Take this poem

Take This Poem wakes up from a nap long enough to share "Holy Sonnet X" by John Donne. When despair and triumph live side by side in 14 lines, heat ensues, as well as iridescence. 

This one is not just read but also written by Keith Hansen...a reflection on a fraternal tussle that has now come to an end. 

I hope you'll listen to Muriel Rukeyser read her own poem! It's weird, funny, scary, true.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UN-NaxSRN4E    

In this episode I read three poems from The Art of Losing, an anthology edited by Kevin Young.  "The Wake" by Rita Dove "The Shout" by Simon Armitage "Remember Me" by Hal Sirowitz

Keith Hansen brings us five poems from Michael Chitwood, whose work explores the Appalachian landscape of his youth.  "Want" "Catalytic Converter" "Chicken"  "Lakeside" "Search and Rescue"  

I wrestled with this poem for a long time. I thought I would run out of winter before I was satisfied with a recording.  But then it snowed here these last couple days, and it encouraged me to fix up the most recent attempt and just get it out to you. Here you go: "October" by Louise Gluck.    .................................................................................................. I heard Gluck read this poem at the end of this interview: https://yalepodcasts.blubrry.net/2021/03/09/nobel-laureate-louise-gluck-on-teaching-and-poetry/ It's the last ten minutes. However, the whole thing is excellent! This poet won almost every literary prize imaginable, including the Nobel Prize. Along with that, she taught poetry for many decades, and she considered her teaching to have fueled and inspired her work rather than draining it. She was greatly loved by students, and known for her passion, candor, and crankiness. She HATES poetry read aloud! Oopsies. 

Happy New Year! I'm re-gifting this poem.  Thank you for bringing it to my attention, Anna!  "The Risk of Birth, Christmas 1973" by Madeline L'Engle 

Keith Hansen brings us poems by two Polish poets who lived upfront with human suffering and political upheaval. What will their poetic "stare" find to praise?   Adam Zagajewski's "Try to Praise the Mutilated World" and "Boogie-Woogie" Czeslaw Milosz's "The Blacksmith Shop"   

I haven't finished part one to my satisfaction, but I'll serve you part two anyway. Rather like having dessert first, which I hear is possible if you're feeling unruly.  "In Memoriam A. H. H. OBIIT MDCCCXXXIII:54"  "In Memoriam A. H. H. OBIIT MDCCCXXXIII:55" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson 

100 Episodes! We've been through a lot together.  To celebrate, I compiled some audio mail I've received into another poetry reading episode. If you enjoy it, send me a poem why dontcha!  Pamela reads "Crooked" by G.K. Chesterton Carrie reads "She Walks in Beauty" by Lord Byron Melinda reads "Doors opening, closing on us" by Marge Piercy    Thank you to all who have listened and contributed to this poetry endeavor!   

Does this poem stir around in your heart and mind a little bit?  Keith Hansen brings "Poem" by North Dakota poet and screenwriter Thomas McGrath. 

The other Giudice takes the mic again!

Another Lawrence poem! Unfortunately, there's no fruit-throwing in this one. But there is ecstatic inspiration, a creepy knock on the door, and angels. So that's pretty good.  "Song of a Man Who Has Come Through" by D.H. Lawrence    The "Word on Fire" podcast episode that I mention: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wof-392-poetry-beauty-and-the-shock-of-grace-w/id1065019039?i=1000618329473

I bring you "Peach" by D.H. Lawrence. This guy gets it. 

A super special guest--Ben Giudice--brings us two poems that run headlong into the human task of reconciling bad and good, despair and hope.  "As the World Population Surpasses 8 Billion, I Purposely Misremember a Line from Anne Carson's Sappho and Hear in Its Utterance the Song of the Humpback Whale" by Dante Di Stephano "Good Bones" by Maggie Smith 

Two minds--divided by millennia--come together in the spaces between words... Or, if that sounds too cosmic and far-fetched, you can call it by its other name: "reading a poem in the kitchen". 

