Take this poem: Recent Episodes
Mary Giudice
Take This Poem wakes up from a nap long enough to share "Holy Sonnet X" by John Donne. When despair and triumph live side by side in 14 lines, heat ensues, as well as iridescence.
This one is not just read but also written by Keith Hansen...a reflection on a fraternal tussle that has now come to an end.
I hope you'll listen to Muriel Rukeyser read her own poem! It's weird, funny, scary, true.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UN-NaxSRN4E
In this episode I read three poems from The Art of Losing, an anthology edited by Kevin Young.
"The Wake" by Rita Dove
"The Shout" by Simon Armitage
"Remember Me" by Hal Sirowitz
Keith Hansen brings us five poems from Michael Chitwood, whose work explores the Appalachian landscape of his youth.
"Want"
"Catalytic Converter"
"Chicken"
"Lakeside"
"Search and Rescue"
I wrestled with this poem for a long time. I thought I would run out of winter before I was satisfied with a recording.
But then it snowed here these last couple days, and it encouraged me to fix up the most recent attempt and just get it out to you.
Here you go: "October" by Louise Gluck.
..................................................................................................
I heard Gluck read this poem at the end of this interview:
https://yalepodcasts.blubrry.net/2021/03/09/nobel-laureate-louise-gluck-on-teaching-and-poetry/
It's the last ten minutes. However, the whole thing is excellent! This poet won almost every literary prize imaginable, including the Nobel Prize. Along with that, she taught poetry for many decades, and she considered her teaching to have fueled and inspired her work rather than draining it. She was greatly loved by students, and known for her passion, candor, and crankiness. She HATES poetry read aloud! Oopsies.
Happy New Year! I'm re-gifting this poem.
Thank you for bringing it to my attention, Anna!
"The Risk of Birth, Christmas 1973" by Madeline L'Engle
Keith Hansen brings us poems by two Polish poets who lived upfront with human suffering and political upheaval. What will their poetic "stare" find to praise?
Adam Zagajewski's "Try to Praise the Mutilated World" and "Boogie-Woogie"
Czeslaw Milosz's "The Blacksmith Shop"
I haven't finished part one to my satisfaction, but I'll serve you part two anyway. Rather like having dessert first, which I hear is possible if you're feeling unruly.
"In Memoriam A. H. H. OBIIT MDCCCXXXIII:54"
"In Memoriam A. H. H. OBIIT MDCCCXXXIII:55"
by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
100 Episodes! We've been through a lot together.
To celebrate, I compiled some audio mail I've received into another poetry reading episode. If you enjoy it, send me a poem why dontcha!
Pamela reads "Crooked" by G.K. Chesterton
Carrie reads "She Walks in Beauty" by Lord Byron
Melinda reads "Doors opening, closing on us" by Marge Piercy
Thank you to all who have listened and contributed to this poetry endeavor!
Does this poem stir around in your heart and mind a little bit?
Keith Hansen brings "Poem" by North Dakota poet and screenwriter Thomas McGrath.
The other Giudice takes the mic again! <3 <3 <3
"A Romance" by Stephen Dunn
"The Country of Marriage" by Wendell Berry
Another Lawrence poem! Unfortunately, there's no fruit-throwing in this one. But there is ecstatic inspiration, a creepy knock on the door, and angels. So that's pretty good.
"Song of a Man Who Has Come Through" by D.H. Lawrence
The "Word on Fire" podcast episode that I mention:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wof-392-poetry-beauty-and-the-shock-of-grace-w/id1065019039?i=1000618329473
A super special guest--Ben Giudice--brings us two poems that run headlong into the human task of reconciling bad and good, despair and hope.
"As the World Population Surpasses 8 Billion, I Purposely Misremember a Line from Anne Carson's Sappho and Hear in Its Utterance the Song of the Humpback Whale" by Dante Di Stephano
"Good Bones" by Maggie Smith
Two minds--divided by millennia--come together in the spaces between words...
