Take this poem

Episode 104: "You are not alone", the poem said, in the dark tunnel.

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. 

Episode 103: The Risk of Birth

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 

Episode 102: ”I stare and stare. It seems I was called for this...”

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" 

 

Episode 101: The Second Half of a Chocolate Cake

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 

Episode 100!!!

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! 

 

Episode 99: Poem

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. 

Episode 98: Two Poems About Marriage

The other Giudice takes the mic again! <3 <3 <3

"A Romance" by Stephen Dunn

"The Country of Marriage" by Wendell Berry 

Episode 97: Not I, Not I, But The Wind That Blows Through Me!

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

Episode 96: Here, Take All That’s Left of My Peach

I bring you "Peach" by D.H. Lawrence. This guy gets it. 

Episode 95: Two Poems for Our Current Predicament

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