In the final episode of Season One, I Offer Poetry explores Wild Geese by Mary Oliver.

Mary Oliver’s work is greatly influenced by her upbringing in Ohio and her chosen home, New England, as well as the authors Walt Whitman and Henry David Thoreau. While the focus of this episode is Wild Geese, Elizabeth also mentions two other poems of Oliver’s (The Summer Day and The Invitation) which she highly recommends to the audience for further reading.

A peaceful episode exploring answerless questions, admitting tough seasons often require post-it-note covered mirrors, and welcoming the invitation to stop feeling the need to constantly repent. This poem encapsulates what Elizabeth hopes we will all approach the New Year with; the desire and pursuit of letting the soft animal of your body love what it loves.

Timestamps: 

00:01:13 Poem Reading (Elizabeth)

00:02:26 Author Info

00:06:02 Elizabeth’s Relationship to the Poem

00:20:14 Pause / Poem Reading (Elizabeth)

00:22:36 Reflection & Gratitude

Poem & Links:

Wild Geese by Mary Oliver (© 1986)

Wild Geese Reading by Mary Oliver

The Summer Day (Mary Oliver)

Invitation (Mary Oliver)

I.O.P. Lexicon:

Repent: (verb) feel or express sincere regret or remorse about one's wrongdoing or sin.

Where to find our host Elizabeth:

@ellsonelizabeth    |   Twitter

Where to find us:

@iofferpoetry   |   Instagram 

@iofferpoetry   |  Twitter

[email protected]   |   iofferpoetry.com 

Produced & Edited by John Campione:

Campiaudio.com   |   @campiaudio

[email protected]

Music @zacharymanno | Art @sammycampioneart

In the final guest episode of Season One, Elizabeth hosts her friend Kiran Subramaniam and they discuss the poetry of Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Kiran Subramaniam is a writer & performer living in Los Angeles by day, who dreams of the North Carolina mountains and beach by night. She currently works on the show Hightown as seen on Starz. She's a fan of chewy raspberry licorice, books, Spotify, and international architecture. Her first dog will be named Toby, a la the curmudgeonly Toby Zielger of The West Wing.

During their discussion of the poem ‘To William Shelley’ the conversation floats from the surface aspects of Percy’s scandalous personal life, all the way to the depths of the poetic mind/body split and our souls becoming one with nature. In unpacking a poem which centers on the loss of a child, the two women take an opportunity to explore their ideas of what parenthood and having a life outside your chest might feel like. As with many episodes, this conversation includes investigation into punctuation choices and how universal it feels to run out of words when we have lost the irreplaceable. 

Join us for a guest episode which touches on many genuine, tender heartstrings but also pokes fun at Percy’s inarguably hipster, would-be Perez Hilton cover-story-worthy life.

Timestamps: 

00:00:48 Guest Introduction

00:03:05 Poem Reading (Kiran)

00:04:41 Author Info

00:07:46 Kiran’s Relationship to the Poem

00:28:14 Pause / Poem Reading (Kiran)

00:35:30 Reflection & Offering

Poem & Links:

To William Shelley (© 1824)

To William Shelley, Ink & Quill Draft

Percy Shelley Portrait

I.O.P. Lexicon:

Lustre: (noun) a gentle sheen or soft glow, especially that of a partly reflective surface Italian Translation: non e piu come era prima ||  it is no longer as it was before

Where to find Kiran:

@ohyesitskiraness  |  Instagram

@subrawoman    |   Twitter

Where to find our host Elizabeth:

@ellsonelizabeth    |   Twitter

Where to find us:

@iofferpoetry   |   Instagram 

@iofferpoetry   |  Twitter

[email protected]   |   iofferpoetry.com 

Produced & Edited by John Campione:

Campiaudio.com   |   @campiaudio

[email protected]

Music @zacharymanno | Art @sammycampioneart

In this episode Elizabeth explores the poetry of contemporary poet Leila Chatti. The poem was originally sent to Elizabeth via snail mail and arrived as a page torn from the The New York Times Magazine; Confession by Leila Chatti.