Or, if that sounds too cosmic and far-fetched, you can call it by its other name: "reading a poem in the kitchen".
Today's two poems--brought to us by Keith Hansen--take us to the beauty salon and the barber chair. Are these places ordinary or sacred? Maybe we don't have to choose.
"Wayne's College of Beauty, Santa Cruz" by David Swanger
"Hair" by BH Fairchild
Why is late summer such a gut-puncher? If anyone can get at the heart of this mystery, it's these two:
"Summer Has Two Beginnings" by Emily Dickinson
"Three Songs at the End of Summer" by Jane Kenyon
Late summer is peak bye-bye season! These three poems fit perfectly in your suitcase or moving box.
"The Summer Camp Bus Pulls Away From the Curb" by Sharon Olds
"Leaving Town" by Jane Kenyon
[i carry your heart with me(i carry it in] by ee cummings
Listen to what can happen when a poet keeps a sustained gaze on the desolate place that has always been his home.
Keith Hansen comes back to the mic to read six poems by Don Thompson.
"Flat Earth"
"Water"
"Egret I"
"Buena Vista Slough II"
"October"
"December"
Part 3 of the summer poems series is JUICY!
"Blackberry-Picking" by Seamus Heaney
"An Invitation" by Clemens Starck
"Meditation at Lagunitas" by Robert Hass
Here's part 2 of the "summer poems" series! This one's for you, Farmer Ben.
"Putting in the Seed" by Robert Frost
"Cutting the Grass" by Clemens Starck
"In Defense of Our Overgrown Garden" by Matthea Harvey
It's AUGUST!
I had a request for some summer poems and got a little carried away. I hope you like sunshine, blackberries, nostalgia, and love, because this is just the beginning of a 4 part summer poem series.
We kick off with
"Summer Moods" by John Clare
"The Summer Day" by Mary Oliver
"Mossbawn: Sunlight" by Seamus Heaney
"Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy's Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota" by James Wright
3 school poems to kick off summer break!
"Night" by Jill Osier
"M. Degas Teaches Art & Science at Durfee Intermediate School" by Philip Levine
"Mrs. Smith 1959" by Kim Stafford
A snowy night, phone calls from beyond the grave... this poem has a lot to recommend it.
"Visitors From Abroad" by Louise GlÜck
Let me read to you-- a handful of poems that take us through the year of a gardener/prose poet who is paying attention.
The book I read from is Going to Seed: Dispatches From the Gardenby Charles Goodrich
Sometimes I take on the humbling challenge of talking about a poem that enthralls me but I don't fully understand it, and some of what I understand I don't like, and I can't talk about it without talking about myself...
Those episodes often end up in the burn pile, but this time I offer it to you.
"I've Been Sitting Here Thinking Back Over My Life" by Charles Wright
How does she do it? Linda Bierds' best poems about historical figures--inventors, scientists, artists--hold an uncanny sense of discovery and inspiration so strong that I find myself holding my breath while reading.
Today's poem takes us back in time to the studio of the brilliant Italian sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini.
"Stroke" by Linda Bierds from her book First Hand
A good poet applying his pen and imagination to the inner life of historical figures...this is the human version of catnip for me. In his book A Companion for Owls, Kentucky poet Maurice Manning writes about the frontier life of Daniel and Rebecca Boone. The two poems in this episode are "Born Again" and "A Wife's Tale."
Back in episode 17 I shared and discussed "The Pupil" by Maurice Manning
Yes, one of these poems has already been featured on this podcast... but it's absolutely worth hearing again. And this time I got to yak about it a bunch. And read it again. And read a love poem. Enjoy!
"What Work Is" by Philip Levine
Keith Hansen reads it wonderfully in Episode 63 https://takethispoem.podbean.com/e/episode-63-work-and-what-it-is/
"What I Didn't Know Before" by Ada Limon
I had breath to spare and used it for poetry. And oh man, these are two good ones.
