Welcome back to Words That Burn, the podcast taking a closer look at poetry. In this episode, host Benjamin Collopy offers a close reading of Mary Ruefle’s four-line masterpiece, “Deconstruction.”

This brief but devastating poem masterfully bridges ancient myth with the unbearable weight of modern existence. Benjamin situates Ruefle as a master storyteller and meticulous "sentence maker," breaking down how four short lines can bend time, space, and human memory.

• The Sirens & The Metatextual Turn: How Ruefle uses Homer’s The Odyssey to force us to look inward. The poem presents a brilliant metatextual idea: that the Sirens actually sang The Odyssey itself, seducing listeners with the terrible, irresistible story of their own lives. We explore how the poem’s subtle shift from “I” to “we” invites shared introspection about how we remember, retell, and mythologise ourselves.
• Erasure vs. Found Poetry: Using Ruefle's own remarks, we distinguish her specific practice of erasure (or blackout) poetry from standard found poetry, highlighting the intent and precision required to carve a poem out of an existing text.
• Erasure as Survival: We connect "Deconstruction" to Ruefle’s broader lectures on reading, memory, and survival. Discover why picking apart existing texts isn't just an artistic choice, but a vital coping mechanism for processing life’s overwhelming excess.

Mary Ruefle's Erasure Notebooks

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The Music In This Week's Episode:

'Memories Of Stone' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au

Time Stamps:

00:00 Sirens and Self Story

00:27 Why This Poem

01:28 Mary Ruefle's Style

03:02 Erasure Poetry Explained

04:53 Reading the Poem

05:43 Metatext and Reading

06:50 Sirens in The Odyssey

08:21 Erasure as Survival

11:22 Title Does the Work

12:47 Why It Stays With Us

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In this episode of Words That Burn, I sit down with poet Shannon Kuta Kelly to explore the beautifully haunting landscapes of her debut poetry collection, The Tree is Missing (coming this April from Faber and Faber).

Shannon’s work has been featured in the New England Review, Poetry Ireland Review, and The Irish Times. As a PhD graduate from the Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen's University Belfast and a 2025 Ciaran Carson Fellow, she brings a profound depth of knowledge and intuition to her craft. We discuss the tension between the past and present, the eerie realities of urbanisation, and how transient living shapes our identities.

This episode explores:

• The Meaning of "The Tree is Missing": Unpacking the symbolic, ecological, and geographical resonances behind the collection's title.
• Liminality and Urban Sprawl: How manmade borders, transient city living, and the meeting point between nature and concrete influence her writing.
• History’s Phantom Limbs: Grounding the tragic, echoing histories of places like Tarnów, Poland, through human-centric storytelling and everyday images.
• Folklore and Dream Logic: Why poetry and myth are a "match made in heaven," and how Shannon taps into our shared subconscious and collective symbols.
• An Exclusive Reading: Shannon treats us to a reading of her poignant poem, Gost, and discusses the linguistic overlap between "ghosts" and "guests."

Whether you are a writer looking for advice on peeling back the layers of your own poetry or a reader fascinated by the intersection of myth and reality, Shannon’s insights are not to be missed.

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Time Stamps:

00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro

01:05 Why The Tree Is Missing

02:25 Borders Urban Sprawl Erasure

03:33 Liminal Life and POV Shifts

04:49 Observing Strangers and Details

06:00 From Reality to Spare Images

08:43 Tarnov and Haunted History

12:44 Storytelling Women and Three Sisters

15:20 Poetic Truth and Let It Be August

16:58 Endings Claustrophobia and Book Shape

19:58 Editing Influences and Breathing Space

22:28 Decay in Pastoral Scenes

24:56 Folklore and Poetic Logic

26:48 Two Brothers Divided

29:31 Nostalgia and Lost Homes

32:11 Dream Time Symbols

34:45 How Poems Are Collected

36:07 Gost Guests and Ghosts

39:50 Refrain and Repetition

42:05 Advice for other poets

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Celebrate Seachtain na Gaeilge with a closer look at "Oidhreacht" (Heredity), a powerful piece by Irish poet and Gaeilgeoir, Louis De Paor. In this episode of Words That Burn, we explore the complex psychogeography of Ireland and the tension between holding onto the past and embracing the future of the Irish language.

Discover how De Paor captures generational trauma and linguistic lineage through striking metaphors, from an ancient, shouting Ogham stone to a snarled tooth that evokes the myth of the Salmon of Knowledge (Bradán Feasa). We also unpack the cultural tug-of-war that helped shape modern Gaeilge, highlighting how the modernization of the language is not a betrayal, but a necessity.

This episode takes a loot at:

• An in-depth analysis of the poem "Oidhreacht" (Heredity) and its exploration of Irish identity and guilt.
• The history of Innti, a radical 1970s literary journal that brought beat poetry techniques to Irish language literature.
• The historic clash between "old school" Nativists seeking to preserve a pure, pastoral form of Gaeilge and the progressive movement striving for modern European influence.
• How De Paor expertly weaves the folklore of Fionn mac Cumhaill and the Salmon of Knowledge into his modern reflections.