Timestamps: 

00:00:41 Poem Reading (Elizabeth)

00:04:00 Author Info

00:5:36 Elizabeth’s Relationship to the Poem

00:18:58 Pause / Poem Reading (Elizabeth)

00:24:03 Reflection & Invitation to Write Us

Poem & Links:

Confession by Leila Chatti

@laypay |  Instagram

@laypay |  Twitter

Leila Chatti Publications

Freedom Reads

Five Lessons from Surah Maryam (by Jessica Daqamsseh)

I.O.P. Lexicon:

Rivulets: (noun) a small stream; brook

Voyeurs: (noun) a person who engages in voyeurism; the practice of obtaining sexual gratification by looking at sexual objects or acts, especially secretively

Fronds: (noun) botany term for an often large, finely divided leaf, usually applied to ferns and certain palms

Where to find our host Elizabeth:

@ellsonelizabeth    |   Twitter

Where to find us:

@iofferpoetry   |   Instagram 

@iofferpoetry   |  Twitter

[email protected]   |   iofferpoetry.com 

Produced & Edited by John Campione:

Campiaudio.com   |   @campiaudio

[email protected]

Music @zacharymanno | Art @sammycampioneart

In this episode Elizabeth hosts her cousin Gregory Sinche to discuss the unparalleled New England poet, Robert Frost.

Throughout the episode there is discussion of the many roads we are offered in life, their varying vantage points, and how we can choose to move forward knowing that ‘way leads on to way’ and we are bound to end up where we are meant to.

Greg expresses appreciation for the life he’s led up until this point even with its trade-offs, using poetry to reflect how far he’s come, and revisiting phrases that help him get through difficult moments.

Elizabeth shares a related quote from Kurt Vonnegut who said, "I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, 'If this isn't nice, I don't know what is.'"

A beautifully honest discussion of coming through depression, reflecting on 16 months of pandemic life, and how moving from an actionable ‘living’ experience to a ‘lived’ experience makes all the difference.

Greg rounds out the conversation saying he hopes we become a society where we become comfortable expressing our vulnerability consistently, admitting when we are not okay and finding ways to seek help.

Timestamps: 

00:00:41 Guest Introduction

00:02:09 Poem Reading (Greg)

00:03:01 Author Info

00:04:32 Greg’s Relationship to the Poem

00:27:43 Pause / Poem Reading (Elizabeth)

00:31:10 Reflection & Offering

Poem & Links:

The Road Not Taken (© 1916)

Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening (© 1923)

If This Isn’t Nice Then What Is (Kurt Vonnegut)

I.O.P. Lexicon:

Diverged: (verb) separate from another route, especially a main one, and go in a different direction.

Where to find Greg:

@gregory.sinche  |  Instagram

Where to find our host Elizabeth:

@ellsonelizabeth    |   Twitter

Where to find us:

@iofferpoetry   |   Instagram 

@iofferpoetry   |  Twitter

[email protected]   |   iofferpoetry.com 

Produced & Edited by John Campione:

Campiaudio.com   |   @campiaudio

[email protected]

Music @zacharymanno | Art @sammycampioneart

On this week’s Side B, Elizabeth shares the brilliance of contemporary poet Hanif Abdurraqib. Also from Columbus, Ohio, Hanif is a well lauded poet, essayist, and curator of excellent playlists.

This episode explores Hanif’s poem And What Good Will Your Vanity Be When The Rapture Comes which deals personally with loss and the reflection of our limited time here on earth.

There is commentary on how potent Hanif’s writing is, both in this poem & his poetry collections, and his ability to make epic life questions somehow digestible. A poet who can distill loss and grief while remaining visceral, as though you were reading his diary. 

Elizabeth shares more intimately about her own personal losses, praises the idea of being forced to stay present, and waxes poetic about how even in grief we seek out loving others.

“What this poem offered me... was this conversation starter for what does loss look like for you? Because it wrecks me. But God do I want to share that with the people that I still love with the people who are still here.” - Elizabeth Ellson

Timestamps: 

00:00:36 Poem Reading (Elizabeth)

00:05:10 Author Info

00:11:51 Elizabeth’s Relationship to the Poem

00:21:24 Pause / Poem Reading (Elizabeth)

00:30:12 Reflection & Invitation to Write Us

Poem & Links:

And What Good Will Your Vanity Be (Poem)

68to05 (Hanif’s Music Essays)

Object Of Sound (Hanif’s Podcast)

@nifmuhammad | Instagram

@NifMuhammad | Twitter

On Being | Poetry Unbound Podcasts

Where to find our host Elizabeth:

