Take this poem

Stephen Dunn, again, because I had this poem stuck in my head when I returned from a trip in June. 

If you're going to spontaneously read a poem to a room full of people, Billy Collins is often a good choice.  And if the room full of people is about to disperse to travel in 23 directions "Passengers" makes an excellent selection. Thank you to my new friend Thomaida for demonstrating this in real life! 

After the death of a friend, it's the living ones who stagger around--dealing with plumbing problems, eating pie, and trying to make sense of it all. Here are two poems about that. 

"What the Living Do" by Marie Howe

"Ray" by Hayden Carruth 

Hayden Carruth reads "Ray"

For this week a sweet, red June poem: "Strawberrying"by May Swenson. I love this poem and marvel how Swenson captures the fleshy, violent abundance of nature with a tone of matter-of-factness and restraint. 

I pair a listener's poem "Broken Seashell" with Grace Shulman's "Because" and see what the two poems say together about the material world's brokenness and beauty. 

Kaitlin Wachter can be reached by email at [email protected] and you can find more of her poetry on Instagram @songsinthekeyofk

Some things, in love, can't be put into words.  In this episode, I share two poems written decades apart by Stephen Dunn that explore this concept.  

The power of Marie Howe's empathetic imagination flames out in this poem about a simple trip to the grocery store. 

George Bilgere's work explores the quotidian and what is poetic, sad, and beautiful there. In this episode Keith Hansen reads three of Bilgere's poems: "Horseplay", "The Table", and "Strawberries". I think you'll find something to love here.

I quote this video of Bilgere speaking about his poetry.

https://vimeo.com/94205250

May I humbly suggest that you take this poem--"Sea Fever" by John Masefield--and memorize it? You won't regret it. 

My friend Anna and I discuss and enjoy a poem that ambushed her.