If you’ve ever baked bread, or even just walked through city streets in the early morning, you will absolutely appreciate the overload of sensory pleasure that comes with the preparation of bread.

Decades ago, my grandmother, who lived on a hillside in County Donegal in Ireland and the greatest woman I’ve ever known, treated us often to a bread made from treacle that was, and will forever be, as close to the taste of love as anything I will ever experience in this lifetime.

When you really think about it, isn’t there something strange, mystical, maybe even miraculous about bread?

One of the first stories I ever remember was the story of Jesus feeding the multitude with five loaves and two fish. “And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.” Apart from the resurrection, it is the only miracle recounted in all four books of the gospel. In the lord’s prayer, we pray to be given this day our daily bread.

In our industrialised, chemicalised, global-processing era, when food systems are so often aided by unnatural substances, when we find ourselves removed from the soil and the sun, those essential sources of all our nutrients, when food intolerances are seemingly on an inexorable rise, I find I yearn for the simplicity and yes the miraculousness of homemade bread.

This poem, “All Bread”, from Margaret Atwood, the iconic Canadian poet, novelist, teacher, inventory, activist and inventor, is from her 1980 collection “Two-Headed Poems”. It speaks of this sense of miraculousness. Like every human endeavour, it is beset by complexity, a two-headed-ness. That complexity is summed up, I think, in its five-word final line which can be interpreted as both a powerful celebration of humanity and a stern warning of what we are capable of.

You can read All Bread on the website of the On Being Project here, where you’ll also find an analysis by the poet and teacher Padraig O Tuama.

You can find another Margaret Atwood poem, “Up”, in Episode 40 of this podcast.

***

For a detailed outline of the mission and purpose behind this podcast, please check out Episode 100, "Why Poems for the Speed of Life?", in your podcast player or ⁠⁠⁠⁠click here to listen on Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠.

If you’re on social media, you can follow on Twitter here, Instagram here and Facebook here.

Subscribe to or follow the show for free wherever you listen to podcasts.

***

To leave the show a review:

On Spotify. Open the Spotify app (iOS or Android), ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠find the show⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and tap to rate five-stars. (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Details here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)On Apple. Open your Apple Podcasts app, find the show and tap to rate five-stars. (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Details here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)On Podchaser. Open the Podchaser website, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠find the show⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and tap to rate five-stars. (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Details here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)

Music Credit:

Once Upon a Time by Alex-Productions | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://onsound.eu/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  | Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com

Rewatching some scenes from the film Dead Poets Society recently, I remembered the time of my life when I first came across this poem by Walt Whitman, and a time when I was first introduced to the meaning of poetry itself.

That film came out in 1989 and I probably saw it for the first time in the early 1990s, at exactly the same time—give or take a few months—as I was being initiated into the world of poetry and literature by my great English teacher, and I’m happy to say, still my great friend, Richie Ball in St Patrick’s Classical School in a small town called Navan in County Meath in Ireland.

John Keating, the English teacher played by Robin Williams in that film, was a different type of teacher than Richie Ball, but both shared a deep essence of what it is to teach. Because teaching is about so much more than transferring information. In fact, to me, the information might be the least important ingredient in teaching. Great teaching is a holistic experience. A great teacher creates and cultivates a space in which teaching can happen. This, to me, is why so much online education fails. Because so much online education is just information, and online courses in most cases fail to create the space in which great teaching can really take place.

To get back to the poem by Walt Whitman, this too is relevant, I think. Because what is great teaching only an example of great leadership? Whitman’s poem is a tribute to the great American president Abraham Lincoln after his assassination, but in many ways it is a tribute to great leadership, and to great leaders, who must know that a large part of what they give to the world through their teaching and through their leadership will only be really felt after their time on earth has passed.

You can read the poem here.

For a detailed outline of the mission and purpose behind this podcast, please check out Episode 100, "Why Poems for the Speed of Life?", in your podcast player or ⁠⁠⁠⁠click here to listen on Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠.

If you’re on social media, you can follow on Twitter here, Instagram here and Facebook here.

Subscribe to or follow the show for free wherever you listen to podcasts.