Today's two poems--brought to us by Keith Hansen--take us to the beauty salon and the barber chair. Are these places ordinary or sacred? Maybe we don't have to choose.  "Wayne's College of Beauty, Santa Cruz" by David Swanger "Hair" by BH Fairchild

Why is late summer such a gut-puncher? If anyone can get at the heart of this mystery, it's these two: "Summer Has Two Beginnings" by Emily Dickinson "Three Songs at the End of Summer" by Jane Kenyon 

Late summer is peak bye-bye season! These three poems fit perfectly in your suitcase or moving box.  "The Summer Camp Bus Pulls Away From the Curb" by Sharon Olds "Leaving Town" by Jane Kenyon [i carry your heart with me(i carry it in] by ee cummings   

Listen to what can happen when a poet keeps a sustained gaze on the desolate place that has always been his home.  Keith Hansen comes back to the mic to read six poems by Don Thompson. "Flat Earth" "Water" "Egret I" "Buena Vista Slough II" "October" "December"

Part 3 of the summer poems series is JUICY!  "Blackberry-Picking" by Seamus Heaney  "An Invitation" by Clemens Starck "Meditation at Lagunitas" by Robert Hass 

Here's part 2 of the "summer poems" series! This one's for you, Farmer Ben.  "Putting in the Seed" by Robert Frost "Cutting the Grass" by Clemens Starck "In Defense of Our Overgrown Garden" by Matthea Harvey 

It's AUGUST! I had a request for some summer poems and got a little carried away.  I hope you like sunshine, blackberries, nostalgia, and love, because this is just the beginning of a 4 part summer poem series.  We kick off with "Summer Moods" by John Clare "The Summer Day" by Mary Oliver "Mossbawn: Sunlight" by Seamus Heaney "Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy's Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota" by James Wright  

3 school poems to kick off summer break! "Night" by Jill Osier "M. Degas Teaches Art & Science at Durfee Intermediate School" by Philip Levine "Mrs. Smith 1959" by Kim Stafford

A snowy night, phone calls from beyond the grave... this poem has a lot to recommend it.    "Visitors From Abroad" by Louise GlÜck 

Let me read to you-- a handful of poems that take us through the year of a gardener/prose poet who is paying attention. The book I read from is Going to Seed: Dispatches From the Garden by Charles Goodrich 

Sometimes I take on the humbling challenge of talking about a poem that enthralls me but I don't fully understand it, and some of what I understand I don't like, and I can't talk about it without talking about myself... Those episodes often end up in the burn pile, but this time I offer it to you.    "I've Been Sitting Here Thinking Back Over My Life" by Charles Wright

How does she do it? Linda Bierds' best poems about historical figures--inventors, scientists, artists--hold an uncanny sense of discovery and inspiration so strong that I find myself holding my breath while reading. Today's poem takes us back in time to the studio of the brilliant Italian sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini. "Stroke" by Linda Bierds from her book First Hand

A good poet applying his pen and imagination to the inner life of historical figures...this is the human version of catnip for me. In his book A Companion for Owls, Kentucky poet Maurice Manning writes about the frontier life of Daniel and Rebecca Boone. The two poems in this episode are "Born Again" and "A Wife's Tale."   Back in episode 17 I shared and discussed "The Pupil" by Maurice Manning

Yes, one of these poems has already been featured on this podcast... but it's absolutely worth hearing again. And this time I got to yak about it a bunch. And read it again. And read a love poem. Enjoy!    "What Work Is" by Philip Levine Keith Hansen reads it wonderfully in Episode 63 https://takethispoem.podbean.com/e/episode-63-work-and-what-it-is/ "What I Didn't Know Before" by Ada Limon 

I had breath to spare and used it for poetry. And oh man, these are two good ones.  "Winter Night" by Tomas Transtromer  "Gnosis" by Eireann Lorsung

These poems, like elk, have some muscle and mystery to them. The trio is brought to us by Dave Mehler: "Elk in the Field" by Michael McGriff "Bull Elk in October River" by Chris Dombrowski "Pat Describes an Elk Bugling" by Dave Mehler  

These two poems by George Bilgere made me snicker. Doesn't eel jerky sound kinda good? I'd try it.    "Facetime in Covidtime" "Mystery of Jerky" 

I was delighted to receive this recording from a college classmate of yore who has since gone on to become the kind of math professor who starts his classes with passages of TS Eliot.   Tom Clark reads and reflects on Scott Cairn's poem "Possible Answers to Prayer". 

Dave Mehler-- the local poet and friend I interviewed in episodes 12 and 45-- takes the mic today to read from Chris Dombrowski's book "Ragged Anthem".  Dombrowski is a northwesterner, outdoorsman, and teacher as well as poet, and his slim book is one that you might need to add to your library.         

I'm back after summer break for a little chat, a promise of what's to come, and of course a poem. By the Well of Living and Seeing, Part II, Section 28: “During the Second World War"  by Charles Reznikoff https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/55500/during-the-second-world-war-

"Finding a Teacher" by W.S. Merwin

In this mini episode, my nephew reads a poem he wrote for his baby sister. Buckle your seat belt; it's dangerously adorable!