@ellsonelizabeth    |   Twitter

Where to find us:

@iofferpoetry   |   Instagram 

@iofferpoetry   |  Twitter

[email protected]   |   iofferpoetry.com 

Produced & Edited by John Campione:

Campiaudio.com   |   @campiaudio

[email protected]

Music @zacharymanno | Art @sammycampioneart

This week on I Offer Poetry Elizabeth interviews her high school Honors Organic Chemistry Teacher, Mr. Stephen Stern. You read that correctly; Elizabeth took an honors level science class. It obviously didn’t pan out for her, but she still adores Mr. Stern and was thrilled to discuss all things creative in this episode.

Stephen Stern was born and raised in California and moved to Elizabeth’s hometown of Columbus, OH in 1993 while his wife attended veterinary school at The Ohio State University. He and his wife ended up making Columbus their home; they have been married for 29 years, have two children together, and Mr. Stern continues to teach high school in the suburbs just outside of OSU campus.

In their catch-up Mr. Stern and Elizabeth discuss the strong ties to art passed down through family members, what it means to grow up and experience loss, and how excellent Mr. Stern is at encouraging his students, no matter their interest level in science.

This episode honors those we’ve lost and gives Elizabeth the chance to say thank you to a teacher that helped her make it through grieving her father. It is a very special episode and we hope you’ll find a lot of inspiration in the words of Kipling and the discussion surrounding his poetry.

“It could be from triumphs or losses, but sometimes you just go forward because that's life. And that's what my parents taught me. And maybe the poem taught me a little bit about that; there's good, there's bad, there's things that go along the way. You’ve got to meet them the same way. And I'm not always even keeled, I can't say that I’m like this poem all the time, but at least there's something there that I saw growing up that helped get me back to a centerline when I need to be.”

-Stephen Stern

Timestamps: 

00:00:24 Guest Introduction

00:05:12 Poem Reading (Stephen)

00:07:28 Author Info

00:09:02 Stephen’s Relationship to the Poem

00:19:21 Pause / Poem Reading (Elizabeth)

00:25:27 Reflection & Offering

Poem & Links:

If by Rudyard Kipling (© 1910)

I.O.P. Lexicon:

Knave: (noun) a dishonest or unscrupulous man.

Sinew: (noun) a piece of tough fibrous tissue uniting muscle to bone or bone to bone OR the parts of a structure, system, or thing that give it strength or bind it together.

Where to find our host Elizabeth:

@ellsonelizabeth    |   Twitter

Where to find us:

@iofferpoetry   |   Instagram 

@iofferpoetry   |  Twitter

[email protected]   |   iofferpoetry.com 

Produced & Edited by John Campione:

Campiaudio.com   |   @campiaudio

[email protected]

Music @zacharymanno | Art @sammycampioneart

In this week’s Side B, Elizabeth brings us the poem Unending Love by Rabindranath Tagore. Tagore’s notable influence on 20th century Indian literature is made all the more impressive by his being the first non-European to earn a Nobel Prize in Literature, in 1913.

Unending Love is a poem about how universal our emotional landscapes can be, remembrance of the shy sweetness of meeting, and the merging of all love through song and poetry. It is a perfect piece for I Offer Poetry, a chance to explore how poetry gives everyone a voice, whether writer or reader.

This episode flaunts November birthdays, the deep abiding friendship of Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, and Elizabeth’s love for commas. Come listen to a piece of poetry Elizabeth found while Wikipedia diving and see how she rounds out the episode celebrating her close friends.

“That's what this poem right now, in this moment in my life, represents. This idea that we can be so loved and so seen by friends. That that is what a beautiful numberless love is, is the amount of love that I feel from the friends in my life.” - Elizabeth Ellson

Timestamps: 

00:00:58 Poem Reading (Elizabeth)

00:02:58 Author Info

00:04:52 Elizabeth’s Relationship to the Poem

00:16:27 Pause / Poem Reading (Elizabeth)

00:21:38 Reflection & Invitation to Write Us!