To leave the show a review:

On Spotify. Open the Spotify app (iOS or Android), ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠find the show⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and tap to rate five-stars. (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Details here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)On Apple. Open your Apple Podcasts app, find the show and tap to rate five-stars. (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Details here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)On Podchaser. Open the Podchaser website, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠find the show⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and tap to rate five-stars. (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Details here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)

Music Credit:

Once Upon a Time by Alex-Productions | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://onsound.eu/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  | Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com

Depending on where in the world you’re listening from, there’s a good chance you’ll have come across this poem during your schooldays. Certainly, for people in Ireland where I am, and in the UK and America, Walter De La Mare’s The Listeners seems to have found a place on a lot of school curriculums.

It’s easy to see why. Much of the poetry that is stuffed down children’s throats is the equivalent of broccoli. We believe this is good for you, but we know it doesn’t feel good.

The Listeners is different. From the very first words of the very first time you read it—especially, I think, if the reader is a child—there’s something that gets under the skin.

If we need stories to make sense of the world, then mystery is one of the most cherished forms of story.

The Listeners is a total mystery, and like the best mysteries, it’s one that can never be solved, because to solve a mystery immediately takes all the mystery away.

Who are the listeners? Why do they stay silent? Who is the traveller? Why is he knocking? What promise is he keeping?

The poem takes us there, to that house in the forest. It gives us what we need through all our senses: the sights, the shadows, the sounds, the echoes, the silence.

If this is your first time with this poem, enjoy. I believe it will stay with you long after the plunging hoofs have gone quiet.

You can read the poem here. And I also recommend this reading on YouTube, which is set to the gorgeous music “The Lark Ascending” by the English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams

For a detailed outline of the mission and purpose behind this podcast, please check out Episode 100, "Why Poems for the Speed of Life?", in your podcast player or ⁠⁠⁠⁠click here to listen on Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠.

If you’re on social media, you can follow on Twitter here, Instagram here and Facebook here.

Subscribe to or follow the show for free wherever you listen to podcasts.

To leave the show a review:

On Spotify. Open the Spotify app (iOS or Android), ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠find the show⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and tap to rate five-stars. (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Details here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)On Apple. Open your Apple Podcasts app, find the show and tap to rate five-stars. (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Details here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)On Podchaser. Open the Podchaser website, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠find the show⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and tap to rate five-stars. (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Details here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)

Music Credit:

Once Upon a Time by Alex-Productions | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://onsound.eu/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  | Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com

Ada Limón is the 24th US poet laureate. “Wonder Woman” is a poem included in her 2018 collection The Carrying, published by Milkweed Editions.

There is so much in this poem. A verdict from an urgent care doctor, delivered abruptly. The pain and medication that may be directly or indirectly related to that verdict. The perceptions of others. And then, the moment the poem arrives, the poetic moment that is the birthing place of all great poems. She sees a young woman on the bank of the Mississippi river and the world and everything in it seems to shift and change forever.

And the last line, six words to be read and savoured. Are they about the woman she sees? Or about the poet seeing herself in a new light? Or, maybe, about every woman in the world who happens to read them and finds in them the power and strength necessary to keep on going.

You can read the poem here, and you can hear me introduce and read another poem by Ada Limón, “Instructions on Not Giving Up”, in Episode 69 of this podcast.

For a detailed outline of the mission and purpose behind this podcast, please check out Episode 100, "Why Poems for the Speed of Life?", in your podcast player or ⁠⁠⁠⁠click here to listen on Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠.

If you’re on social media, you can follow on Twitter here, Instagram here and Facebook here.

Subscribe to or follow the show for free wherever you listen to podcasts.

To leave the show a review:

On Spotify. Open the Spotify app (iOS or Android), ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠find the show⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and tap to rate five-stars. (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Details here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)On Apple. Open your Apple Podcasts app, find the show and tap to rate five-stars. (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Details here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)On Podchaser. Open the Podchaser website, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠find the show⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and tap to rate five-stars. (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Details here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)

Music Credit:

Once Upon a Time by Alex-Productions | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://onsound.eu/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  | Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com

I remember spending time with my grandparents. The world of the 1980s seems so long ago now. People seemed to come and go much more often then. People lingered. People were interested, really interested, in each other. Before we became cogs in a grand machine, we were living and breathing nodes of a universal whole. I could of course be guilty of inflicting nostalgia on you here, but I really feel that time was valuable for its slowness then. Later, time became intrinsically linked to money and everything speeded up and we lost things that had no economic value but which were somehow much more valuable.

