Lowkey Poetic

In Episode 9, we take two roads: Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken and Sheenagh Pugh’s What If This Road. It explores stories we tell ourselves in hindsight, how a fork looks while standing at it versus years later, and the pull of the adventurous paths we take.

In this episode, A.K. Ramanujan’s Self-Portrait and Margaret Atwood’s This Is a Photograph of Me turn familiar images into something far less certain, and explore the strange distance between seeing someone and actually knowing them.

In this episode, journey through C. P. Cavafy’s Ithaka, before turning to Souvankham Thammavongsa’s Theory of Writing to explore how we find meaning along the way.

In Episode 6, we look at two poems that remind us there's no perfect way to begin, only a willingness to keep going. Join us as we unpack unpretentious career advice from Marge Piercy's For the Young Who Want To and Ron Koertge's Do You Have Any Advice for Those of Us Just Starting Out?,

In Episode 5, step into Maggie Smith's Good Bones, where hope feels suspiciously difficult, before climbing the careful architecture of Seamus Heaney's Scaffolding to ask what it really takes to build something that lasts.

In Episode 4, we explore the landscapes of loss, both everyday and grand, with Naomi Shihab Nye and Elizabeth Bishop. Tune in to listen to two powerful poems: Kindness and One Art.

In Episode 3, come with us to a poetic coastline with Mary Oliver’s I Go Down To The Shore, and then join an argument about whether the earth is flat with He Tells Her by Wendy Cope.

We also refer to:

Sonnet 171 by Edna St. Vincent Millay

The Gardener by Mary Oliver

In Episode 2 of Lowkey Poetic, we explore He Visits My Town Once A Year by Amir Khusrau and From Blossoms by Li-Young Lee. Learn about Amir Khusrau’s playful writing style and celebrate mango season with us, while tracing the journey of the peach from the tree to your plate. Music Credit: Affengehege (Instrumental) by Siriuz and Rato from Young Bukowski.

In the maiden voyage of Lowkey Poetic, Episode 1 explores two poems: Tomatoes by Joy Sullivan and Onions by William Matthews. Dive into how regular pantry staples come to life to teach us a lesson on the joy of leaning into the moment. Music Credit: Affengehege (Instrumental) by Siriuz and Rato from Young Bukowski.

Welcome to Lowkey Poetic, a podcast that makes poetry make sense, and

makes it matter. Each episode, we bring you two poems woven together by a

universal theme that are both meaningful and fun. Music Credit: Affengehege (Instrumental) by Siriuz and Rato from Young Bukowski.