Poetry For All
Finding Our Way Into Great Poems
We found 10 episodes of Poetry For All with the tag “free verse”.
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Episode 46: Lucille Clifton, spring song
April 13th, 2022 | Season 4 | 17 mins 35 secs
20th century, black history month, christianity, easter, free verse, hope, joy, love, repetition or refrain, spring, wonder
Lucille Clifton (1936-2010) was one of the most powerful poets of the twentieth century. This joyful poem caps a sequence of sixteen poems called "some jesus," which walks through biblical characters (beginning with Adam and Eve) and ends on four poems for Holy Week and Easter.
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Episode 43: Margaret Noodin, What the Peepers Say
March 2nd, 2022 | Season 4 | 24 mins 22 secs
21st century, alliterative verse, free verse, guest on the show, native american heritage month, nature poetry, poetry in translation, repetition or refrain, spirituality, spring, wonder
In this episode, Margaret Noodin joins us to discuss her poem "What the Peepers Say." In our conversation, we talk about Margaret's writing in both Anishinaabemowin and English, her attention to sounds and rhythms, and what the peeper--a tiny springtime frog--can teach us about presence and listening.
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Episode 38: Laura Van Prooyen, Elegy for My Mother's Mind
January 26th, 2022 | Season 4 | 29 mins 16 secs
21st century, aging, children, elegy, free verse, gratitude, grief and loss, guest on the show, love, mother's day
In this episode, our guest Laura Van Prooyen reads "Elegy for My Mother's Mind," a poem that navigates the complexities of memory, loss, and familial relationships. Laura's poem gives us an opportunity to think about the deep sources of poetic inspiration, the revision process, and the power of metaphor.
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Episode 36: Denise Levertov, On the Mystery of the Incarnation
December 21st, 2021 | Season 3 | 16 mins 42 secs
20th century, advent/christmas, free verse, wonder
In this episode, we discuss Denise Levertov's powerful meditation on the horrors of the twentieth century, and how the mystery of the incarnation might provide humanity with hope.
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Episode 35: Matthew Zapruder, Poem for Wisconsin
December 15th, 2021 | Season 3 | 22 mins 56 secs
21st century, free verse, laborers, surprise, winter, wonder
In this episode, we discuss the way in which Matthew Zapruder attends to vivid, specific details to create a sense of wonder, connection, and surprise.
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Episode 33: Adrienne Rich, Power
November 10th, 2021 | Season 3 | 17 mins 21 secs
20th century, ars poetica, body in pain, free verse, guest on the show, lgbtqia month, science and medicine, social justice and advocacy, women's history month
This week, the poet and scholar Stephanie Burt joins us to discuss the extraordinary power of Adrienne Rich. We think through how the spacing and stanzas of a poem can draw out denials and divulgences, while also exploring the life and writing of Rich.
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Episode 32: Rick Barot, Cascades 501
November 3rd, 2021 | Season 3 | 38 mins 32 secs
21st century, asian american & pacific islander month, free verse, guest on the show, lgbtqia month, narrative, nature poetry, surprise
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Episode 31: Jane Kenyon, Twilight: After Haying
October 27th, 2021 | Season 3 | 16 mins 48 secs
20th century, autumn, christianity, free verse, intimacy, nature poetry, night, spirituality
This week we take a closer look at another autumn poem, this one by Jane Kenyon from her wonderful book Otherwise: New and Selected Poems. Kenyon builds from and transforms the same tradition of the autumn ode we examined last week with John Keats.
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Episode 26: Brenda Cárdenas, "Our Lady of Sorrows"
September 15th, 2021 | Season 3 | 21 mins 44 secs
21st century, ekphrasis, erasure, free verse, grief and loss, guest on the show, hispanic heritage month, nature poetry, social justice and advocacy, spirituality, visual poetry, word and image
In this episode, Brenda Cárdenas guides us through a reading of "Our Lady of Sorrows," an ekphrastic poem that is inspired by the work of Ana Mendieta.
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Episode 25: William Carlos Williams, "This is Just to Say"
September 8th, 2021 | Season 3 | 18 mins 13 secs
20th century, free verse, modernism, surprise, wonder
In this episode, we discuss a simple, iconic, "sorry-not sorry" poem from the early age of American modernism, which has taken on new life in the age of Twitter and the pandemic.