Were The Beatles the Billy Collins of pop music?

It's an odd but perhaps fair question to ponder. Collins, after all, is arguably the most popular poet since Robert Frost — beloved and respected as much in highbrow literary circles as he was as a regular guest on "Prairie Home Companion." Similarly, the Beatles are as revered on a level of compositional sophistication as they are by the masses.

Collins, who has described poetry as "a form of travel writing" and considers humor to be a "door into the serious," is that rare artist who is puzzled by the idea that a writer would be unaware of his or her readership.

At the core of all this are Collins' poems, which are, in a word, wonderful and, in two more words, remarkably creative. Representative collections include "Sailing Alone Around the Room," "Nine Horses: Poems," "The Trouble with Poetry," "Horoscopes for the Dead," "Aimless Love" and "The Rain in Portugal."

Collins, a Guggenheim Fellow, headlines Friday's bill at the Arts Cafe Mystic — the second program under new director Lisa Starr (who will be profiled in Friday's Daybreak section). 

The evening's musical guest is Rhody songwriter Jon Campbell, and the program's Opening Voice poet is Coleman Barks.

Billy Collins, Arts Cafe Mystic, 7 p.m. Friday, Arts Cafe Mystic, 9 Water St., Mystic; $15, $5 students; (860) 912-2444, theartscafemystic.org.