The Talking Poem Podcast

On the penultimate episode of the podcast, I chat with Nicholas Molbert (Altars of Spine and Fraction) about Tommye Blount's poem "Icarus Does the Dishes." We discuss caretaking, the mythic and mundane, and an incredible ending. After that, Nick shares his poem "Cup Licking." Then I put him through the paces of an impossible game. This episode is brought to you by no hat and all cattle.Also mentioned: Poet Jess Williard (Unmanly Grief)Marjoree Little's "Why We Chose It" for the Kenyon Review about "Icarus"W. H. Auden, "Musee des Beaux Arts"

After a summer hiatus, I chat with Nicole Cooley about Lucille Clifton's poem "June 20" from her 1992 collection The Book of Light, which was re-released by Copper Canyon last year with an introduction by Ross Gay and an afterword by Clifton's daughter Sidney Clifton. We talk about the unusual verb tense, what's scary about the poem, and just how sharp Clifton's images are. After that, Nicole shares her poem "Downriver" from her new collection Mother Water Ash. We close with a game about poetry in the Olympics. The episode is brought to you by Olympic Poems. Also mentioned: Sharon Olds's poem "I Go Back to May 1937"Anne Panning's essay "Remembering, I Was Not There" (collected in In Brief: Short Takes on the Personal)The world's unluckiest pole vaulter

I talk with Maris Kreizman (The Maris Review; Lit Hub column) about former guest Kim Addonizio's poem "To the Woman Crying Uncontrollably in the Next Stall." We talk about viral poems; what propels Addonizio's poem in particular; and shared experiences. The audio has some small glitches--sorry about that. Afterward, we play a game I call "But that has nothing to do with baseball." Episode brought to you by a new cryptocurrency for poets. Also mentioned:Maris' excellent essay about Pen AmericaA viral story about someone sharing Addonizio's poem with a strangerMcNally JacksonJeff/Geoff tweetBess Winter, Kelly Magee, and Robin Hemley

I talk with Ronnie K. Stephens (The Poetry Question; The Kaleidoscope Sisters) about Andrea Gibson's prose poem "Tincture." Up front, apologies to Andrea Gibson, who I misgendered early on in the recording; thanks to Ronnie for his graciousness. We talk about the question of prose poems, pain, and sentimentality. Afterward, we play a less comic, more straightforward game I call "Pulitzer Prize Winner Kendrick Lamar 1, Drake 0." This episode is brought to you by the all-mighty SUV.Also mentioned:Nathanael O'ReillyRachel McKibbens

I talk with comedian and writer Josh Gondelman about Edna St. Vincent Millay's poem "God's World." We talk about beauty, growing up Jewish (him, not me, I'm not stealing valor), sound, and sports. Afterward, I go on a long pun run, and we play two games: "Rogan, Josh?" and "I Heard a Fly Ball When I Died."Also mentioned:The Bugle podcastThe All Fantasy Everything podcastComedian Andy ZaltzmanKim Addonizio's "To the Woman Crying Uncontrollably in the Next Stall"Hanif AbdurraqibDan Quisenberry (stats; poetry)Several poems that show up often on social media that don't need me to link to them

In this space and Taylor Swift-centric episode, I talk with Lisa Ampleman (Mom in Space) about Jorie Graham's poem "The Way Things Work" (The Dream of the Unified Field). Lisa has to sway me on this poem a bit. We chat about faith, infertility, and Rube Goldberg machines. Then Lisa shares her fantastic poem "Tenuous Blueprint" and I gush. Afterward, we play a game I call "My Very Elegant Mother Just Sat Upon Nine Porcupines" (Justice for Plato!). This episode is brought to you by Taylor Swift. Also mentioned:Andrew Chaiken's A Man on the MoonSpace wallpaper (not Lisa's)Jorie Graham's To 2040Lucie Brock-BroidoAttacks on IVFPluto (it's red!)VoyagerThe Webb telescope

In this Short Form episode, I talk about the problems with Jeffrey McDaniels' poem "The Jesus Fridge," which was the Academy of American Poets' Poem-a-Day on March 29. I close by sharing Fady Joudah's excellent poem "[. . .}," which was Poem-a-Day on April 2.Some links to Palestine news that I mention in the episode:Mass starvation of PalestiniansDeaths of children in PalestineOctober 7 stories retractedDeaths of journalists and aid workersStatements from Israeli leaders calling for genocide and ethnic cleansing