"Winter Night" by Tomas Transtromer
"Gnosis" by Eireann Lorsung
These poems, like elk, have some muscle and mystery to them. The trio is brought to us by Dave Mehler:
"Elk in the Field" by Michael McGriff
"Bull Elk in October River" by Chris Dombrowski
"Pat Describes an Elk Bugling" by Dave Mehler
Dave's poem that he reads was published (along with two others he wrote) in The Red Wheelbarrow Anthology #15
https://redwheelbarrowpoets.org/2022/10/09/the-red-wheelbarrow-15-is-ready-to-order-online/
These two poems by George Bilgere made me snicker. Doesn't eel jerky sound kinda good? I'd try it.
"Facetime in Covidtime"
"Mystery of Jerky"
I was delighted to receive this recording from a college classmate of yore who has since gone on to become the kind of math professor who starts his classes with passages of TS Eliot.
Tom Clark reads and reflects on Scott Cairn's poem "Possible Answers to Prayer".
Dave Mehler-- the local poet and friend I interviewed in episodes 12 and 45-- takes the mic today to read from Chris Dombrowski's book "Ragged Anthem".
Dombrowski is a northwesterner, outdoorsman, and teacher as well as poet, and his slim book is one that you might need to add to your library.
I'm back after summer break for a little chat, a promise of what's to come, and of course a poem.
By the Well of Living and Seeing, Part II, Section 28: “During the Second World War" by Charles Reznikoff https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/55500/during-the-second-world-war-
In this mini episode, my nephew reads a poem he wrote for his baby sister. Buckle your seat belt; it's dangerously adorable!
Apparently I'm not done reading Charles Wright poems to you! I've got a fever and the only cure is another dive into the bright, dark, poetic, folksy, scary, exhilarating pool of his book "Caribou". In this episode I share
"Chinoiserie II"
"Heaven's Eel"
"Life Lines"
Today's episode is dedicated to Keith Hansen, who made an ambivalent comment about this poem that I'm crazy about. I try to explain my enthrallment with this poem and Wright's latest work in general. Was it a success or
"a raid on the inarticulate With shabby equipment always deteriorating" ? (T.S. Eliot)
Who knows? But it was worth a try.
Sit yourself down at Uncle Keith's knee; he's got some poems to read to you...about fambly.
"But I felt: you are an I, you are an Elizabeth, you are one of them."
This poem is a story...in which a hot waiting room and a National Geographic magazine provoke a little girl's painful recognition of herself.
"In The Waiting Room" by Elizabeth Bishop
Keith Hansen brings us Denise Levertov's grouping of poems titled "Lake, Mountain, Moon." These are lush, grand, and worth listening to with closed eyes and a still body...if you can pull that off.
You know what's adorable? Hearing your dear ol' college roommate's voice echo in the voices of her two young sons... and to hear those voices saying poems. Lincoln (8) shares a poem by Rosetti, and Will (10) shares a poem of his very own. He said his favorite thing about poetry is that there is a poem for everything... and ain't that the truth.
Caterpillar
by Christina Rosetti
Brown and furry Caterpillar in a hurry, Take your walk To the shady leaf, or stalk, Or what not, Which may be the chosen spot. No toad spy you, Hovering bird of prey pass by you; Spin and die, To live again a butterfly.
I hope my Welsh listeners won't give me too much trouble over the fact that St. David's Day is long past... better late, eh?
This is a rich episode from Keith Hansen! He brings us "Miracle On St. David's Day" by Gillian Clarke, which beautifully reflects on the power of memorized poetry. Keith also shares Malcome Guite's remarks on the poem, and throws in Wordsworth's dreamy "Daffodils" as a bonus! ENJOY!
Gillian Clarke's Poem
https://www.poetrybyheart.org.uk/poems/miracle-on-st-davids-day/
Wordsworth's poem:
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45521/i-wandered-lonely-as-a-cloud
Humans and horses: a mythic combination. These two poems dig around in that a little bit, helping me ponder what people are really talking about when they talk about horses.
