Poetry Unbound

By On Being Studios

What's Poetry Unbound about?

Delve into an immersive exploration of a single poem. Poetry Unbound is short and unhurried; contemplative and energizing — with a podcast, a book, a vibrant conversation on Substack, and occasional gatherings.

Pádraig Ó Tuama greets you at the doorways of brilliant poems, and invites you to meet them with stories of your world. The poems are eager to meet you, too.

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LAST EPISODE

dg nanouk okpik — In a Lock...

06.09.2023

If you could put a lock of your hair under a microscope, what would it contain? DNA certainly, but here in dg nanouk okpik’s poem, the hair also contains memory, smell, location, disease, dreams, and medicine.

Poetry Unbound episodes:

06.09.2023 dg nanouk okpik — In a Lock of Hair If you could put a lock of your hair under a microscope, what would it contain? DNA certainly, but here in dg nanouk okpik’s poem, the hair also contains memory, smell, location, disease, dreams, and medicine.
06.07.2023 On Poetry and Patronage: An Invitation to Love Us Pádraig reflects on the transformative force of poetry, and Krista joins with an invitation to pay tribute to the ongoing work of Poetry Unbound. Make a gift and learn more at onbeing.org/LoveUs.
06.05.2023 Benjamin Gucciardi — The Rungs A social worker holds a group for teenagers at a school. They only half pay attention to him. Then something happens, and they pay attention to each other.
06.02.2023 Rowan Ricardo Phillips — Never Again Would Birds’ Song Be the Same Have you ever had a private moment — perhaps in the middle of the night — in a large city? When it just seems like it’s you and the great dreaming metropolis? Rowan Ricardo Phillips brings us into a memory ...
05.29.2023 Alexander Posey — The Dew and the Bird In a poem of strict rhymes and old forms, Alexander Posey (1873-1908), a poet of the Creek Nation, poses challenges to pomposity.
05.26.2023 José Olivarez — No Time to Wait In a church there are liturgies and prayers and statues. But in José Olivarez’s poem, there are more urgent things taking place, things that have “no time to wait.”
05.22.2023 Safia Elhillo — Ode to My Homegirls Friendships deserve praise songs and here’s a praise song — an ode — to friends that have crossed continents for each other, and would go further if needed.
05.15.2023 Poetry Unbound — Season 7 Trailer Poetry Unbound with host Pádraig Ó Tuama is back on Monday, May 22. Featured poets in this season include Selina Nwulu, Wo Chan, Rowan Ricardo Phillips, Mark Turcotte, and many more. New episodes released every Monday and Friday through July ...
02.20.2023 Ada Limón with Krista Tippett — “To Be Made Whole” Friends, we are awakening your Poetry Unbound feed for a moment to share this episode from the big, beautiful new season of On Being. And Pádraig’s here with a quick hello and a glimpse of what more On Being conversations ...
12.22.2022 BONUS: A conversation with Lorna Goodison – and the humans behind Poetry Unbound As part of a celebratory launch party for the new Poetry Unbound book, Pádraig welcomed Lorna Goodison, former Poet Laureate of Jamaica, into a joyful Zoom room of poetry lovers and listeners of the show, old and new. We draw ...
12.16.2022 Danusha Laméris — Bonfire Opera A younger woman looks at an older woman, admiring her beauty, skill, and freedom. Older now, she thinks of how hard-won such freedom is.
12.12.2022 Rumi — You wake the dead to life Who brings you to praise? Rumi’s great poem of praise to the “you” is to his great friend Shams, and through that friendship, to God.
12.09.2022 Naomi Shihab Nye — I Feel Sorry for Jesus What’s it like to be owned by the world, to have populations claiming you, to have millions speaking on your behalf? Naomi Shihab Nye takes a close look — from a distance — at Jesus, and herself.
12.05.2022 Victoria Adukwei Bulley — not quiet as in quiet but Quiet. Shhh. Softly. Don’t make a fuss. Don’t upset the authorities. Victoria Adukwei Bulley unquiets the quiet.
12.02.2022 Benjamín Naka-Hasebe Kingsley — small talk or in my hand galaxies On the day you wake to a broken window in your car, what do you do? And what happens when the woman repairing that window offers a glimpse of something new?
11.28.2022 Dan Vera — Norse Saga When you move to a new place, everything seems different. Hell’s not hot anymore; it’s freezing. A poem of strangeness and wonder.
11.25.2022 Solmaz Sharif — Self-Care Who decides what’s self care and what isn’t? Who benefits? Who pays? Upon whom does the burden of self care rest? Solmaz Sharif excavates.
11.21.2022 Dunya Mikhail — Eva Whose Shadow Is a Swan Some friendships are built on small encounters and last a lifetime. Two women — from across culture, location, and age — spend a lifetime in communication.
11.18.2022 Aaron Caycedo-Kimura — What’s Kept Alive At the hingepoint of change, a poet walks through the garden his late father planted.
11.14.2022 Kevin Goodan — We give… Firefighting pushes the body to breaking point; Kevin Goodan’s poem locates the “ash-dark art” of firefighting not just in the wilderness where the team worked, but in the muscles of the firefighters.