That was what I felt when I read this poem, anyway. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

JRR Tolkien is of course best known for creating Middle Earth, the universe of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

This is a short poem about life, about the human experience of life, about the lives that came before, the lives that will come after, and all the other life—the life of the world out there, the life that creates meadow flowers and butterflies, and a different green in every wood.

It is also, in its gorgeous final stanza, a poem about perhaps the most essential part of life: togetherness. Friendship. Family. The visitor come to say hello.

It first appeared in The Fellowship of the Ring, the first part of The Lord of the Rings epic, sung bythe hobbit Bilbo Baggins.

You can find the social media links in the show notes, so please follow along there and let me know if you had a different experience with this poem by Tolkien, or any of the poems in this podcast.

You can read the poem here

For a detailed outline of the mission and purpose behind this podcast, please check out Episode 100, "Why Poems for the Speed of Life?", in your podcast player or ⁠⁠⁠⁠click here to listen on Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠.

If you’re on social media, you can follow on Twitter here, Instagram here and Facebook here.

Subscribe to or follow the show for free wherever you listen to podcasts.

To leave the show a review:

On Spotify. Open the Spotify app (iOS or Android), ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠find the show⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and tap to rate five-stars. (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Details here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)On Apple. Open your Apple Podcasts app, find the show and tap to rate five-stars. (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Details here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)On Podchaser. Open the Podchaser website, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠find the show⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and tap to rate five-stars. (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Details here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)

Music Credit:

Once Upon a Time by Alex-Productions | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://onsound.eu/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  | Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com

This is a poem about friends—and all their maddening changeability, about the weird experience of watching them find themselves or lose their minds.

Even more, though, it’s a poem about friendship itself.

In his gorgeous little essay titled “Friendship”, the poet David Whyte writes that “friendship is a moving frontier of understanding, not only of the self and the other but also of a possible and as yet unlived future” and that “a diminishing circle of friends is the first terrible diagnostic of a life in deep trouble”.

There is a lot of that in this poem by Christian Wiman, an American poet, translator, editor, and essayist, who was editor of Poetry magazine for 10 years until 2013.

Wiman is, in a way, a poet for the masses. He is the opposite of the style of complex symbolism that we might find in WB Yeats or John Keats. He writes for regular modern people living in regular modern circumstances with all the regular modern problems that brings. In an interview in 2009, he said, “I have no illusions about adding to sophisticated theological thinking. But I think there are a ton of people out there who are what you might call unbelieving believers, people whose consciousness is completely modern and yet who have this strong spiritual hunger in them. I would like to say something helpful to those people.”

Beliefs are at the centre of this poem. What is it that cultivates our beliefs? Why are some of us born-again Christians? Why do some of us leave religion and become fervent atheists? Why do we follow health fads and strict exercise regimens? Who really knows, except maybe there is an emptiness in the heart of every human soul that yearns to be filled. And maybe, as much as anything else, it is friendship itself that can fill it.

You can read the poem here

You can find three poems by David Whyte in the archives of this podcast. “Sometimes” is in Episode 7, “The Bell and the Blackbird” can be found in Episode 38 and “A Seeming Stillness” is in Episode 94.

***

For a detailed outline of the mission and purpose behind this podcast, please check out Episode 100, "Why Poems for the Speed of Life?", in your podcast player or ⁠⁠⁠⁠click here to listen on Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠.

If you’re on social media, you can follow on Twitter here, Instagram here and Facebook here.

***

Subscribe to or follow the show for free wherever you listen to podcasts.

To leave the show a review:

On Spotify. Open the Spotify app (iOS or Android), ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠find the show⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and tap to rate five-stars. (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Details here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)On Apple. Open your Apple Podcasts app, find the show and tap to rate five-stars. (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Details here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)On Podchaser. Open the Podchaser website, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠find the show⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and tap to rate five-stars. (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Details here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)

Music Credit:

Once Upon a Time by Alex-Productions | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://onsound.eu/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  | Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com

When Bob Dylan won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016, there was a bit of an outcry among the high art set. A folksy American singer-songwriter winning the world’s grandest literary award? I loved it. What is the point of literature but to write things that change the world, or at least change the perception of the world, for people who read it, listen to it, experience it. Literature is not a grand and weighty book. It is an experience. The words are just the bridge from here to there.

