Words That Burn - Poetry Podcast

It can be easy to relegate Halloween to the realm of a kitsch festival every year but to do so would be a mistake. Here in Ireland Halloween or Oíche Shamhna, was an important festival for both recognising the dead and the beginning of the darker half of the year. There was a recognition that acceptance of that darkness was important. In this week's special Halloween episode I'm going to discuss three poems from three poets, each dealing with the supernatural in their own way. Those poems are:

• Her Kind by Anne Sexton
• In The Desert by Stephen Crane
• The Witches Hex an Enemy by Jessica Traynor

Each of these works uses darkness and the macabre in the hopes of unearthing some kind of insight. Does it work? I'll let you be the judge.

*A special thank you to Jessica Traynor for allowing me to use her poem. You can find her work here: https://twitter.com/JessicaTraynor6

Show notes: https://wordsthatburn.substack.com/p/the-words-that-burn-halloween-special?sd=pf

Twitter: https://twitter.com/wordsthatburn?t=p7rGkfElfHZ_8ua0mvsB9A&s=09

Website: https://wordsthatburnpodcast.com/work

Instagram: https://instagram.com/wordsthatburnpodcast?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

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Where does practice turn to obsession? Is anger when pursuing perfection inevitable?

These are two of the questions explored in Anne Carson's Hokusai. In the poem Carson takes a look at the later life of one of Japan's greatest artists: Hokusai. She creates poem of magical realism, one that allows the old painters daily ritual of painting lions to spring to life from the page.

Using the poem Carson explores that frustration and subsequent anger that can arise from the creative mind. In the relentless pursuit of your best work, where should an artist draw the line?

Once again Anne Carson has breathed life into an aspect of antiquity that is usually inaccessible to a modern audience, and does so in a way that causes use to empathise with it's subject.

Part 1: Shadowboxer by Anne Carson: https://shows.acast.com/words-that-burn/episodes/shadowboxer-by-anne-carson

One of Hokusai's Lions: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1e/Hokusai%2C_Tiger_in_the_Snow.jpg/1280px-Hokusai%2C_Tiger_in_the_Snow.jpg

Show notes: https://wordsthatburn.substack.com/p/hokusai-by-anne-carson?sd=pf

Twitter: https://twitter.com/wordsthatburn?t=p7rGkfElfHZ_8ua0mvsB9A&s=09

Website: https://wordsthatburnpodcast.com/work

Instagram: https://instagram.com/wordsthatburnpodcast?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

One Word (Reworked) by Christopher Galovan: https://soundcloud.com/christophergalovan

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How do we deal with trauma and regret? If we're honest, it's usually not well. This seems especially true for men. Difficult emotions around remorse, guilt and vulnerability are rarely expressed.

In her poem Shadowboxer, Anne Carson looks at the toll that might take on the male psyche. Using the biblical parable of Longinus and infusing it with a contemporary edge, Carson explores the way in which some men retreat from their emotions and they price for that action.

Show notes: https://wordsthatburn.substack.com/p/shadowboxer-by-anne-carson?sd=pf

Twitter: https://twitter.com/wordsthatburn?t=p7rGkfElfHZ_8ua0mvsB9A&s=09

Website: https://wordsthatburnpodcast.com/work

Instagram: https://instagram.com/wordsthatburnpodcast?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Music: Slow Tides by Eleven Tales : https://eleventales.bandcamp.com/

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Should we accept the world as it is? Harsh realities and all? Langston Hughes certainly didn't think so.

In his poem Tired, he lures the reader in with a soothing recognition of the exhaustion of the modern world. Then quickly uses their attention to deliver a call to action for change and revolution. In this deceptively brief poem, everything that made Langston Hughes a leading figure of

the Harlem Renaissance is showcased. There his ability to illustrate layers of meaning with simple and direct language. His innate gift to commune directly with his audience and, perhaps most importantly his talent for communicating to those from diverse and distinct backgrounds.

• Boy Breaking Glass by Gwendolyn Brooks: https://shows.acast.com/words-that-burn/episodes/boy-breaking-glass
• Tired by Fenton Johnson: https://shows.acast.com/words-that-burn/episodes/tired

Irish Podcast Awards Listeners Choice: https://www.theirishpodcastawards.ie/vote/

Show notes:https://wordsthatburn.substack.com/p/tired-by-langston-hughes?sd=pf

Twitter: https://twitter.com/wordsthatburn?t=p7rGkfElfHZ_8ua0mvsB9A&s=09

Website: https://wordsthatburnpodcast.com/work

Instagram: https://instagram.com/wordsthatburnpodcast?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Music: https://www.mattiavladmorleo.com/

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Do you ever feel at odds with yourself or the world around you? I think it's an unavoidable truth of being human to be torn on occasion. U.S Poet Laureate Ada Limón has certainly felt and recognised this in others. In this poem, Torn, Limón examines the nature of division and dichotomy through an unusual image; a dead snake. This dead snake becomes a treatise for the poet to explore how separation from yourself can feel but also a way in which we might find our way back to a sense of wholeness once more.