"Of Unsent Letters, One" by Jill Ossier, from her collection The Solace is Not the Lullaby
"A Blessing" by James Wright
You know by now that poets can turn their eyes and pens to the ordinary as well as the sublime... but how many poems have you read about WORK? Keith Hansen brings us three of those today.
I'm a little jealous that Keith beat me to sharing "What Work Is" by Philip Levine. That one's a mysterious gem.
Clemens Starck "Slab on Grade"
Philip Levine "What Work Is"
Marge Piercy "To Be Of Use"
I can't believe I didn't share this poem with you last year. Sorry about that! But here it is, before winter officially ends.
The link to the audio poetry collection I mention: https://www.powells.com/book/-9780738934433/
And here is a recording of Robert Hayden reading his own poem:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmJYs6PQKVc
Do the inscrutable troubles of the future add to your pleasure now?
These two poems were on my mind as I revived from the stupor of illness.
"True Love" by Sharon Olds
"Otherwise" by Jane Kenyon
Keith Hansen is saving Take This Poem's proverbial bacon lately! I haven't been well enough to drag myself to the mic these last few weeks... and yet thanks to Keith here we are with a Valentine's Day treat.
He shares three poems about three different chapters of love.
"How It Will End" by Denise Duhamel
"After the Argument" by Stephen Dunn
"The Wild Rose" by Wendell Berry
If this episode leaves you hungry for more, you might enjoy revisiting one of these deep cuts:
Two Love Poems from the Middle
https://takethispoem.podbean.com/e/episode-13-two-love-poems-from-the-middle/
Let's Get Romantic
https://takethispoem.podbean.com/e/episode-39-let-s-get-romantic/
Lost Love in Medieval Ireland
https://takethispoem.podbean.com/e/episode-7-lost-love-in-medieval-ireland/
Keith Hansen leads us through a closer reading of two rich poems.
"The Caged Skylark" by Gerard Manley Hopkins
"The Caged Goldfinch" by Thomas Hardy
I met Elizabeth Hance last June in the North Carolina mountains where we both attended a retreat focused on writings of Wendell Berry. She joins me in this episode to share her enthusiasm specifically for his poetry: how it saved her sanity at a crucial time, how it aids her quest for beauty, how it cuts in its gentle but unflinching way.
Here is Elizabeth's blog http://www.findingeloquence.com/
And here are the two podcasts she mentions:
The Daily Poem https://shows.acast.com/the-daily-poem
Close Reads https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/close-reads/id1191909632
"Epiphany Poem" by George Mackay Brown approaches the story of the three kings in a new and very old way.
I heard Heidi White read this poem on The Daily Poem podcast two years ago and it's been in my mulling pot ever since. https://shows.acast.com/the-daily-poem/episodes/george-mackay-browns-epiphany-poem
What was it like to go back to the bleakness of a shepherd's night shift after that one spectacular night when the veil was lifted?
This week's poem is "Shepherd's Song" by Richard Baukham
Poetry is so good for mysteries... for wondering about things that lie beyond the scope of arguments and thesis statements. This week's two poems take on a big one.
"Annunciation" by John Donne and "Mary's Song" by Luci Shaw.
When Love has you over for dinner, just sit down and hush! And eat.
Today's poem is "Love III" by George Herbert. What a pleasure to read; I had to stop myself at twice.
Cozy up by the tortoise stove for two poems to kick off our advent season! Keith Hansen shares John Betjemen's "Advent 1955" and "Christmas".
Happy Thanksgiving! This week's poem honors the world of the table and the table of the world.
It's "Perhaps the World Ends Here" by Joy Harjo.
Keith Hansen is back, this time with a poem by John Betjeman: "In Westminster Abbey". It has a spirited rhyme scheme & meter, and a good dash of satire & snark. Enjoy!
This episode includes a poem about preferring pencils to pens, a poem about two people who never meet, and a poem about writing a poem.
There's nothing too small or obscure to be pondered in poetry... and in the jeweler's glass of the poem small things aren't so small after all.