In this return from a short break, I chat with David Baker (Whale Fall) about Gerard Manley Hopkins' "terrible sonnet" "No worst, there is none." We talk about so much here: how David's students made sense of the poem, how modern Hopkins is, the attention to sound (of course). David also shares an astonishing insight from one of his students. Afterward, we play a game with a Welsh surprise. Brought to you by a new brewery.Also mentioned:Wallace Stevens, "The Emperor of Ice Cream""God's Grandeur"John Berryman's Dream SongsDylan Thomas' "A Refusal to Mourn the Death, By Fire, of a Child in London"A Patricia Hampl essay from I Could Tell You Stories (sorry, the essay isn't online)A little information about a certain Welsh townLewis Turco, The Book of FormsWesli CourtWriter's Digest List of Poetic Forms

I talk with Lisa B (Lisa Bernstein), author of God in Her Ruffled Dress, about George Herbert's "The Flower." We have a great chat, AND I owe Lisa because we had to re-record the first half. We talk about the sensual, the erotic, and sound, among many other things. Then Lisa reads and we talk about her poem "God #2." After that, we play an audio game titled "Excuse me while I kiss this guy, because we built this city on sausage rolls." Episode brought to you by the cereal producers of America.Also mentioned:John Donne's "Holy Sonnet: Batter my heart, three-person'd God"George Herbert's "Easter Wings"

I talk about James Wright's wonderful sonnet "Saint Judas." Also mentioned: Theodore Roethke's "My Papa's Waltz."

I talk with Dr. Emily Jones about Sonnet 45 from Sir Philip Sidney's sequence Astrophil and Stella. We talk about Taylor Swift, sonnet sequences, and women poets, among other things. Afterward, we play a game about Shakespeare's sonnets. Episode brought to you by a major network comedy and a new chain of restaurants from Guy Fieri (not that one; the other one).Also mentioned:Early modern scholar Melissa SanchezAnne Locke's sonnet sequence, the first in EnglishPoet Diane SeussPoems by Queen Elizabeth IMary Wroth, Sir Philip Sidney's niece

This week, Aaron Bushnell immolated himself to protest the ongoing genocide in Gaza. In tribute, I read Lord Byron's poem "Prometheus," which resonates with Bushnell's sacrifice. I also refer to Vietnamese monk Thích Quảng Đức, who immolated himself in protest in 1963.

It was a rough week in the Podcast Casa (podcasa?) as my wife and I had to say goodbye unexpectedly to one of our cats and her uncle. So I talk about elegies--why I wanted a particular mood in reading them this week--and land on an excerpt from Kevin Young's The Book of Hours (no good link to the excerpt at the moment) and Edna St. Vincent Millay's "Ebb." Lavender and Jack, we miss you.

I talk with poet Diane Mehta (Tiny Extravaganzas) about Ciaran Carson's poem "John Constable, Study of Clouds, 1822." (Painting at the poem link; larger image here.) We talk about Constable and the view of the painting; death; music in Carson's poetry and others; Hamlet; why we're not fans of the last two lines. Afterward, Diane reads her fabulous poem "Extended Melodies." Then it's onto the game "The Undiscovered Country Puzzles the Will." Episode brought to you by The Poet's Atlas.Additional reading:Howard Nemerov's "Because You Asked about the Line Between Prose and Poetry"Crystal Bridges Museum of American ArtReview of Crystal Bridges in The New York TimesThe Labor Action Tracker from Cornell's School of International Labor Relations and the University of Illinois' School of Labor and Employment Relations

I read and spend a few minutes talking about Franny Choi's poem "The World Keeps Ending, and the World Goes On." The poem is awesome in its use of anaphora and has a great turn at the end. I also make one very mild criticism of the poem, so if she listens to this, please understand I love the poem. Afterward, inspired by young Tiktokers, I read just-received response letters from literary magazines.

I talk with Patricia Spears Jones (The Beloved Community) about Lorenzo Thomas' poem "The Bathers." We discuss the Birmingham Children's Crusade; growing up in Arkansas; the Black Arts Movement and New York School; Egyptology; the legacy of Lorenzo Thomas; and more. Afterward Patricia reads her poem "Green Ribbons" about the Atlanta Child Murders. We cry, we laugh. I also help her learn some important celebrity trivia.Topics include:Has anyone ever actually seen an engineer?

Just a little treat. Enjoy!

