PODCAST · fiction

Frontier Dreams - A Portmanteau of Narrative Verse

by Grant Loud

Poet Robert Service described his career as “writing verse for those who wouldn’t be seen dead reading poetry.” So, maybe we’d all be more comfortable calling this a collection of ballads.Ballads to excite the imagination and amuse the tongue. Ballads that sing of preposterous triumph and ignominious defeat. Of euphoric delight and crushing heartbreak. Here are stories of pioneers and prospectors, lovers and loners, all who set out into the great unknown to follow a star.There is no intention of continuity in this grab bag of narrative verse. Drawn mostly from the late 19th and early 20th century, they tell grand tales of humble quests. Of extravagant desires and modest delights. And whether the prize is love or honor or gold, all who seek are changed, and the outcome is decided by whatever grit or cunning or courage could be brought to the challenge.This podcast isn’t intended to help you sleep. It was made to fill your dreams.