"The Pencil" by AE Stallings https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/03/pencil/513860/
"On The Way to Work" by Stephen Dunn
https://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php%3Fdate=2004%252F06%252F24.html
"Who" by Jane Kenyon
Linda Bierds writes poems thick with beautiful language, historical drama, and an uncanny sense of discovery. In today's poem, "Klipsan Stallions," she applies her genius to a true story of a shipwreck and the horses who swam out to save sailors' lives.
Keith Hansen brings us two poems by North Dakota's poet laureate Larry Woiwode. It's hard to top trees and horses among nature's beauties...this will be ten minutes well spent.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Woiwode
"After Apple Picking" by Robert Frost is a dreamy, drowsy autumn poem that retains its fresh mysteriousness through many readings and many, many years.
You can find the poem here if you'd like to read it for yourself:
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44259/after-apple-picking
Another conversation with local poet Dave Mehler, another record set for longest episode!
This time I have a chance to pelt Dave with questions about reading & writing, to hear his story of being a truck driver poet, and to hear him read from his book Roadworthy. Grab some whittling or knitting and enjoy: this is a sweeping episode that includes some good poems and leisurely conversation.
I edited this one all by myself, so if the volume levels are eclectic don't blame Ben.
Check out Dave's book here:
https://bookshop.org/books?keywords=Roadworthy
"They’s something kindo’ harty-like about the atmusfere When the heat of summer’s over and the coolin’ fall is here—" I humbly exhort you to take one of these poems and carry around in your heart's pocket this fall. "Something Told the Wild Geese" by Rachel Fields "The Morns Are Meeker Than They Were" by Emily Dickinson "When the Frost is on the Punkin" by James Whitcomb Riley
In the course of a week I received two poetry gifts from friends afar. And not just plain poems-- poems with reflections! My catnip.
I decided to put the poems together and make it a party. Tom Clark reads "We Real Cool" by Gwendolyn Brooks and Melinda Westervelt reads "A Little Lesson in How To Be" by Kathryn Nuernberger. Brooks is a jewel in American poetry, and the ending of Nuernberger's poem gave me goosebumps. ENJOY!
You're in for a treat! In this episode Keith Hansen offers an autumnal poem by John Keats.
My mind seemed to pick up very little listening to the first reading of the poem, but mental pathways must have been etched...on my second hearing, understanding and enjoyment of the poem flooded in. A fascinating experience.
Thank you, Keith, for sharing your thoughts on this exquisite poem!
Can't get enough of the agitation, perturbation, and talking worms in this most wonderful early autumn poem.
Story time! I read poet Denise Duhamel's tale of a poem that ambushed her, dwelt with her, was stolen, and... you'll see.
The poem is "Modifications" by Ron Koertge and I read from the anthology Dark Horses: Poets on Overlooked Poems.
Do you remember reading the Romantics in high school English class? My friend Carrie Adams joins me to read poems by Wordsworth, Byron, and Keats and to talk a bit about her experience teaching these poems to teenagers.
Spoiler alert: old-fashioned Romantic ideas endure in the zeitgeist today... we just don't speak of them as prettily any more.
I find what it's like on the other side of the mic as a guest host steps in to conduct the interview.
Although I have misgivings about the title "poet" as applied to me, I couldn't resist Keith Hansen's offer to narrate two of my poems for the podcast. So this turned out to be quite a collaborative episode.
Here is the Radiolab episode that inspired my poems
https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/segments/121385-bus-nowhere
Here's issue #25 of Triggerfish Critical Review
https://triggerfishcriticalreview.com/issue-25/
My son Luke joins me at the mic to read a poem that he wrote this year. He shares a little about his writing process, and I just generally enjoy having a mini poetry chat with him.
As I gather new poems for my students to memorize I enjoy looking through the stack of review poems from yesteryear. I also love the word yesteryear.
In this episode I choose three favorites from our review pile. And as a special bonus we'll hear two pint-sized listeners share poems from their own little memories!
Here is the poem that 3-year-old Judah says.
