Today’s poem is "Dawn at St Patrick's" by Derek Mahon, an Irish poet who died in 2020 at the age of 78.

This is Episode 6 of this series called "Beginnings", which started with "How Dark the Beginning" by Maggie Smith in Episode 201.

You can read the poem here

This is the fifth episode of this series of "Beginnings" from Poems for the Speed of Life.

Today's poem is "Beginning" by Lia Purpura.

Lia Purpura is an American poet, writer and educator who has published four collections of poems, King Baby, Stone Sky Lifting, The Brighter the Veil and the collection from which today's poem is taken It Shouldn't Have Been Beautiful.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠You can read the poem here⁠⁠⁠⁠

***

If you join the community you will be supporting this podcast and you will also be able to take part in the discussion on every episode.

⁠Join us on Substack here⁠

***

Organizing an event?

Shane Breslin, Irish creative entrepreneur and the founder of Poems for the Speed of Life, is accepting bookings to speak at events around the world starting in summer 2024.

To express an interest in bringing Shane to speak at your event, please fill out your details here.

***

Finally, if this is your first time here, we encourage you to go back to listen two earlier episodes for more context on this project.

In Episode 200, "A New Era for Poems for the Speed of Life", you will hear of the new direction for this podcast as we moved into 2024.

One of the key pieces of that is a new series-based approach, and this series, "Beginnings", starting in February 2024, is the first of those.

And in Episode 100, "Why Poems for the Speed of Life?", you will hear more about the mission of this podcast.

***

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To leave the show a review:

This is an episode of a special series of Poems for the Speed of Life titled "Beginnings".

Today's poem is "For a New Beginning" by John O'Donohue.

John O’Donohue was a great Irish spiritual leader, teacher, theologian and philosopher who continues to find new audiences all over the world more than 15 years after his passing at just 54 years of age.

Three earlier John O’Donohue poems have featured on this podcast. You can find "Beannacht" in Episode 17, "On the Death of the Beloved" in Episode 95 and "A Christmas Blessing" in Episode 199.

You can find those episodes by searching the archives of this show in your podcast player.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠You can read the poem here⁠⁠⁠

***

If you join the community you will be supporting this podcast and you will also be able to take part in the discussion on every episode.

Join us on Substack here

***

Organizing an event?

Shane Breslin, Irish creative entrepreneur and the founder of Poems for the Speed of Life, is accepting bookings to speak at events around the world starting in summer 2024.

To express an interest in bringing Shane to speak at your event, please fill out your details here.

***

Finally, if this is your first time here, we encourage you to go back to listen two earlier episodes for more context on this project.

In Episode 200, "A New Era for Poems for the Speed of Life", you will hear of the new direction for this podcast as we moved into 2024.

One of the key pieces of that is a new series-based approach, and this series, "Beginnings", starting in February 2024, is the first of those.

And in Episode 100, "Why Poems for the Speed of Life?", you will hear more about the mission of this podcast.

***

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

To leave the show a review:

This is the third episode in this series, "Beginnings", on Poems for the Speed of Life.

Today's poem is "Center of the Universe" by Hannah Emerson.

Hannah Emerson is a nonspeaking autistic poet from Lafayette, New York whose work has been featured in The Paris Review, Poetry magazine, and the Poetry Society of America.

Hannah Emerson writes a regular Substack called "The Kissing Nothing We Become", which has the subtitle "I'm kissing you today helping you kiss your day yes yes"

Read Hannah Emerson on Substack here

And read the poem "Center of the Universe" on The Marginalian here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

***

If you join the community you will be supporting this podcast and you will also be able to take part in the discussion on every episode.

⁠Join us on Substack here⁠

***

Organizing an event?

Shane Breslin, Irish creative entrepreneur and the founder of Poems for the Speed of Life, is accepting bookings to speak at events around the world starting in summer 2024.

To express an interest in bringing Shane to speak at your event, please fill out your details here.

***

Finally, if this is your first time here, we encourage you to go back to listen two earlier episodes for more context on this project.

In Episode 200, "A New Era for Poems for the Speed of Life", you will hear of the new direction for this podcast as we moved into 2024.

One of the key pieces of that is a new series-based approach, and this series, "Beginnings", starting in February 2024, is the first of those.

And in Episode 100, "Why Poems for the Speed of Life?", you will hear more about the mission of this podcast.

***

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

To leave the show a review:

This is the second episode of a new series of Poems for the Speed of Life titled "Beginnings".

Today's poem is "Aristotle" by Billy Collins, an American poet and former US poet laureate.

This is the first episode of a new series of Poems for the Speed of Life titled "Beginnings".

Today's poem is "How Dark the Beginning" by Maggie Smith.

Maggie Smith is an American poet, writer and editor, not to be confused with the older British film actor. Film does, however, feature in this poem about the nuances of light and dark, and how the dawn, and beginnings, are often not bathed in light.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠You can read the poem here⁠⁠⁠⁠

***

If you join the community you will be supporting this podcast and you will also be able to take part in the discussion on every episode.

⁠Join us on Substack here⁠

***

Organizing an event?

Shane Breslin, Irish creative entrepreneur and the founder of Poems for the Speed of Life, is accepting bookings to speak at events around the world starting in summer 2024.

To express an interest in bringing Shane to speak at your event, please fill out your details here.

***

Finally, if this is your first time here, we encourage you to go back to listen two earlier episodes for more context on this project.

In Episode 200, "A New Era for Poems for the Speed of Life", you will hear of the new direction for this podcast as we moved into 2024.

One of the key pieces of that is a new series-based approach, and this series, "Beginnings", starting in February 2024, is the first of those.

And in Episode 100, "Why Poems for the Speed of Life?", you will hear more about the mission of this podcast.

***

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

To leave the show a review:

Thank you for listening to Poems for the Speed of Life, with Shane Breslin.

Please enjoy this special episode about the future direction of the podcast, what you can expect and how you can get involved.

There are four announcements:

If you are an events organizer, or know someone who is, please go to this link and fill out your expression of interest to have me speak at your event.

Jan Richardson is an artist, writer, and ordained minister in the United Methodist Church in the USA. She travels widely as a retreat leader and conference speaker.

This poem is part of a special Christmas-themed short series for the end of the year.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠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:

Music Credit:

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

Dylan Thomas was a Welsh writer and poet.

This is one of his best-remembered pieces of writing, a long prose poem recounting his memories of the Christmases of his childhood.

This recording was originally made in 2019 as part of a different podcast project, but I thought it would be good to dust it off and re-edit it slightly to include here.

It's one of my favourite pieces of Christmas writing. I hope you enjoy.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠You can read the piece 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:

Music Credit:

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