Today’s program, and programs to come, will focus on randomly chosen topics, ranging from elements of the natural world to particular ideas. In programs to come I also plan to read poems I just happen to like. So there might be a little bit less of a scholarly and academic overview in my coming programs and more of a celebration of good work within a defined context. Because it’s raining in Connecticut as I write this program, I’d like to read some poems today that together present varied symbolic perspectives and representations of rain. Today’s poems are by William Butler Yeats, Daniel Bowman, David Breeden, and Jerry Craven. I end the program with excerpts from my book St. Brigid’s Well.

Today’s program focuses on one of the two essential and principal themes in all of poetry, and, perhaps, in all of literature: death. The other foundational theme is love and was the subject of last week’s program. I discuss some of the elements of death as they might be presented in poetry and then read several poems that focus on the sense of loss the results because of the death of someone who is loved. Today’s poems are by Dylan Thomas, Constance Carrier, Sherry Craven, and the Lithuanian poet Nijolė Miliauskaitė. I end the program with two of my own poems.

Today’s program focuses on one of the two essential and principal themes in all of poetry, and, perhaps, in all of literature: love and its various and many articulations. The other foundational theme is death and that will be the subject of next week’s program. I discuss some of the elements of love as they might be presented in poetry and then read several poems that illustrate various aspects of what is undoubtedly the most complex of human emotions. Today’s poems are by Donna Pucciani, Elizabeth Raby, and Larry D. Thomas. I end the program with two of my own poems.

Today’s program is about the “sixth sense,” that is, about how premonitions, intuitions, ghosts and other related things may be used as structural motifs and as parts of metaphoric and thematic frameworks in poetry. I consider the idea of “non-ordinary realities,” mysticism, and knowledge that comes from outside of or beyond the five physical senses I talked about in my earlier programs. To illustrate those ideas, I read an excerpt from William Blake and then poems by Australian poet Christopher (Kit) Kelen and by Chicagoan Steven Schroeder. I end with two of my own poems as examples of how mystical/magical elements and ghosts (manifestations of that “sixth sense”) might be incorporated into poetry.

Today’s program continues my consideration of how poets use references to the senses as essential structural motifs and as parts of organizing metaphoric and thematic literary frames. This program – about the sense of touch – takes a look at the possible meanings of touch, in their various explications, and how they might be used in poetry to create mood and tone. I read and consider a poem by William Carlos Williams, my translation of a poem by Onė Baliukonė, and poems by Sarah Webb and Patricia Goodrich.  I end the program with two of my own poems as examples of the ways in which touch may be named and incorporated in poems.

Today’s program continues my consideration of how poets use references to the senses as essential structural motifs and as parts of organizing metaphoric and thematic literary frames. This program – about the sense of smell – takes a look at the possible meanings of smell, in their various explications, and how they might be used in poetry to create mood and modulate tone. I read and consider two of my translations of Lithuanian poems, each of which presents different perspectives on smell, and a poem by Jamie Stern from her book Chasing Steam. I end the program with two of my own poems as examples of the ways in which smell may be named and incorporated in poems.

Today’s program continues my consideration of how poets use references to the senses as essential structural motifs and as parts of organizing metaphoric and thematic literary frames. This program – about the sense of taste – takes a look at the possible meanings of tastes, in their various explications, and how they might be used in poetry to create mood and tone. I read and consider three of my translations of Lithuanian poems, which each present different perspectives on taste, and end the program with three of my own poems as examples of the ways in which tastes may be named and incorporated in poems.

Today’s program is about how sounds may be used in poetry as essential structural motifs and as parts of organizing metaphoric and thematic literary frames. The program takes a look at the possible meanings of sounds, from their beginning as noises and as they take on personal and cultural significance as words. I use the opening lines of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” as perfect examples of how sounds work structurally in poetry, and then read a poem by Wally Swist and two of my own poems as examples of the ways in which sounds may be named and incorporated in poems.

Today’s program is about how colors may be used in poetry as essential structural motifs and as parts of organizing metaphoric and thematic literary frames. The program takes a look at the possible meanings of colors, using the field of color psychology to frame those considerations. I present my translations of poems by three Lithuanian poets, and then read two of my own poems, as examples of the ways in which colors may play varied poetic roles.

 Today’s program is about how heaven may be used in poetry as an essential structural motif and as part of an organizing metaphoric and thematic literary frame. The program takes a look at various depictions of heaven in the work of four Lithuanian poets – both in their pagan and in their Christian iterations – and in three of my own poems.