Theo Dorgan Essay

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The Music In This Week's Episode:

'Memories Of Stone' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au

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Does the constant barrage of global news make you want to turn off the screens and bury your head? You aren’t alone. In a world that feels like a "round puddle of sunless water," how do we keep going?

In this episode of Words That Burn, I analyse Audre Lorde’s powerful poem, "Coping."

Written by the self-described "Black lesbian mother warrior poet," this piece from The Black Unicorn collection offers a vital lesson on resilience, parenting as revolution, and the refusal to drown easily.

We explore Lorde’s legacy as a "bridge builder" and how her seminal philosophies, including The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle The Master's House; inform this seemingly simple image of a boy bailing rainwater from a garden.

In this episode, I cover:

• The Poem: A line-by-line analysis of "Coping" and its biblical vs. humanist metaphors.
• The Context: How Lorde’s travels to Benin and her experience with motherhood shaped her activism.
• The Philosophy: Understanding the "architecture of difference" and intersectionality.
• The Takeaway: Why preserving "young seeds" is crucial for the future of society.

If you are feeling the weight of the world, let Audre Lorde’s words be the spark you need to keep doing the work.

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The Music In This Week's Episode:

'Penumbra' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au

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In the final episode of Words That Burn for 2025, we turn our attention to the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year, and the American poet who captured its delicate balance of darkness and light: W.S. Merwin.

This episode's poem "The Solstice," a work of minimalist verse that explores the intersection of nature, personal vulnerability, and the cyclical nature of time. This episode traces Merwin’s evolution from a rigid formalist to an experimental voice for environmental activism. It looks at how the poet was heavily influenced by the Vietnam War and the ecological fragility of his adopted home in Hawaii.

As we close out a difficult year marked by global conflict and uncertainty, this episode asks: How do we find hope when the days seem at their darkest? Merwin’s work reminds us that even when the sun goes away, it always comes back.

Topics Explored:

• W.S. Merwin’s Evolution: From the classical influence of W.H. Auden to the stark, grounded style of The Lice.
• Ecopoetry & Activism: How the Vietnam War and the destruction of Hawaiian flora (like the ʻōhiʻas and honeycreepers) radicalised Merwin’s work.
• Poetic Analysis: Deconstructing the structure of "The Solstice" and how its shrinking stanzas mimic the dwindling daylight of December 21st.

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The Music In This Week's Episode:

'Penumbra' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au

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In this episode of Words That Burn, I'm joined by Irish poet Clíodhna Bhreatnach to discuss her debut pamphlet, Pink Roses and Green. Together, we chat about a collection that sits at the intersection of the "nine-to-five grind," Millennial burnout, and a deep, tactile longing for the natural world.

Clíodhna breaks down her unique approach to the "Millennial Lyric"; moving away from the pastoral and into the office kitchenette. We discuss how she navigates the Post-Celtic Tiger landscape, using poetry to document the deformation of human time under late-stage capitalism.

We cover other topics like:

• The Romantic Office: Applying the philosophy of Keats and Wordsworth to photocopiers and Excel spreadsheets.
• Digital Intimacy: Finding beauty in the "randomised screensavers" of Windows desktops.
• The "Sick Addiction to Soft Things": Why tactile textures (paper, nature) are vital in a digital world.
• Writers Groups: The importance of community (specifically the Frustrated Writers Group) in banishing impostor syndrome.

• Bandit Country by James Conor Patterson
• Unstoppable Utopia by Cassandra Moss
• The Perfect Season by Sean Pearson
• The Lover's Discourse by Anahid Nersessian (Criticism on Keats)

About the poet:

Clíodhna Bhreatnach is from Waterford and lives in Dublin. Her poems have appeared in Poetry Ireland Review, The Stinging Fly, and The Forward Book of Poetry 2023. She has recently been awarded a Dublin City Council Arts Bursary for 2025. She is the former poetry editor of Frustrated Writers Group.

Find the book and the poet:

https://cliodhnabhreatnach.com

https://greenbottlepress.com/product/pink-roses-green-by-cliodhna-bhreatnach/

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For Halloween 2025, Words That Burn resurrects one of the most chilling poems in English literature: "This Living Hand" by John Keats. This short, macabre poem wasn't published until 77 years after Keats's death, making it feel like a genuine message from beyond the grave.

In this special episode, we explore the poem's dark, gothic imagery and the terrifying "strange bargain" it offers the reader. We dissect its uncanny duality, its sense of dread, and the horrifying biographical context of Keats's final days; a "posthumous existence" of body horror that forged this masterpiece.

I look at the poem's vampiric mechanism and Keats's desperate plea, not only for a transfusion of life, but for the artistic immortality he feared he'd never achieve.

This episode covers:

• The dark history of Keats's "This Living Hand."
• How Keats's embrace of darkness ("the burden of mystery") set him apart from other Romantic poets.
• A close reading of the poem's body horror, from "earnest grasping" to the "icy silence of the tomb."
• The link between Keats's final, agonising days and the poem's "vampiric" plea for life.
• Why this poem is a perfect, terrifying read for the Halloween season.

