Take this poem

Episode 44: Autumn Poetry to Memorize: Bonus Episode!

"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 

Episode 43: Mail from the Midwest

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!

Episode 42: ”To Autumn”

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!

Episode 41: End of Summer

Can't get enough of the agitation, perturbation, and talking worms in this most wonderful early autumn poem. 

Episode 40: A Poem Found, Lost, and Found

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. 

Episode 39: Let‘s Get Romantic

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. 

Episode 38: The Tables Have Turned

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/

Episode 37: "The Toll of Time"

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. 

Episode 36: Poems For Little Ones To Memorize

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.

Episode 35: Take this Poet (Ruth Pitter)

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