democracyroad

democracyroad

By John CaseSociety & Culture
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democracyroad episodes

  • The Poetry Show: Trees
    Enlighten Radio Presents

     

    Stand Still

     

    The Bristlecone Pine

    A Magnificent collection of Tree Visions: Drink the undrinkable; Through a glass, darkly; The Trees are not lost. Joy Harjo, Adrienne Rich, Christian Wimen, WS Merwin, Jane Hirshfield. Poems of Peace.
    Broadcast Wednesdays, 10 AM on player.enlightenradio.org
    Hosts: Janet Harrison, John Case
    This Episode Recorded April 29, 2026

     

    The Bristlecone Pine

    by Mary Jane Myers


    For centuries, the stalwart pine has stood
    __in this unwonted spot.
    Its shallow roots and resinous hard wood
    __shield it from drought and rot.
    __Thin soil, high winds, cold air:
    it thrives where other living things cannot.
    __Dear tree, please hear my prayer.
    __Lend me your purple cone
    to plant inside my heart, its chambers bare,
    __arteries hard as bone.
    __For from your potent seed,
    that germinates on bleak and barren stone,
    __fresh hope will sprout. Indeed,
    to love's avowals I'd once again accede.

     

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    26 min
  • The Poetry Show: Clouds
    Enlighten Radio Presents

     

    I Really Don't Know Clouds. At All.

     

     

    Sandra Cisneros, Billy Collins, Mary Oliver, Sara Teasdale, Sara James, Phillis Levin, Joni Mitchell? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgtLZCe-GSM)
    Broadcast Wednesdays, 10 AM on player.enlightenradio.org
    Hosts: Janet Harrison, John Case
    This Episode Recorded April22, 2026

    Cloud

    by Sandra Cisneros


    Before you became a cloud, you were an ocean, roiled and murmuring like a mouth.


    You were the shadow of a cloud crossing over a field of tulips.


    You were the tears of a man who cried into a plaid handkerchief.


    You were a sky without a hat.


    Your heart puffed and flowered like sheets drying on a line.


    And when you were a tree, you listened to trees and the tree things trees told you.


    You were the wind in the wheels of a red bicycle.


    You were the spidery Maria tattooed on the hairless arm of a boy in downtown Houston.


    You were the rain rolling off the waxy leaves of a magnolia tree.


    A lock of straw-colored hair wedged between the mottled pages of a Victor Hugo novel.


    A crescent of soap.


    A spider the color of a finger nail.


    The black nets beneath the sea of olive trees.


    A skein of blue wool.


    A tea saucer wrapped in newspaper.


    An empty cracker tin.


    A bowl of blueberries in heavy cream.


    White wine in a green-stemmed glass.


    And when you opened your wings to wind,
    across the punched-tin sky above a prison courtyard,
    those condemned to death and those condemned to life
    watched how smooth and sweet a white cloud glides.

     

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    32 min
  • The Poetry Show: Storms
    Enlighten Radio Presents

     

    Praise the Rain; it brings more rain.

     

     

    The Poetry of storms is high on thematic popularity judging by their presence -- even abundance -- in hundreds of languages. Emily Dickinsen, Mark Van Dorn, Seamus Heany, H.D. (Hilda Doolittle), and Gladys Cardiff give artful and diverse slants on storms. Joy Harjo delivers a magnificent close.
    Broadcast Wednesdays, 10 AM on player.enlightenradio.org
    Hosts: Janet Harrison, John Case
    This Episode Recorded April 8, 2026

    Praise the Rain

    by Joy Harjo


    Praise the rain; the seagull dive
    The curl of plant, the raven talk—
    Praise the hurt, the house slack
    The stand of trees, the dignity—
    Praise the dark, the moon cradle
    The sky fall, the bear sleep—
    Praise the mist, the warrior name
    The earth eclipse, the fired leap—
    Praise the backwards, upward sky
    The baby cry, the spirit food—
    Praise canoe, the fish rush
    The hole for frog, the upside-down—
    Praise the day, the cloud cup
    The mind flat, forget it all—
    Praise crazy. Praise sad.
    Praise the path on which we're led.
    Praise the roads on earth and water.
    Praise the eater and the eaten.
    Praise beginnings; praise the end.
    Praise the song and praise the singer.
    Praise the rain; it brings more rain.
    Praise the rain; it brings more rain.