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The Music In This Week's Episode:

'Soul Searcher' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au

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Ever woken up to rain and felt the urge to stay in bed all day? On this episode of Words That Burn "Rain" by Raymond Carver. This is a poem that seems ideally suited to September, exploring that universal feeling of surrendering to the weather and the comfort of your own bed.

Over the course of the episode I'll explore how Carver, a titan of the American short story, applies his signature "dirty realism" and sparse prose to his first love: poetry. We'll break down "Rain" stanza by stanza, examining the masterful techniques like enjambment and a staccato rhythm that turn a simple scene into a profound meditation on life.

To truly understand this poem, you have to understand the man. I look back into Raymond Carver's difficult life; his blue-collar struggles, his battle with alcoholism, and the cancer diagnosis that shaped his final years. Discover how his personal tragedies fuel the poem's stunning final lines about "unforgivable mistakes" and the resolute desire to live it all again.

In this episode, you will learn about:

• Raymond Carver's poetic style: How his minimalist approach in short stories translates to his poetry.
• Literary Analysis of "Rain": A line-by-line breakdown of imagery, structure, and rhythm.
• The Power of Immediacy: How Carver uses techniques like pronoun omission to pull you directly into the experience.
• Roland Barthes' "Punctum": We apply this photographic theory to understand how Carver creates moments of startling emotional impact that "puncture" the ordinary.
• The Link Between Carver's Life and Art: How understanding his biography is essential to interpreting his work on regret, mortality, and acceptance.

00:00 Poetry Reading

00:36 Introduction to Words That Burn

01:47 Exploring Raymond Carver's Poetry

02:59 Carver's Writing Style and Techniques

03:46 The Struggles and Inspirations of Raymond Carver

05:08 Analysing 'Rain' by Raymond Carver

15:32 The Impact of Carver's Life on His Poetry

19:25 Final Thoughts

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The Music In This Week's Episode:

'Incredulity' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au

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This week on Words That Burn, we delve into the powerful and moving poem "The Language Ban" from Annemarie Ní Churreáin's acclaimed 2021 collection, The Poison Glen.

Join me as we explore the hidden history of Irish Sign Language (ISL) and the devastating impact of its suppression.

Discover the story of St. Joseph's School for Deaf Boys in Cabra, Dublin, and how the controversial 1880 Milan Conference led to a policy of "Oralism," forcing a spoken language upon deaf children and branding their native sign language as shameful. I'll unpack Ní Churreáin's potent imagery, from the "state makers" who "banished" the signs to the demonisation of the hand itself within a deeply religious and colonial context.

This episode explores:

• The dark history behind The Poison Glen and its connection to Irish folklore and the suppression of a nation's past.
• The crucial difference between Irish Sign Language (ISL) and other sign languages, and how it evolved uniquely within Irish culture.
• The devastating impact of the Milan Conference and the enforcement of Oralism on the Irish deaf community.
• The parallels between the suppression of ISL and the historical attempts to eradicate the Irish language (Gaeilge), including the use of the "tally stick."
• A deep-dive analysis of Annemarie Ní Churreáin's "The Language Ban," examining its structure, folkloric references (the hawthorn and the Salmon of Knowledge), and its powerful conclusion on the "forced grammar" imposed on a community.

Join the conversation as we discuss how poetry can unearth forgotten histories and give voice to the silenced. This is essential listening for anyone interested in Irish history, poetry, disability studies, and the enduring power of language.

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The Music In This Week's Episode:

'Incredulity' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Donation Link:

 Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign: http://www.ipsc.ie/support/donate

In this episode of Words That Burn, I take a closer look at "Door on the Road," by Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha.

The poem opens with the aftermath of an explosion in a refugee camp, where a fallen door becomes a grave marker for a young man whose only remaining connection to his past is a worn key — the key to his family’s lost home in Yaffa.

As I unpack the powerful imagery in Abu Toha’s work, I explore how everyday objects like doors and keys become symbolic vessels for profound loss, memory, and hope in the context of forced displacement. I also delve into the historical significance of Yaffa, a once-thriving Palestinian city now largely inaccessible to its original inhabitants, and how the city’s erasure is mirrored in the poem’s narrative.

Throughout the episode, I draw connections between the poem and Abu Toha’s 2024 poetry collection Forest of Noise, a body of work that documents life in Gaza through stark, evocative imagery and deeply personal narratives. I discuss how the collection uses poetry as a means of bearing witness to everyday atrocities and preserving cultural memory amidst conflict.

00:00 The Poem

01:14 Introduction to Words That Burn Podcast

01:26 Support for Palestine

02:52 Mosab Abu Toha: A Witness Poet

06:27 Analyzing 'Door on the Road'

08:02 The Symbolism of the Door

14:02 The Key to Yaffa

22:10 The Tragic Reality of Palestinian Life

27:11 Final Thoughts and Call to Action

Follow Mosab Abu Toha

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The Music In This Week's Episode:

'Echoes' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au

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