This is a good time to reflect on the role of poetry in the face of tragedy. A poet laureate shares how poetry can heal in the wake of loss.

And: In college, Laura Bylenok was fascinated with genetic engineering. Now, she manipulates language, not DNA. Her poetry turns familiar forms into poetic laboratory experiments.

Later in the show: To some, poetry and medicine seem like opposites. But pediatrician and poet Irène Mathieu says both science and poetry use language to understand deeper truths about the human condition. Mathieu’s latest collection, Grande Marronage, examines the lives of Creole women of color in New Orleans.