The Talking Poem Podcast

On the penultimate episode of the podcast, I chat with Nicholas Molbert (Altars of Spine and Fraction) about Tommye Blount's poem "Icarus Does the Dishes." We discuss caretaking, the mythic and mundane, and an incredible ending. After that, Nick shares his poem "Cup Licking." Then I put him through the paces of an impossible game. This episode is brought to you by no hat and all cattle.

Also mentioned:

• Poet Jess Williard (Unmanly Grief)
• Marjoree Little's "Why We Chose It" for the Kenyon Review about "Icarus"
• W. H. Auden, "Musee des Beaux Arts"

After a summer hiatus, I chat with Nicole Cooley about Lucille Clifton's poem "June 20" from her 1992 collection The Book of Light, which was re-released by Copper Canyon last year with an introduction by Ross Gay and an afterword by Clifton's daughter Sidney Clifton. We talk about the unusual verb tense, what's scary about the poem, and just how sharp Clifton's images are. After that, Nicole shares her poem "Downriver" from her new collection Mother Water Ash. We close with a game about poetry in the Olympics. The episode is brought to you by Olympic Poems.

Also mentioned:

• Sharon Olds's poem "I Go Back to May 1937"
• Anne Panning's essay "Remembering, I Was Not There" (collected in In Brief: Short Takes on the Personal)
• The world's unluckiest pole vaulter

I talk with Maris Kreizman (The Maris Review; Lit Hub column) about former guest Kim Addonizio's poem "To the Woman Crying Uncontrollably in the Next Stall." We talk about viral poems; what propels Addonizio's poem in particular; and shared experiences. The audio has some small glitches--sorry about that. Afterward, we play a game I call "But that has nothing to do with baseball." Episode brought to you by a new cryptocurrency for poets.

Also mentioned:

• Maris' excellent essay about Pen America
• A viral story about someone sharing Addonizio's poem with a stranger
• McNally Jackson
• Jeff/Geoff tweet
• Bess Winter, Kelly Magee, and Robin Hemley

I talk with Ronnie K. Stephens (The Poetry Question; The Kaleidoscope Sisters) about Andrea Gibson's prose poem "Tincture." Up front, apologies to Andrea Gibson, who I misgendered early on in the recording; thanks to Ronnie for his graciousness. We talk about the question of prose poems, pain, and sentimentality. Afterward, we play a less comic, more straightforward game I call "Pulitzer Prize Winner Kendrick Lamar 1, Drake 0." This episode is brought to you by the all-mighty SUV.

Also mentioned:

• Nathanael O'Reilly
• Rachel McKibbens

I talk with comedian and writer Josh Gondelman about Edna St. Vincent Millay's poem "God's World." We talk about beauty, growing up Jewish (him, not me, I'm not stealing valor), sound, and sports. Afterward, I go on a long pun run, and we play two games: "Rogan, Josh?" and "I Heard a Fly Ball When I Died."

Also mentioned:

• The Bugle podcast
• The All Fantasy Everything podcast
• Comedian Andy Zaltzman
• Kim Addonizio's "To the Woman Crying Uncontrollably in the Next Stall"
• Hanif Abdurraqib
• Dan Quisenberry (stats; poetry)
• Several poems that show up often on social media that don't need me to link to them

In this space and Taylor Swift-centric episode, I talk with Lisa Ampleman (Mom in Space) about Jorie Graham's poem "The Way Things Work" (The Dream of the Unified Field). Lisa has to sway me on this poem a bit. We chat about faith, infertility, and Rube Goldberg machines. Then Lisa shares her fantastic poem "Tenuous Blueprint" and I gush. Afterward, we play a game I call "My Very Elegant Mother Just Sat Upon Nine Porcupines" (Justice for Plato!). This episode is brought to you by Taylor Swift.

Also mentioned:

• Andrew Chaiken's A Man on the Moon
• Space wallpaper (not Lisa's)
• Jorie Graham's To 2040
• Lucie Brock-Broido
• Attacks on IVF
• Pluto (it's red!)
• Voyager
• The Webb telescope

In this Short Form episode, I talk about the problems with Jeffrey McDaniels' poem "The Jesus Fridge," which was the Academy of American Poets' Poem-a-Day on March 29. I close by sharing Fady Joudah's excellent poem "[. . .}," which was Poem-a-Day on April 2.

Some links to Palestine news that I mention in the episode:

• Mass starvation of Palestinians
• Deaths of children in Palestine
• October 7 stories retracted
• Deaths of journalists and aid workers
• Statements from Israeli leaders calling for genocide and ethnic cleansing

In this return from a short break, I chat with David Baker (Whale Fall) about Gerard Manley Hopkins' "terrible sonnet" "No worst, there is none." We talk about so much here: how David's students made sense of the poem, how modern Hopkins is, the attention to sound (of course). David also shares an astonishing insight from one of his students. Afterward, we play a game with a Welsh surprise. Brought to you by a new brewery.

Also mentioned:

• Wallace Stevens, "The Emperor of Ice Cream"
• "God's Grandeur"
• John Berryman's Dream Songs
• Dylan Thomas' "A Refusal to Mourn the Death, By Fire, of a Child in London"
• A Patricia Hampl essay from I Could Tell You Stories (sorry, the essay isn't online)
• A little information about a certain Welsh town
• Lewis Turco, The Book of Forms
• Wesli Court
• Writer's Digest List of Poetic Forms

I talk with Lisa B (Lisa Bernstein), author of God in Her Ruffled Dress, about George Herbert's "The Flower." We have a great chat, AND I owe Lisa because we had to re-record the first half. We talk about the sensual, the erotic, and sound, among many other things. Then Lisa reads and we talk about her poem "God #2." After that, we play an audio game titled "Excuse me while I kiss this guy, because we built this city on sausage rolls." Episode brought to you by the cereal producers of America.

Also mentioned:

• John Donne's "Holy Sonnet: Batter my heart, three-person'd God"
• George Herbert's "Easter Wings"

I talk about James Wright's wonderful sonnet "Saint Judas." Also mentioned: Theodore Roethke's "My Papa's Waltz."