Singing-Time
By Rose Fyleman
I wake in the morning early And always, the very first thing, I poke out my head and I sit up in bed And I sing and I sing and I sing.
My friend Amy gives us all a gift in this episode: an introduction to Ruth Pitter.
Pitter was a poet and artist who lived for almost 100 years and corresponded by letters with many of her century's literary luminaries. (Hilaire Belloc, John Masefield, and Walter de la Mare are three of her pen pals whose poetry has appeared on this podcast so far!) She and C.S. Lewis had a friendship of deep mutual admiration and respect for each others' work.
Most importantly for our context, she wrote wise, beautiful poetry at a time that the world was reeling from war and meaning was sometimes difficult to find.
Amy introduces her eloquently and reads many of her poems, so I'll let her take it away.
Amy's email address
aenatzke@gmail.com
Here's a small but juicy Emily Dickinson poem for you.
Why aren't there more poems about swimming? If you know of a good one, please let me know.
This episode is for the long commutes or jumbo laundry piles!
Artist, poet, and friend Craig Goodworth joined me at my table to talk about art&theology, beauty, the joys&challenges of in-person poetry, reading The Odyssey to kids, and the fact that some days you see a deer and some days you don't. With lots in between. There are some good poems in this one!
I like that the mic picked up the clinking of ice in our glasses. We had fun chatting and sharing poems, and I hope you have a little fun listening.
http://craiggoodworthart.squarespace.com/
When my friend and listener Kelly has time home alone she does wild things like sending poems to me. And I couldn't be happier. In this episode I pair her poem "To Molly" with Kay Ryan's poem "Masterworks of Ming".
Kelly's musings on writing can be found at writing-life.blog
Stephen Dunn, again, because I had this poem stuck in my head when I returned from a trip in June.
If you're going to spontaneously read a poem to a room full of people, Billy Collins is often a good choice. And if the room full of people is about to disperse to travel in 23 directions "Passengers" makes an excellent selection. Thank you to my new friend Thomaida for demonstrating this in real life!
After the death of a friend, it's the living ones who stagger around--dealing with plumbing problems, eating pie, and trying to make sense of it all. Here are two poems about that.
"What the Living Do" by Marie Howe
"Ray" by Hayden Carruth
Hayden Carruth reads "Ray"
For this week a sweet, red June poem: "Strawberrying"by May Swenson. I love this poem and marvel how Swenson captures the fleshy, violent abundance of nature with a tone of matter-of-factness and restraint.
I pair a listener's poem "Broken Seashell" with Grace Shulman's "Because" and see what the two poems say together about the material world's brokenness and beauty.
Kaitlin Wachter can be reached by email at Kaitlin.a.wachter@gmail.com and you can find more of her poetry on Instagram @songsinthekeyofk
Some things, in love, can't be put into words. In this episode, I share two poems written decades apart by Stephen Dunn that explore this concept.
The power of Marie Howe's empathetic imagination flames out in this poem about a simple trip to the grocery store.
George Bilgere's work explores the quotidian and what is poetic, sad, and beautiful there. In this episode Keith Hansen reads three of Bilgere's poems: "Horseplay", "The Table", and "Strawberries". I think you'll find something to love here.
I quote this video of Bilgere speaking about his poetry.
https://vimeo.com/94205250
May I humbly suggest that you take this poem--"Sea Fever" by John Masefield--and memorize it? You won't regret it.
What is lost and what is gained when poetry moves from one language to another? I briefly ponder this question and share three translations of Anna Akhmatova's poem "Heart's Memory of Sun Grows Fainter".
In this episode I share two highlights from the mailbag this week.
Tom Clark reads from Paige Lewis' collection Space Struck.
This episode is another field trip to a cemetery, this time in the good company of classicist-poet A.E. Stallings and her beautiful poem "Memorial (Mnemosyne)".
Two of my college roommates sent me audio files recently, and they both happened to be poems by Robert Lewis Stevenson. It seemed like a good time for an episode featuring his winsome, easily memorizable poetry that so captures the childhood experience.
