"Smokey the Bear heads into the autumn woods with a red can of gasoline and a box of wooden matches."
A vivid introduction to the short poem, "Flames", this quote illustrates the beginning of the explanation of rebellion that a figure that has stood for something all of their life begins to experience. In this poem specifically, Billy Collins is describing Smokey the Bear, who is going to burn the woods himself to show the people that are careless with their flames that, if they are going to burn down the woods, then at least do it in a modified fashion. The theme of this poem and the importance of this introductory quote both happen to be the fact that only the professionals can seem to do it right, and they happen to be hypocritical during the process.
"...and watched the quadratic equation pack its bag..."
The person that the narrator is talking to in this poem obviously has an upset attitude, and to convey their anger they use many similes and metaphors to describe what is going on. In a way, this poem is a love poem, as we can infer from the conclusion, and the person the narrator is so angry with has forgotten the true meaning of love. Things like the quadratic equation and the order of the planets, both mentioned in the poems, are things that add up to contribute to a general knowledge, but, since love is so indescribable, these things are used as symbols to represent the things that person has forgotten about the general knowledge of love.
"You are the bread and the knife,
The crystal goblet and the wine..."
This quote from an outside author is used in the poem "Litany" by Billy Collins. The quote, used as an introduction, is used to give a better example of what the poem is about, and the significance of what is to happen in it. This specific quote is used to explain that the person the narrator is talking to is simply everything to them, and the basic things in the world would just seem useless without them. However, Collins changes the meaning of this little quote by adding in more aspects to his own poem. Collins describes things that a certain person is not, likely due to the fact these two people no longer love each other or have not lived up to one another's expectations.