I talk with Nicky Beer (Real Phonies and Genuine Fakes) about torrin a. greathouse's poem "Abecedarian Requiring Further Examination Before a Diagnosis Can Be Made." We talk cripple-punk, bad doctors, abecedarians and formal choices, and a "transgender arm." Afterward, we play a game about beer (not Nicky).Also mentioned:Natalie Diaz's "Abecedarian Requiring Further Examination of Anglikan Seraphym Subjugation of a Wild Indian Rezervation"The literary journal Copper NickelDolly Parton's "Jolene"Dolly Parton's "Jolene" slowed down

In this Short Form episode, I talk about the difficulty of depicting absence in a poem and how we need the contrast of presence and absence. I use William Matthews' "Men at My Father's Funeral" as the example.

I talk with Diné poet Kinsale Drake about Natalie Diaz's poem "They Don't Love You Like I Love You," when about Kinsale's poem "(Re)location." We talk about platonic love, Indigenous writing, line breaks, and scale. Afterward, Kinsale has the most positive response yet to learning what the game is. This episode is sponsored by an old man trying to sound young.Also mentioned:Simon OrtizMary Oliver, “Wild Geese”Yeah Yeah Yeahs's "Maps" Beyoncé, "Hold Up"Father Knows BestA great tweetNatalie Diaz, “My Brother at 3 A.M.”Layli Long Soldier, “38” & Whereas Livvy Rizzed Up Baby Gronk, explained

I talk with Carolyn Oliver (Inside the Storm I Want to Touch the Tremble) about John Milton's Sonnet 19, "When I Consider How My Light Is Spent." Topics include: Would John Milton be a fun hang?; Milton's skill with the Petrarchan Sonnet form; a fair amount of 17th century English politics; and maternal mortality. Afterward, we have an ad from a new online ticket app and the return of the game "Tell me what how you really feel, William Logan." Also mentioned: Milton's sonnet "On His Deceased Wife"The Parable of the TalentsParadise Lost

I talk with my colleague J. Robert Lennon (Subdivision, Let Me Think, Critical Hits: Writers Playing Video Games) about Russell Edson's hilarious, strange poem "The Neighborhood Dog." Highlights include a recording of Edson reading the poem; laughter; the relationship between strange poetry and strange fiction; mystery and narrative expectations. Afterward, we play a game that I forgot to name. Also mentioned:Edson's poem "With Sincerest Regrets," which I talked about in episode 16;Edson's poem "Ape"The Adult Swim video "Too Many Cooks"Theodore Roethke's "I Knew a Woman"Marcel Proust and William ShakespeareEpoch literary magazine

I talk with Amit Majmudar (What He Did in Solitary; The Map and the Scissors; Black Avatar and Other Essays) about Sir Walter Raleigh's "The Lie." We talk about the poem's range and skill; specificity and particularity; whether lying has become more common or not; and origin stories. Afterward, Amit invents several new poetic forms.Additional mentions:"Sir Walter Raleigh to His Son"Don Paterson's poem "The Lie"Raleigh's "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd"Anna Beer's biography Patriot or Traitor: The Life and Death of Sir Walter RaleighMontaigne's essay "Of Giving the Lie"Acre Books and The Cincinnati ReviewHanuman

I talk with colleague Dr. Greg Londe (The Cracked Lookingglass) about Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven." Topics include: Poe's sneaky interest in math and the cosmos; the ways sound works in the poem; how the speaker goes from wheedling to intensely angry; the greatness of The Simpsons. And how will I pronounce the word "leisure"?Also discussed: Poe's essay "The Philosophy of Composition"; Poe's poems Eureka, "Evening Star," and "Sonnet: To Science"; T. S. Eliot's essay on Poe.

On this Short Form episode, I talk about Russell Edson's weird short poem "With Sincerest Regrets," in part as a preview for an upcoming episode also about an Edson poem. Believe it or not, there's a genuinely mind-blowing insight in the ad.

I talk with Cornell Classics faculty Athena Kirk about Thomas Hardy's Victorian-era--not ancient--poem "Shut Out That Moon." As a bonus, we discuss Louise Glück's "Afternoons and Early Evenings" and discover connections and contrasts between two poems that we did not intend to pair. Lost to a recording glitch, for better or worse: a reference to 1994's Reality Bites. You also get to hear a snippet of Richard Burton reciting the poem. This episode brought to you by Blind Homer's Escape Room.

I talk with poet, editor, teacher, et. al. Rebecca Morgan Frank (Oh You Robot Saints!; Memorious) about Louise Glück's poem "Snowdrops" from her 1992 Pulitzer Prize-winning collection The Wild Iris. Then we play a game called "Oh, You Robots Ain't S." Bonus: I forget the word "grammatical" exists, and Morgan shares a great Allen Ginsberg story.Also referenced: "charity supergroup" The Rock Bottom Remainders; Grace Cavalieri's interview with Louise Glück; James Wright's "Saint Judas" and "A Blessing"; Allen Ginsberg's "Howl" and William Blake's "The Lamb"; W.D. Snodgrass' De/Compositions; Michael Robbins' review of Glück's Poems: 1962-2012.