I read "Bed in Summer"
Lydia and Will share "My Shadow"
Melanie shares "The Swing"
In this episode I share "The Pupil" by native Kentucky poet Maurice Manning. This poem tells the story of an interior Appalachian scene and does artistic work that I believe is unique to poetry. I draw upon Matthew Zapruder's book Why Poetry? to aid my attempts to explain it.
When the air smells like cut grass it's time for some spring poetry! This week I share the sonnet "God's World" by Edna St. Vincent Millay.
Eleanor finally entered the Closet Of Poetry with me and shared a few of her favorites. All the poems she says in this episode are from memory, which helps explain the adorable botched limerick she busts out with at the end. Get the kids gathered 'round for this one!
What do you want?
It can be difficult to articulate an answer to that question, and even more difficult to find the courage to tell the truth about it to someone else. But Sharon Olds has the guts of ten regular people and the brilliant words to back them up. Enjoy the ride!
Name a more iconic duo than love and poetry.
Love poems most frequently focus on the fiery beginnings and weighty endings of relationships.
Today I bring you two of the rarer kind: poems from the middle of love.
"Here" by Grace Paley
"Touch Me" by Stanley Kunitz
In this episode I talk with Dave Mehler--a local poet, friend, and poetry mentor-- about how the course of his life was changed by the poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins. We discuss Hopkins at length and read aloud several of his wild, brilliant, numinous poems.
Dave also shares his advice for how to find your way to the poems that will speak to you.
We went really long, I accidentally sang, and there's more traffic-pet-and-child noise in the background than usual.
Enjoy!
Story time!
In this episode I read screenwriter Stewart Stern's reflection on a poem given to him as a gift. "The Pasture" by Robert Frost has stayed with Stern for decades, both as a beautiful poem and as a memorial of the teacher who introduced it to him.
The anthology I read from is The Poem I Turn To: Actors Present Poetry That Inspires Them edited by Jason Shinder.
TTP hosts its first mini poetry reading, as three listeners each share a beloved poem. Grab a seat in the front row and enjoy!
Tom Clark reads "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" by Dylan Thomas
Melinda Westervelt reads "Happiness" by Raymond Carver
Keith Hansen reads "A Birthday Card To My Mother" by Philip Appleman
(If you don't need my pep talk about facing the fear of your own recorded voice skip to 5:00 where the poetry begins.)
Local poetess Bethany Lee joins me to share a few of her poems and a few of the poets who inspire her.
Among other things we discuss the connection between dust bunnies and time for creative endeavors.
https://www.bethanyjoylee.com/
http://www.fernwoodpress.com/2019/05/02/the-breath-between/
This week I bring you one of my favorite poems by Scott Cairns. Can a moment of understanding be a miracle? Can we miss our chance for inspiration if the tea kettle calls whistles too soon?
A.D. Sertillange's little book "The Intellectual Life" helps me ponder Cairn's poem.
"Donal Og" is a strange and beautiful poem that has traveled a long way to reach us. What do we gain by reading something so old?
My daughter Vivian shares some of her favorite funny poems from The National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry, which is a favorite around our household.
BONUS EPISODE!
My mother Leslie Herrema spent 30 years helping young students memorize poetry. I talk with her about the and whys and hows of that endeavor.
When you skulk around in cemeteries may I suggest that you take Emily Dickinson's #449 to accompany you?
Sometimes you're just minding your own business and a poem jumps out from the bushes and surprises you. In this episode I share a poem that did that to me: "My Mother's Body" by Marie Howe.
My favorite engineering professor Dr. Ben Giudice shares "i thank You God for most this amazing" by e.e.cummings and we discuss the interdisciplinary goodness that happens when poems get in our blood.
This pilot episode includes stories of how "Let Evening Come" by Jane Kenyon has been passed around like a gift in my life and how the poem derives its simplicity and rootedness from material nouns that have been in our language from the very beginning.
Collected Poems of Jane Kenyon