Irish Podcast Awards Listeners Choice: https://www.theirishpodcastawards.ie/vote/

Show notes: https://wordsthatburn.substack.com/p/torn-by-ada-limon?sd=pf

Twitter: https://twitter.com/wordsthatburn?t=p7rGkfElfHZ_8ua0mvsB9A&s=09

Website: https://wordsthatburnpodcast.com/work

Instagram: https://instagram.com/wordsthatburnpodcast?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Light Blue by Alan Špiljak: https://alanspiljak.com/

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What should we do in a time of crisis? Become stoic? Take stock? Flounder in existentialism? In the case of Frank O' Hara, why not all three?

In Meditations In An Emergency, the speaker finds themselves in a spiral of self-doubt and melancholy self loathing. All this happening in the wake of a separation from their love.

Frank O' Hara creates a stream of consciousness to document the highs and lows of such a moment. It swings from tragic to hilarious in the space of jus a few short syllables and all with his incredible talent for imagery and free association. Its no wonder it became one of the New York poet's greatest works.

Show notes: https://wordsthatburn.substack.com/p/meditations-in-an-emergency-by-frank

Twitter: https://twitter.com/wordsthatburn?t=p7rGkfElfHZ_8ua0mvsB9A&s=09

Website: https://wordsthatburnpodcast.com/work

Instagram: https://instagram.com/wordsthatburnpodcast?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Scott Buckley:https://www.scottbuckley.com.au/

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Do you ever wish for a blank slate? What would it cost?

These are exactly the questions that Rachel Long's The Yearner hopes to answer.

This week's poem looks at the pressures we all face in modern life and the toll our own experiences take on us.

Rachel Long weaves solid poetic technique and a unique ability to create intimacy together to show the lengths some people will go to to escape those pressures.

Show notes: https://wordsthatburn.substack.com/p/the-yearner-by-rachel-long?sd=pf

Twitter: https://twitter.com/wordsthatburn?t=p7rGkfElfHZ_8ua0mvsB9A&s=09

Website: https://wordsthatburnpodcast.com/work

Instagram: https://instagram.com/wordsthatburnpodcast?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Maarten Schellekens: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/maarten-schellekens/

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Is love truly madness?

It's certainly foolishness for Poet E.E. Cummings.

In this episode I explore Since Feeling is First , one of his more famous love poems that looks at the way in which love almost always overrides reason. It is a fine example of the mastery Cummings held over form, grammar and syntax. On its surface it is a seemingly simple theme but, like all Cumming's works, that surface impression is just the beginning.

The First E.E Cummings Episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0QTnL3ZYMzLKkbCBFCFTfK

The Show Notes: https://wordsthatburn.substack.com/p/since-feeling-is-first-by-ee-cummings?sd=pf

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wordsthatburnpodcast/

Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/burnwords

The music: https://www.scottbuckley.com.au/

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What does Paranoia really feel like?

It's an absolute nightmare according to poet Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill's Sceimhle. In this poem Ní Dhomhnaill fuses folklore and terror to create an allegory for a woman's experience in life. She weaves together a folkloric dreamscape in which to set all this. Death omens and portents of doom haunt every line as an unnamed character attempts to find any kind of refuge.

If you're looking for an Irish language poem with some serious bite to it, this is the one.

Find Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh's Conriocht episode here:

https://shows.acast.com/words-that-burn/episodes/conriocht

Check out the show notes / script.

Read it here: https://wordsthatburn.substack.com/p/sceimhle-by-nuala-ni-dhomhnaill

Download a PDF here :https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HsLvktXv-c1vY8XJcK4b3aRrgHObXPW8/view?usp=sharing

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wordsthatburnpodcast

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BurnWords

The music in this weeks episode was Closer to You by Sergey Cheremisinov: https://sergeycheremisinov.bandcamp.com/track/closer-to-you

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What do you associate with the good times in your childhood? For Stephen Sexton it's Super Mario World, the classic 1991 video game for the SNES. In his truly moving poem Outrageous, Sexton takes on a journey of grief and possible consolation using the level as a lens. Memory and Reality merge together into a pixelated landscape that Sexton fills with emotion and exploration. It is all a stunning work of ekphrasis and a truly unique work of art.

Substack Show Notes: https://wordsthatburn.substack.com/p/outrageous-by-stephen-sexton

Outrageous Level Playthrough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PN2eofUS2U

The show notes for today's episode, with full references can be found here: https://wordsthatburnpodcast.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BurnWords

You can get in touch with me on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wordsthatburnpodcast/

The music in this weeks episode is Falling Together by Scott Buckley and is used under creative commons license. Enjoy his music here: https://www.scottbuckley.com.au/

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