     

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    27 min
  • The Last Stop Cafe: Echoes of Dread
    Enlighten Radio Presents
    The Last Stop Cafe: Echoes of Dread
    There is a Horrifying Secret in "the new ballroom . . ."

     

     

    Broadcast Thursdays 11 AM on player.enlightenradio.org
    Hosts: Mike Cuccherini, John Case, James Boyd

     

    Special Guest: Michelle Principi
    Mike interviews his co-star, Michelle Principi, as they share screening experiences producing "Echoes of Dread", a horror film that has come back -- this time, to REAL LIFE!
    This Episode Recorded April 9, 2026 at the Red Caboose Studio, Harpers Ferry, WV

     

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    30 min
  • The Last Stop Cafe: Oscar Rumors
    Enlighten Radio Presents
    The Last Stop Cafe: Oscar Rumors
    The Natinals are Lookin HOT

     

     

    Broadcast Thrsdays 11 AM, player.enlightenradio.org
    Hosts: John Case, James Boyd, Mike Cuccherini
    for the showboaters this is the boulevard of broken dreams. For hitchikers, this ride stops at area 51. For heroes this is the Heartbreak Hotel. For losers there's no more of that here.
    This Episode Recorded April 2, 2026 at the Red Caboose Studio, Harpers Ferry, WV

     

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    30 min
  • The Poetry show: April Is The Cruelist Month
    Enlighten Radio Presents
    Seize the Time!
    April poems golden, April cloudy, Gracious, cruel, tender, rowdy -- some of the many Aprils we thought we knew and the few we could not bear to lose.
    Broadcast Wednesdays, 10 AM on player.enlightenradio.org
    Hosts: Janet Harrison, John Case
    This Episode Recorded April 1, 2026

    Let Me Begin Again

    by Major Jackson


    Let me begin again as a quiet thought
    in the shape of a shell slowly examined
    by a brown child on a beach at dawn
    straining to see their future. Let me begin
    this time knowing the drumming in my dreams
    is me inheriting the earth, is morning
    lighting up the rivers. Let me burn
    my vanities: old music in the pines, sifters
    of scotch, a day moon like a signature
    of night. This time, let me circle
    the island of my fears only once then
    live like a raging waterfall and grow
    a magnificent mustache. Let me not ever be
    the birdcage or the serrated blade or
    the empty season. Dear Glacier, Dear Sea
    of Stars, Dear Leopards disintegrating
    at the outer limits of our greed; soon we will
    encounter you only in motivational tweets.
    Reader, I should have married you sooner.
    This time, let me not sleep like the prophet who
    believes he’s seen infinity. Let me run
    at break-neck speeds toward sceneries
    of doubt. I have no more dress rehearsals
    to attend. Look closer: I am licking my lips.

     

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    28 min
  • The Poetry Show: Spring Arrives
    Enlighten Radio Presents
    It is the 152nd Birthday of Robert Frost.

     

    It is a season of Fire, Rain and Skunk Cabbage.

    mary oliver, emily dickinson, william carlos williams, gillian clarke, robert frost, ww, dh lawrence

     

    Robert Frost

    I'm going out to clean the pasture spring;

    I'll only stop to rake the leaves away
    (And wait to watch the water clear, I may):
    I sha'n't be gone long.—You come too.

    I'm going out to fetch the little calf

    That's standing by the mother. It's so young,
    It totters when she licks it with her tongue.
    I sha'n't be gone long.—You come too.

    Broadcast LIVE Wednesdays, 10 AM on https://player.enlightenradio.org
    Hosts: Janet Harrison, John Case
    This Episode Recorded March 26, 2025

     

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    37 min

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