11.11.2022 David Whyte — Leaving the Island Sometimes leaving feels like you’re splitting yourself in two, but you leave anyway. What compels us? What holds us together even as we look back? David Whyte’s poem combines pain and promise as someone is both departing and venturing at ...
11.07.2022 Andrés N. Ordorica — Mis raíces What is the landscape that has most influenced you? When do you go there? In person? Andrés N. Ordorica goes in dreams.
11.04.2022 Laura Villareal — My Worries Have Worries If you were to use a metaphor for your worries, what metaphor would you turn to? Here, the worries have worry babies of their own. And they look back at the poet. What do they see?
10.31.2022 Stephanie Burt — Prayer for Werewolves The search for authentic love is a powerful hunger in humans and, as Stephanie Burt shares, in werewolves.
10.28.2022 Fiona Benson — Mama Cockroach, I Love You Do you experience disgust at the sight of certain insects? Which ones? Fiona Benson teaches us how to see.
10.24.2022 Saddiq Dzukogi — Learning about Constellations A man whose baby daughter has died turns to stars, mythology, and imagination for solace. There, he encounters what might help, a little.
10.21.2022 Adam Zagajewski — Transformation What do you do when what sustains you no longer sustains you? A poet tries everything he can to reconnect with his art.
10.17.2022 Carolina Ebeid — Reading Celan in a Subway Station The sounds of a city can be overwhelming — but in the imagination of this poem, they are made into something new.
10.14.2022 Molly Twomey — The Drop Off Asking for help is a thing of bravery. A poet describes her journey towards that help.
10.10.2022 Hinemoana Baker — if i had to sing In the aftermath of disaster, how do you sing a song to mark what’s gone, and praise what’s growing?
10.07.2022 Jennifer Huang — Departure What’s a moment when you grew up? When you realized the help you get might not be the help you want?
10.03.2022 Gabeba Baderoon – The pen After her father’s death, a poet considers her relationship with loss.
09.30.2022 Michael Kleber-Diggs — Gloria Mundi Is there life after death? This poem says yes: where one life is part of a cycle of life that continues.
09.26.2022 David Wagoner — Lost A person is lost, and in panic. A calm voice says strangely comforting things.
09.19.2022 Poetry Unbound — Season 6 Trailer Poetry Unbound with host Pádraig Ó Tuama is back on Monday, September 26. Featured poets in this season include Rumi, Fiona Benson, Michael Kleber-Diggs, Victoria Adukwei Bulley, and many more. New episodes released every Monday and Friday through December 16. ...
06.03.2022 Yu Xiuhua — Crossing Half of China to Sleep with You How far would you go for great love? And what distances would you cross?
05.30.2022 Andy Jackson — The change room When all eyes seem to lock on you, how do you cope with self-consciousness? How do you look back?
05.27.2022 Tiana Clark — My Therapist Wants to Know about My Relationship to Work Life can feel exhausting sometimes: how do you find rest?
05.23.2022 Joshua Bennett — Owed to Your Father’s Gold Chain Sometimes when your world changes, it seems like everything turns towards you, fresh, new, and curious.
05.20.2022 Abigail Chabitnoy — If You’re Going to Look Like a Wolf They Have to Love You More Than They Fear You. How would you tell your own creation myth? Who — or what — would be in it?
05.16.2022 M. Soledad Caballero — Someday I Will Visit Hawk Mountain In the face of wonder, we can sometimes lose ourselves.
05.13.2022 Rafiq Kathwari — Mother Writes to President Eisenhower Would you write a letter to a world leader? Do you think they’d listen? What would you say?
05.09.2022 Caroline Bird — Little Children Children’s demands can be high, and their standards can be exacting. It’s a good thing they’re loveable.
05.06.2022 Marilyn Nelson — The Truceless Wars What do we achieve in our fighting? How can we turn to hope and our deepest nature?
05.02.2022 Richard Blanco — Looking for The Gulf Motel Is something lost once it’s gone? How do we blend sadness with sweet memory?
04.29.2022 Yusef Komunyakaa — Praising Dark Places Is the light a comfort and the night disturbing? Yusef Komunyakaa explores the life and brilliance of what’s in shadow and darkness.
04.25.2022 Hannah Emerson — Keep Yourself at the Beginning of the Beginning A poem inviting us to discover our brilliance and our nothingness. Both true. Both vital.
04.22.2022 Kyle Carrero Lopez — Ode to the Crop Top A song of praise to the crop-top from a crop-top-wearing man who encounters comments in public and sings and swings.
04.18.2022 Divya Victor — First Petition A seven-year poem: from the start of the process to bring a mother to live in the US to the time she walks through the gate.
04.15.2022 Denise Low — Walking with My Delaware Grandfather We carry memory in our body: memories of our own selves, but memories of our forebears, too — talking with them as we walk, learning from them as they inquire.