In their decision, the Nobel committee said that Dylan had "created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition”.

This piece is one that came a few years after the Nobel, showing that Bob Dylan’s capacity for new poetic expressions remains alive even as he moves into his 80s. “I've Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You” is a song on his 2020 album Rough and Rowdy Ways.

I encourage you to listen to the song. It’s set to a lovely backing track that’s closely based on a piece of music by Jacques Offenbach Belle nuit, ô nuit d'amour, which was composed in 1881, and which is plays a key role in the Oscar-winning 1997 Italian film about the holocaust, Life Is Beautiful.

Great art does that. It crosses time and space and finds new listeners, new disciples, who will take it and shape it and carry on its lifeforce for generations to come.

That’s the song. The lyric, well, I just really like it too.

I’m not sure who the “you” is in the refrain, the “you” that Bob Dylan, or the narrator, has decided to give himself to. A lover? A god? The earth, or the universe?

I’m not sure, but that act of “giving myself” — of giving ourselves — isn’t that what all art and all creativity ultimately is? An act that is at once about the giver and the receiver. A giving of oneself to somebody or something else, even if the giver never gets to see who the receiver is.

You can read the lyrics of the song here

You can listen to the song on YouTube here

***

For a detailed outline of the mission and purpose behind this podcast, please check out Episode 100, "Why Poems for the Speed of Life?", in your podcast player or ⁠⁠⁠⁠click here to listen on Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠.

If you’re on social media, you can follow on Twitter here, Instagram here and Facebook here.

***

Subscribe to or follow the show for free wherever you listen to podcasts.

To leave the show a review:

On Spotify. Open the Spotify app (iOS or Android), ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠find the show⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and tap to rate five-stars. (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Details here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)On Apple. Open your Apple Podcasts app, find the show and tap to rate five-stars. (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Details here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)On Podchaser. Open the Podchaser website, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠find the show⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and tap to rate five-stars. (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Details here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)

Music Credit:

Once Upon a Time by Alex-Productions | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://onsound.eu/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  | Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com

This is a poem about the imperfections, the challenge, the despair but still the hope and beauty of being human. It could be read as a paean to life for the unborn, as a map for everything a human life contains—all its challenges to overcome and temptations to avert—but I think of the unborn in this case as a metaphor. It feels to me like the “before birth” here is in some sense about the life we live before we realise the life we are meant to live.

There’s a line that’s usually attributed to the ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius, “Every man has two lives, and the second begins the moment he realises he has just one.”

That’s how I feel about Prayer Before Birth. It is about that moment when we are born into our one true life, or about the time before that moment. “Let them not make me a stone” hints at the outside forces that apply to all our lives. Outside forces—work, society, culture, whatever arbitrary set of behaviours and things that are somehow seen as accepted or normal—push us in different directions, and the big task, maybe the biggest task of all our lives, is to find a way to push back against whatever norms are holding us back and find a way of realising our true place in the world at the moment of our birth, or rebirth.

Louis MacNeice was an Irish poet of the 20th century. This is the second MacNeice poem to feature here. You can listen to “Entirely” in Episode 49.

You can read Prayer Before Birth here

For a detailed outline of the mission and purpose behind this podcast, please check out Episode 100, "Why Poems for the Speed of Life?", in your podcast player or ⁠⁠⁠⁠click here to listen on Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠.

If you’re on social media, you can follow on Twitter here, Instagram here and Facebook here.

Subscribe to or follow the show for free wherever you listen to podcasts.

To leave the show a review:

On Spotify. Open the Spotify app (iOS or Android), ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠find the show⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and tap to rate five-stars. (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Details here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)On Apple. Open your Apple Podcasts app, find the show and tap to rate five-stars. (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Details here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)On Podchaser. Open the Podchaser website, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠find the show⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and tap to rate five-stars. (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Details here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)

Music Credit:

Once Upon a Time by Alex-Productions | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://onsound.eu/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  | Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com

There is no real pattern to the selection of these poems. Or at least, none that is intended.

