the anxious poet’s podcast

This is a selection of some of the best bits according to how many people downloaded it and the amount of positive feedback they received. They are from, in order, Episode 1, Episode 3, Episode 5, Episode 7, Episode 8, Episode 9, Episode 15 and Episode 19. Thanks again to Philippe Edwards, Patrick Ryan, Helen Mort and Ray Tonge. For more go to www.adriangrscott.com 

The poem quoted in the first half of the podcast  is by Rainer Maria Rilke it is in Rainer Maria Rilke, Rilke's Book of Hours: Love Poems to God - the opening lines are 'You are not surprised at the force of the storm'.

Here is list of Adrian's Lessons Learned with the quotes from his poems.

Lessons Learnt from my Breakdown

• Breathing

Advice to Myself in Anxiety

‘Breathe slowly into this, Don’t run; stay,

You are moored more firmly than you know.

There is a constancy in you not your own.’

• Talking

Anxiety Diary

‘My Jungian therapist said, right at the start,

that this breakdown was the best thing

that had ever happened to me.

I thought it was she that was insane,

and I wanted to stop right there and then.

I think now, she may have been right.’

• Walking

Rivelin Valley Vespers

‘By walking this same path,

• Writing

 Writing as Therapy

‘Now here I am,

sitting in a round of delivery,

speaking lines gleaned from

a dark and no-mooned night,

when only my pen knew its way.’

• Seeing

 Afterword to a Traipsing

 ‘Laura Page has walked me around the streets

camera slung, capturing Sheffield with f-stops

and the right shutter-speeds for a city caught

in the headlights of forces it is yet to grasp.’

• Sharing

Writing as Therapy

‘In the morning session

I had spared no detail of my breakdown,

all the colly-wobbled, jelly-bellied

quaking of it all.’

• Volunteering

We are Bodies

‘We have turned sixty

Volunteering, cooking the cafe

Good soup, vegan and lentil

Aching knees, aching nerves

Bruised by the bruising lives we are

Bludgeoned into, but brightened

By the fellowship of fellow sufferers’

• Trusting

A Night Sea Journey

‘This is what the mythologists

call a night sea journey.

I am on a gurney bark sailing

through the dark into

an uncertain dawn.’

• Loving

 Birdsong on Long Line

‘A sleek throat sounds against the early dusk

a last verse to these long lines of walking,

and my heart welcomes this reckless chorus,

hopefulness beyond my walk’s ending.’

Thanks to Andy Selman for his wonderful accompaniment to the Birdsong poem - the whole Album Made I Sheffield can be heard on Spotify here

Made In Sheffield - Scott & Selman

You can buy Adrian's books here www.adriangrscott.com 

If you want to Adrian and Andy perform with the band Dusk Over Rivelin on August 15th in Sheffield click here for tickets. 

https://www.wegottickets.com/event/623931

Come along it will be a great evening. 

And finally Adrian would like to thank all who have listened and made the 9000 downloads and counting. Bless you all. 

The poem Writing as Therapy at the beginning is from my collection - A Night Sea Journey available at Buy Here

Simon's poems are copyright to him. If you want to hear more about his poetry you can email him here - [email protected].

He is parish Priest at St Joseph’s RC Church, Winsford, Cheshire.  

The poems used in this episode are - Sometimes by David Whyte (in Essentials) - No Such Thing As Right Or Wrong from The Call of the Unwritten - Accompaniment from Arriving In Magic - Christ Before the High Priest from Arriving In Magic - Thomas Wanted To See Nail Marks from A Night Sea Journey. All my books are available at https://adriangrscott.com/product-category/books/

You can view the painting mentioned 'Christ Before the High Priest by Honthorst on the National Gallery Website https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/gerrit-van-honthorst-christ-before-the-high-priest

You can purchase the book The Quest of the Holy Grail (Penguin Classics) on Amazon or any good bookshop. 

The main book I reference in this episode is Sabbath by Abraham Joshua Heschel. The artwork for this episode is taken from one of the wood engravings in the book by Ilya Schor. It really speaks to me of the way the workaday world holds us captive and the great promise of cessation and rest that the idea of sabbath offers. The first two poems I read are When Will You Be Ready and This Is All The Life You Have from Arriving in Magic. Purchasable at www.adriangrscott.com . The last one - A Moment In Each Day is from A Sheffield Traipsing that will be available on my website from the 15th of March. This is the day of my Book Launch and if you are in Sheffield and want to join me - it will be at 7pm at the Kelham Island Museum ( more details on my website). To book a ticket click here - https://www.wegottickets.com/event/609358 

The Poems used in this episode are Lara's Surgery from Arriving In Magic and Advice to Myself in Anxiety from A Night Sea Journey available to purchase at Books The Novel Lara reads from is Still Life by Sarah Winman Click Here for More 

The two poems that I shared Francis and the Crib at Greccio and Winter Drive Along The A66 will be available on my substack page The Anxious Poet's Substack The Kate Rusby song is from her album While Mortals Sleep Listen . The Phamie Gow version of Emily Dickinson's poem “Hope” is the thing with feathers can be heard here Listen. The article by Edward Kessler Jewish-Muslim dialogue: feeling the other’s pain can be found in the Tablet - 7th December 2023. The book by Zambia Malik is called We Are Muslim's Please.  Have a happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year. Adrian x 

You can read a version of this Podcast at The Anxious Poet's Substack The Poem - You Stride On, My Son,  Ahead of Us, Up Enchanted Rock is in my book A Night Sea Journey available at www.adriangrscott.com The rest of the poem are on the Substack. The Native American Pipe Music is from R. Carlos Nakai - Canyon Trilogy. 

You can find the poems and photographs in this episode here  Adrian's Substack Page  The book quoted is The Journey of Crazy Horse by Joseph M Marshall. 

Belden C Lane is Professor Emeritus of Theological Studies, American Religion, and History of Spirituality at St Louis University, He is author of Backpacking with the Saints, The Solace of Fierce Landscapes, and Ravished by Beauty. The poem he quotes is by Wendell Berry.

It is called Our Real Work -

It may be that when we no longer know what to do

My prom Aravaipa Canyon is as yet unpublished if you want a copy email me at [email protected] 

The other Poem is Two Beggars and a Wolf in A Night Sea Journey available at www.adriangrscott.com 

The Wordsworth Sonnet is XXXII in his collected works - Surprised by Joy. 

Deep thanks to Belden for his robust vulnerability and friendship.