In this tribute to my cat Sophie who recently passed, I talk about two poems that evoke him in particular, odd ways: Marge Piercy's "The cat's song" and Edward Hirsch's "Fast Break." Fun fact: I recorded this four times before I was satisfied enough.

I talk with comedian, podcaster, and teacher John Cullen (Blocked Party, Most Likely to Be a Comedian) about Emily Dickinson's "Because I Could Not Stop for Death." Then we play a game called "Who Didn't Start the Fire." Also mentioned: Charles Simic's "Eyes Fastened with Pins"; Canadian poet Shane Koyczan.

Aid for Palestinians in need: Anera; Palestine Children's Relief Fund; Medical Aid for Palestinians.I talk with poet Joy Priest (Horsepower; Once a City Said: A Louisville Poets Anthology) about Carl Phillips' "Somewhere Holy." Afterward, we talk about Joy's poem "All the Men that Summer who Said I Love You" (scroll down for her poem). Finally, we play a game I call "Mommas, Don't Let Your AIs grow up to be Poets."Also mentioned: Joy's poem "Upon Reading James Lipton's An Exaltation of Larks"; Garth Greenwell's essay on Carl Phillips; Kevin Young's use of tercets in his poems; a review of "Once a City Said" at The Poetry Question.

I talk with Julie Phillips Brown (The Adjacent Possible, editor of House Mountain Review) about Mark Doty's elegy "The Embrace" (at this link, missing the word "you" before "warm brown tea"). We also mention scholar Peter Sacks's book The English Elegy, Jahan Ramazani's Poetry of Mourning, and Doty's poem "Brilliance," from his collection Sweet Machine (the poem is online in several places but incorrectly formatted). I also introduce Julie to Screamin' Jay Hawkins before ruining her life by introducing her to the book reviewing of William Logan.

I talk with poet Kim Addonizio about Ruth Stone's poem "Train Ride," then about Kim's poem "Kansas 4 a.m." Other poets and poems mentioned include Kay Ryan, Elizabeth Bishop's "The Moose," Shakespeare's Sonnet 18, James Dickey's "The Heaven of Animals," and Ruth Stone's "Curtains."

In this episode, William Callahan brings in Ocean Vuong's poem "Beautiful Short Loser." We talk about trans experience and the revised edition of the poem that appears in Vuong's collection Time Is a Mother. I forget to make the joke that I'm a beautiful tall loser.

Several guests postponed due to illness, so here's a "Short Form" episode on sound in Robert Hayden's classic "Those Winter Sundays." I draw attention to sound effects in the poem that receive less attention. Also, I give you a little peek behind the curtain of the show in the silliest segment to date.

I'm introducing a new kind of episode that I'm calling Short Form, in which I'm going solo about a poem or poems. In this episode, I talk about vowel sounds in Gerard Manley Hopkins' "God's Grandeur," Gwendolyn Brooks's "kitchenette building," and some of T. S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." I also offer a bribe for positive reviews.

I talk with Erica Dawson (When Rap Spoke Straight to God, The Small Blades Hurt) about Anne Sexton's poem "Her Kind." We also talk about the term "confessional poetry," listen to a recording of Anne Sexton reading "Her Kind," and dip into the obsessive prose of one of Sexton's fans.

I talk with Cynthia Arrieu-King (Continuity, The Betweens) about Adam Zagajewski's incredible poem "To Go to Lvov," translated by Renata Gorczynski. I also put her through the paces of an impossible game. Also mentioned: John Ashbery's "The Instruction Manual."

I talk with critic and colleague Roger Gilbert (author of Walks in the World: Representation and Experience in Modern American Poetry and co-editor of Considering the Radiance: Essays on the Poetry of A. R. Ammons) about A. R. Ammons' poem "Mechanism." Roger is working on a critical biography of Ammons and brings in an earlier draft of the poem.

I talk with poet and long-time friend Andrea Hollander (Blue Mistaken for Sky, And Now, Nowhere but Here) about Catherine Barnett's poem "Son in August." Andrea also shares a fantastic poem from her new collection.

This is a short intro to the format of the podcast and why I'm doing it. Poems live in and among readers. Brought to you by Williams Hardware.