Poem & Links:

Unending Love by Rabindranath Tagore

Gregory Peck Reading Unending Love (1993)

Funny Face (1957)

Roman Holiday (1953)

I.O.P. Lexicon:

Polymath (noun) : a person of wide-ranging knowledge or learning

Palilogy (noun) : repetition of a word for emphasis

Pole-star (noun) : A pole-star or polar star is a bright star, nearly aligned with the axis of a rotating astronomical body; it's a star that seemingly “doesn't move”, aiding in celestial navigation; this star is at times also known as polaris

Fount (noun) : a spring of water; fountain OR a source or origin: i.e. a fount of inspiration

Where to find our host Elizabeth:

@ellsonelizabeth    |   Twitter

Where to find us:

@iofferpoetry   |   Instagram 

@iofferpoetry   |  Twitter

[email protected]   |   iofferpoetry.com 

Produced & Edited by John Campione:

Campiaudio.com   |   @campiaudio

[email protected]

Music @zacharymanno | Art @sammycampioneart

This week on I Offer Poetry Elizabeth and her guest, Natasha Wright, discuss the inimitable power of Maya Angelou.

Natasha lives in Washington, D.C. and currently serves as the Senior Advisor in the Immediate Office of the Assistant Secretary within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF).  In this role, Natasha is responsible for developing and implementing many of ACF’s strategic initiatives. Prior to starting this role in April 2021, she served for two years as a legislative analyst within the Office of Legislative Affairs and Budget at ACF. 

Our guest brings in the famous poem ‘Still I Rise’ and tells us about how these words continue to resonate at every age she revisits them. After explaining she was coached by her mom into performing this poem for a childhood talent show, Natasha also reveals she had the opportunity to audit a class taught by Maya Angelou in college.

We examine the different lenses of self respect and confidence Angelou weaves into her writing and the evolution of femininity throughout. Natasha also opens up about how the line “Still I rise” comes to her in tough moments and what it means to embrace her natural instincts to lead others and make life better for those around her.

“[Maya Angelou] is truly embracing her femininity through this poem, [asking] 'does my sexiness upset you?' Because that is just who she is. Why are we trying to hide it, or mask it, or make it less than; to make others feel comfortable, to the detriment of ourselves?

Timestamps: 

00:00:44 Guest Introduction

00:03:28 Poem Reading (Natasha)

00:05:30 Author Info

00:08:35 Natasha’s Relationship to the Poem

00:19:08 Pause / Poem Reading (Elizabeth)

00:34:38 Reflection & Offering

Poem & Links:

Still I Rise by Maya Angelou (© 1978)

Still I Rise (Live Performance, Maya Angelou)

Invictus by William Ernest Henley

I.O.P. Lexicon:

Haughtiness: (noun) full of scorn; derisive; contemptuous

Where to find Natasha:

@tmarie131816   |  Instagram

Natasha’s Linkedin

Where to find our host Elizabeth:

@ellsonelizabeth    |   Twitter

Where to find us:

@iofferpoetry   |   Instagram 

@iofferpoetry   |  Twitter

[email protected]

Produced & Edited by John Campione:

Campiaudio.com   |   @campiaudio

[email protected]

Music @zacharymanno | Art @sammycampioneart

Another first for the podcast; Concert Deconstruction. Elizabeth has invited a wonderful musician friend to dissect lyrics as poetry after attending a concert and getting to experience their live performance.

Introducing Lou Mitchell, a singer songwriter from California who spent the majority of her childhood either in the dirt or out on the delta. Like any other small-town kid, she couldn’t get out of there fast enough. She spent the majority of her twenties trying to blend in with the city only to realize she’ll always have a little more dirt on her shoes than the rest. Lou started writing music right out of high school, mostly using it as an outlet as she ran in circles trying to find her place in the industry. She took a surprising turn back to her country roots and immediately felt at home within her music as it called on the most authentic version of herself.

In this week’s episode Lou and Elizabeth sing the praises of Brandi and her brilliant band. In terms of witnessing their performance, there is much commendation of the excellent musicianship of the entire group and fawning over the joy emanating from Brandi herself. Related to the lyrics themselves there is a great deal of discussion over how romantic relationships age and the honor it is to have a human safe space. Lou dives deep on how the song is not a standard structure and therefore lends itself to poetry so innately. Elizabeth crosses her fingers that writer Phil Hanseroth intentionally included a couplet in the song’s ending.