Older episodes

Poetry Unbound

What's Poetry Unbound about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Poetry Unbound episodes:

dg nanouk okpik — In a Lock of Hair

On Poetry and Patronage: An Invitation to Love Us

Benjamin Gucciardi — The Rungs

Rowan Ricardo Phillips — Never Again Would Birds’ Song Be the Same

Alexander Posey — The Dew and the Bird

José Olivarez — No Time to Wait

Safia Elhillo — Ode to My Homegirls

Poetry Unbound — Season 7 Trailer

Ada Limón with Krista Tippett — “To Be Made Whole”

BONUS: A conversation with Lorna Goodison – and the humans behind Poetry Unbound

Danusha Laméris — Bonfire Opera

Rumi — You wake the dead to life

Naomi Shihab Nye — I Feel Sorry for Jesus

Victoria Adukwei Bulley — not quiet as in quiet but

Benjamín Naka-Hasebe Kingsley — small talk or in my hand galaxies

Dan Vera — Norse Saga

Solmaz Sharif — Self-Care

Dunya Mikhail — Eva Whose Shadow Is a Swan

Aaron Caycedo-Kimura — What’s Kept Alive

Kevin Goodan — We give…

David Whyte — Leaving the Island

Andrés N. Ordorica — Mis raíces

Laura Villareal — My Worries Have Worries

Stephanie Burt — Prayer for Werewolves

Fiona Benson — Mama Cockroach, I Love You

Saddiq Dzukogi — Learning about Constellations

Adam Zagajewski — Transformation

Carolina Ebeid — Reading Celan in a Subway Station

Molly Twomey — The Drop Off

Hinemoana Baker — if i had to sing

Jennifer Huang — Departure

Gabeba Baderoon – The pen

Michael Kleber-Diggs — Gloria Mundi

David Wagoner — Lost

Poetry Unbound — Season 6 Trailer

Yu Xiuhua — Crossing Half of China to Sleep with You

Andy Jackson — The change room

Tiana Clark — My Therapist Wants to Know about My Relationship to Work

Joshua Bennett — Owed to Your Father’s Gold Chain

Abigail Chabitnoy — If You’re Going to Look Like a Wolf They Have to Love You More Than They Fear You.

M. Soledad Caballero — Someday I Will Visit Hawk Mountain

Rafiq Kathwari — Mother Writes to President Eisenhower

Caroline Bird — Little Children

Marilyn Nelson — The Truceless Wars

Richard Blanco — Looking for The Gulf Motel

Yusef Komunyakaa — Praising Dark Places

Hannah Emerson — Keep Yourself at the Beginning of the Beginning

Kyle Carrero Lopez — Ode to the Crop Top

Divya Victor — First Petition

Denise Low — Walking with My Delaware Grandfather

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