present welcome challenges in interpretation, some days you feel like tackling the NY Times Crossword Puzzle, and other days, the Word Search is just fine. The following is one of my favorites (with strong shades of Brautigan):

Another Reason Why I Don't Keep a Gun in the House

The neighbors' dog will not stop barking.
He is barking the same high, rhythmic bark
that he barks every time they leave the house.
They must switch him on on their way out.

The neighbors' dog will not stop barking.
I close all the windows in the house
and put on a Beethoven symphony full blast
but I can still hear him muffled under the music,
barking, barking, barking,

and now I can see him sitting in the orchestra,
his head raised confidently as if Beethoven
had included a part for barking dog.

When the record finally ends he is still barking,
sitting there in the oboe section barking,
his eyes fixed on the conductor who is
entreating him with his baton

while the other musicians listen in respectful
silence to the famous barking dog solo,
that endless coda that first established
Beethoven as an innovative genius.

- Billy Collins