But if you’ve listened to the most recent episode, My Mother’s Body by Marie Howe, you might see the overlapping sensibilities between that one and today’s, "Warming-Down" by the Irish poet (and university lecturer and medical doctor) Aideen Henry.

I read this poem in a collection called Slow Bruise, which was published in 2010 and came to me by way of a second hand bookshop recently and however many unknown hands who carried it to me from wherever it came.

The Marie Howe poem is a daughter’s reflections on a mother after her passing. Aideen Henry’s poem is a reflection by a daughter about a father, not after he has died, but after his essence—his energy, his masculinity, his life in multiple meanings of that word—has gone forever. It is, to me, intensely sad and beautiful too, and should, I think, encourage us to embrace with all our hearts and our limbs too, every precious moment we get with those we love.

A note on the text.

In the middle of this poem there are three lines in the Irish language. In the poem those three lines are translated immediately into English in the lines that follow. One of the effects of this is, to me, is a dualism, a togetherness but a separateness too, between the father and daughter, between the man and the woman they are, between their generations, maybe even between the past and the future.

If this poem speaks to you in a different way, please follow it and listen closely. I’d love to hear your thoughts. You can follow on Twitter and Instagram. The links are in the description.

You can read the poem here

***

For a detailed outline of the mission and purpose behind this podcast, please check out Episode 100, "Why Poems for the Speed of Life?", in your podcast player or ⁠⁠⁠⁠click here to listen on Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠.

If you’re on social media, you can follow on Twitter here, Instagram here and Facebook here.

***

Subscribe to or follow the show for free wherever you listen to podcasts.

To leave the show a review:

On Spotify. Open the Spotify app (iOS or Android), ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠find the show⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and tap to rate five-stars. (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Details here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)On Apple. Open your Apple Podcasts app, find the show and tap to rate five-stars. (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Details here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)On Podchaser. Open the Podchaser website, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠find the show⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and tap to rate five-stars. (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Details here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)

Music Credit:

Once Upon a Time by Alex-Productions | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://onsound.eu/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  | Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com

Whether this is your first time listening to this show, or your 100th time, allow me to take this opportunity to remind you that all my introductions here, every episode of this podcast, my thoughts are only one perspective.

The thing about poetry—and from doing this podcast I’ve started to think about poetry not as a piece of writing on a page or screen, but as a transcendent moment of being, a fleeting glimpse of the oneness of the universe, an experience of divine wisdom, whatever divinity might mean, and that the great poem, or great song, or great work of art, is nothing more than an attempt to capture that experience—so the thing about poetry is that speaks to all of us in different ways.

You know that feeling when you look upon a portrait hanging in a gallery, and the eyes follow you round. As if the artwork is seeking you, or seeing you. That’s how I feel about poems too. All this to say that whatever I might say about these poems, in every episode, is just one very incomplete perspective, and that if this poem, or any poem here, speaks to you in a different way or shows you a different direction, please allow yourself to follow it, even if it disregards completely anything I might say here.

Why I chose My Mother’s Body by Marie Howe.

I read another poem by Marie Howe back in Episode 77. That was What The Living Do, and some of the things I felt there—things that relate to this passing miracle of being alive—I felt here too. In both poems there is a close relative who is no longer here, and the poems jump backwards and forwards in a sort of fabric of life. Where being itself, and all our memories, hopes, dreams, regrets, fears, are all interwoven. Where there is, almost, no past or future, just a single and strange neverending present.

The way time works in My Mother’s Body is mesmerising. We are with Marie Howe in the womb, we are with her after her mother’s death. In nine sentences we experience two lives, a mother and a daughter.

You can read the poem here

***

For a detailed outline of the mission and purpose behind this podcast, please check out Episode 100, "Why Poems for the Speed of Life?", in your podcast player or ⁠⁠⁠⁠click here to listen on Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠.

***

Subscribe to or follow the show for free wherever you listen to podcasts.

To leave the show a review:

On Spotify. Open the Spotify app (iOS or Android), ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠find the show⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and tap to rate five-stars. (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Details here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)On Apple. Open your Apple Podcasts app, find the show and tap to rate five-stars. (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Details here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)On Podchaser. Open the Podchaser website, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠find the show⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and tap to rate five-stars. (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Details here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)

Music Credit:

Once Upon a Time by Alex-Productions | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://onsound.eu/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  | Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com