Although Elizabeth slips up once or twice and calls Lou by her full first name, Lauren, she is thrilled to celebrate the release of Lou’s first single. Newly available on Apple Music and Spotify, 'Wholesome' is a country song for those who are still finding themselves and accepting with grace and enthusiasm that they might just be really good at makin’ dumb decisions.

“[The lyrics are] written in four separate parts… and it's sort of out of the format that I'm used to writing in and that on the radio we're used to listening to, because [typically] you start with a verse and then pre chorus, chorus, and it's sort of in this structure that we're a little bit confined to. This song is so beautiful because it's just like, here's the first part of the story and the second and the third, and then we're going to come back and the fourth is the same. Lyrically the same as the first stanza, but by the time the song is over, it means so much more and has a different meaning. So I think that just the way that they broke the convention was really what stood out to me.”

- Lou Mitchell

Timestamps: 

00:00:11 Guest Introduction

00:01:23 Lyric/Poem Reading (Lou)

00:02:57 Author Info

00:05:19 Lou’s Relationship to the Lyrics/Poem

00:15:56 Pause Lyric/Poem Reading (Elizabeth)

00:23:15 Reflection & Offering

00:25:58 Outro / Sample Lou’s First Single

Poem & Links:

The Story (Music Video)

The Story (Lyrics)

The Eye (Music Video)

I.O.P. Lexicon:

Couplet: (noun) two lines of verse, usually in the same meter and joined by rhyme, that form a unit

Where to find Lou:

@loumitchellmusic  |  Instagram

@itsloumitchell   |  Twitter

Lou Mitchell Music:

https://www.loumitchellmusic.com/

Wholesome (Lou’s First Single)

Where to find our host Elizabeth:

@ellsonelizabeth    |   Twitter

Where to find us:

@iofferpoetry   |   Instagram 

@iofferpoetry   |  Twitter

[email protected]

Produced & Edited by John Campione:

Campiaudio.com   |   @campiaudio

[email protected]

Music @zacharymanno | Art @sammycampioneart

On this week's episode Elizabeth is excited to introduce her dear friend, David Guerra, who quickly takes the reins and teaches her more about Tennessee Williams, the conquest of Mexico City, and what it means to get deeply vulnerable about family.

Our guest David is an award winning actor, director, teacher and performing artist. He was born and raised in Los Angeles and has worked and collaborated with a lot of respected institutions within Southern California, including the Center Theatre Group, the Geffen Playhouse, and the experimental physical theatre company that is Theatre Movement Bazaar (TMB). With TMB David has won Ovation Awards, traveled to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with multiple productions, as well as toured in several cities in China. As a teaching artist, David intentionally turns every classroom into a theatre space and creates a level playing field for both the arts and academia.

While exploring The Christus of Guadalajara by Tennessee Williams, Elizabeth and David explore the themes of religion, sacrifice, and, as David puts it, the subtext of death. Come with us to investigate how the poem picks up speed, asks us to reflect on mortality, and encourages us to pay respect to our mothers.

Come listen to David share the many lenses through which he views this poem and how he believes art seeks us.

“This is the thing Elizabeth, you know, the art?... in a way instead of you seeking it seeks you. Well, I don't know if it fell in my lap... but I'm serious. I don't think I sought it.”

- David Guerra

Timestamps:

00:00:47 Guest Introduction

00:03:14 Poem Reading (David)

00:05:55 Author Info

00:08:44 David’s Relationship to the Poem

00:23:29 Pause / Poem Reading (Elizabeth)

00:35:00 Reflection & Offering

Poem & Links:

The Christus of Guadalajara by Tennessee Williams (© 1956)

Theatre Movement Bazaar

Celebration (TMB Digital Project)

I.O.P. Lexicon:

Gitana: (noun) a Spanish female Gypsy

Lachryma Christi: literal translation is "tears of Christ" ALSO the name of a celebrated Neapolitan type of wine

Flagellation: (noun) flogging or beating, either as a religious discipline or for sexual gratification

Where to find David & TMB:

@elsrguerra  |  Instagram

@tmbazaar | Instagram

Where to find our host Elizabeth:

@ellsonelizabeth    |   Twitter

Where to find us:

@iofferpoetry   |   Instagram 

@iofferpoetry   |  Twitter

[email protected]

Produced & Edited by John Campione:

Campiaudio.com   |   @campiaudio

[email protected]

Music @zacharymanno | Art @sammycampioneart