On this week’s Side B, Elizabeth shares the brilliance of contemporary poet Hanif Abdurraqib. Also from Columbus, Ohio, Hanif is a well lauded poet, essayist, and curator of excellent playlists.

 

This episode explores Hanif’s poem And What Good Will Your Vanity Be When The Rapture Comes which deals personally with loss and the reflection of our limited time here on earth.

 

There is commentary on how potent Hanif’s writing is, both in this poem & his poetry collections, and his ability to make epic life questions somehow digestible. A poet who can distill loss and grief while remaining visceral, as though you were reading his diary. 

 

Elizabeth shares more intimately about her own personal losses, praises the idea of being forced to stay present, and waxes poetic about how even in grief we seek out loving others.

 

“What this poem offered me... was this conversation starter for what does loss look like for you? Because it wrecks me. But God do I want to share that with the people that I still love with the people who are still here.” - Elizabeth Ellson

 

Timestamps: 

00:00:36 Poem Reading (Elizabeth)

00:05:10 Author Info

00:11:51 Elizabeth’s Relationship to the Poem

00:21:24 Pause / Poem Reading (Elizabeth)

00:30:12 Reflection & Invitation to Write Us

 

Poem & Links:

And What Good Will Your Vanity Be (Poem)

68to05 (Hanif’s Music Essays)

Object Of Sound (Hanif’s Podcast)

@nifmuhammad | Instagram

@NifMuhammad | Twitter

On Being | Poetry Unbound Podcasts

 

Where to find our host Elizabeth:

@ellsonelizabeth    |   Twitter

 

Where to find us:

@iofferpoetry   |   Instagram 

@iofferpoetry   |  Twitter

[email protected]   |   iofferpoetry.com 

 

Produced & Edited by John Campione:

Campiaudio.com   |   @campiaudio

[email protected]

 

Music @zacharymanno | Art @sammycampioneart