Apparently I'm not done reading Charles Wright poems to you! I've got a fever and the only cure is another dive into the bright, dark, poetic, folksy, scary, exhilarating pool of his book "Caribou". In this episode I share "Chinoiserie II" "Heaven's Eel" "Life Lines"

Today's episode is dedicated to Keith Hansen, who made an ambivalent comment about this poem that I'm crazy about. I try to explain my enthrallment with this poem and Wright's latest work in general. Was it a success or  "a raid on the inarticulate With shabby equipment always deteriorating" ? (T.S. Eliot) Who knows? But it was worth a try.

Sit yourself down at Uncle Keith's knee; he's got some poems to read to you...about fambly. 

"But I felt: you are an I, you are an Elizabeth, you are one of them."   This poem is a story...in which a hot waiting room and a National Geographic magazine provoke a little girl's painful recognition of herself.    "In The Waiting Room" by Elizabeth Bishop

Keith Hansen brings us Denise Levertov's grouping of poems titled "Lake, Mountain, Moon." These are lush, grand, and worth listening to with closed eyes and a still body...if you can pull that off. 

You know what's adorable? Hearing your dear ol' college roommate's voice echo in the voices of her two young sons... and to hear those voices saying poems. Lincoln (8) shares a poem by Rosetti, and Will (10) shares a poem of his very own. He said his favorite thing about poetry is that there is a poem for everything... and ain't that the truth.    Caterpillar by Christina Rosetti  Brown and furry Caterpillar in a hurry, Take your walk To the shady leaf, or stalk, Or what not, Which may be the chosen spot. No toad spy you, Hovering bird of prey pass by you; Spin and die, To live again a butterfly.

I hope my Welsh listeners won't give me too much trouble over the fact that St. David's Day is long past... better late, eh? This is a rich episode from Keith Hansen! He brings us "Miracle On St. David's Day" by Gillian Clarke, which beautifully reflects on the power of memorized poetry. Keith also shares Malcome Guite's remarks on the poem, and throws in Wordsworth's  dreamy "Daffodils" as a bonus! ENJOY!   Gillian Clarke's Poem https://www.poetrybyheart.org.uk/poems/miracle-on-st-davids-day/ Wordsworth's poem: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45521/i-wandered-lonely-as-a-cloud

Humans and horses: a mythic combination. These two poems dig around in that a little bit, helping me ponder what people are really talking about when they talk about horses.  "Of Unsent Letters, One" by Jill Ossier, from her collection The Solace is Not the Lullaby "A Blessing" by James Wright 

You know by now that poets can turn their eyes and pens to the ordinary as well as the sublime... but how many poems have you read about WORK? Keith Hansen brings us three of those today. I'm a little jealous that Keith beat me to sharing "What Work Is" by Philip Levine. That one's a mysterious gem.    Clemens Starck "Slab on Grade" Philip Levine "What Work Is" Marge Piercy "To Be Of Use"   

I can't believe I didn't share this poem with you last year. Sorry about that! But here it is, before winter officially ends.  The link to the audio poetry collection I mention: https://www.powells.com/book/-9780738934433/ And here is a recording of Robert Hayden reading his own poem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmJYs6PQKVc

Do the inscrutable troubles of the future add to your pleasure now? These two poems were on my mind as I revived from the stupor of illness.  "True Love" by Sharon Olds "Otherwise" by Jane Kenyon 

Keith Hansen is saving Take This Poem's proverbial bacon lately! I haven't been well enough to drag myself to the mic these last few weeks... and yet thanks to Keith here we are with a Valentine's Day treat. He shares three poems about three different chapters of love.  "How It Will End" by Denise Duhamel "After the Argument" by Stephen Dunn "The Wild Rose" by Wendell Berry  If this episode leaves you hungry for more, you might enjoy revisiting one of these deep cuts: Two Love Poems from the Middle  https://takethispoem.podbean.com/e/episode-13-two-love-poems-from-the-middle/ Let's Get Romantic https://takethispoem.podbean.com/e/episode-39-let-s-get-romantic/ Lost Love in Medieval Ireland https://takethispoem.podbean.com/e/episode-7-lost-love-in-medieval-ireland/  

Keith Hansen leads us through a closer reading of two rich poems. "The Caged Skylark" by Gerard Manley Hopkins "The Caged Goldfinch" by Thomas Hardy