Take this poem

A poem by David Jones, 20th century Welsh poet. I've found all his other work unreadable thus far, but I'm not giving up. Look at some of his paintings, if you can. Color of Dust interview where I first heard this poem: https://www.podbean.com/media/share/dir-zraw9-25684ab3 Two recitations of this poem for Poetry By Heart: https://www.poetrybyheart.org.uk/poems/a-a-a-domine-deus "...Last season's fruit is eaten And the fullfed beast shall kick the empty pail. For last year's words belong to last year's language And next year's words await another voice." TS Eliot "Little Gidding"

Sometimes you're just minding your own business and a poem jumps out from the bushes and surprises you. In this episode I share a poem that did that to me: "My Mother's Body" by Marie Howe.

Keith Hansen returns to the show with two poems by Stephen Dunn (on a very human theme) and some questions to guide your listening. "The Worrier" "Worry" Enjoy!

Is a solitary walk in the snow desolate or cheering? These poems offer the answer: yes. "Desert Places" "Dust of Snow" Both by the national treasure, Robert Frost.

I offer you “Little Gidding” by T.S. Eliot. This is far side of the deep end, dear listeners! Come on in. The best part of creating this series was sitting down with others whose lives have been amended by going into that deep. Joining me at the mic for this last quartet is the generous, intuitive reader and friend Colleen Jeffrey. The end is where we start from... We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time.

I offer you "The Dry Salvages" by T.S. Eliot. This is deep ocean, dear listeners! Come on in. The best part of creating this series was sitting down with others whose lives have been amended by going into that deep. Joining me at the mic this time is the convivial and keen-minded David Miller. Enjoy! The bitter apple and the bite in the apple. And the ragged rock in the restless waters, Waves wash over it, fogs conceal it; On a halcyon day it is merely a monument, In navigable weather it is always a seamark To lay a course by: but in the sombre season Or the sudden fury, it is what it always was.

I offer you "East Coker" by T.S. Eliot. This is the deep end, dear listeners! Come on in. The best part of creating this series was sitting down with others whose lives have been amended by going into that deep. Joining me at the mic this time is the bright, adventuresome, insightful Anna Danese. Enjoy. I said to my soul, be still, and let the dark come upon you Which shall be the darkness of God. As, in a theatre, The lights are extinguished, for the scene to be changed With a hollow rumble of wings, with a movement of darkness on darkness, And we know that the hills and the trees, the distant panorama And the bold imposing façade are all being rolled away—

I offer you "Burnt Norton" by T.S. Eliot. This is the deep end, dear listeners. Come on in! The best part of recording this series was sitting down with others whose lives have been amended by going into that deep. Joining me at the mic this time is the articulate, generous, and perceptive teacher and reader Eliot Reasoner. Enjoy. Footfalls echo in the memory Down the passage which we did not take Towards the door we never opened Into the rose-garden. My words echo Thus, in your mind. But to what purpose Disturbing the dust on a bowl of rose-leaves I do not know. Other echoes Inhabit the garden. Shall we follow?

I give thanks and make a request. I give a teaser about a momentous thing coming up on TTP. I read "Spring and Fall" by Gerard Manley Hopkins. It's a big 13 minutes!

This one is a gift from Anna Natzke-- my former student, a church friend, and a bright and lovely young writer. I could not stop smiling when I listened to the file she sent! It's only a few minutes long, but you'll get a good idea of why it was such a joy to have a couple years in the classroom with her. Anna reads and reflects on poems of peace and yearning: "The House Was Quiet and the World Was Calm" by Wallace Stevens "Lake Isle of Innisfree" by W.B. Yeats Enjoy! DELIGHTFUL FACT: When this TTP project was newborn, Anna's mama Amy came on (episode #35) to share the work of Ruth Pitter, a British poet who was a contemporary of CS Lewis and much admired by him. https://takethispoem.podbean.com/e/episode-35-take-this-poet-ruth-pitter/

Summer in our family is a time of many birth days. This poem is beautiful and sore, just like the real thing. "To My Daughter on Her 21st Birthday" by Ellen Bass Do let me know where YOU would place the emphasis in that line I puzzle over.

When Love has you over for dinner, just sit down and hush! And eat. Today's poem is "Love III" by George Herbert. What a pleasure to read; I had to stop myself at twice.

Marie Burdett reads five of her wonderful poems for the TTP audience. This just might be the best 8 minutes of your day! They are: "Hindsight," "The Gravedigger," "The Gardener's Prayer," "Bluebell Valley," and "Mountain Fog." If you want to re-listen, Marie's reading begins at 5:40. .............................................................................................................................................................. If you'd like to see more of what Marie is up to, here are links to some of her work and accomplishments! Her Instagram https://www.instagram.com/marieburdettpoet/ A poem in Light Verse: https://lightpoetrymagazine.com/marie-burdett-winter-25/ A poem in Lucky Jefferson: https://luckyjefferson.com/april/ Indigenous Writer in Residency at Cranberry Lake: https://www.esf.edu/clbs/iwr.php Honorable Mention Deep Wild Journal: https://deepwildjournal.com/2025/04/23/our-2025-student-writing-contest-winners/ 2nd place Porter Fleming Literary Competition https://www.themorris.org/porter-fleming-literary-competition/winners/ Blackberry Bramble 1st place https://www.orlando.gov/Our-Government/Mayor-City-Council/Buddy-Dyer/City-of-Orlando-Poet-Laureate/Words-and-Wonders-Winners/Words-and-Wonders-City-Life-vs.-Country-Life-Winners/First-Place-Blackberry-Bramble-by-Marie-Burdett The Nature of Our Times https://natureofourtimes.poetsforscience.org/pay-attention-to-the-pond/ https://natureofourtimes.poetsforscience.org/i-touched-a-cloud-on-mt-rainier/ https://natureofourtimes.poetsforscience.org/wekiwa/

Another one I'm dusting off for young listeners. Enjoy! Eleanor finally entered the Closet Of Poetry with me and shared a few of her favorites. All the poems she says in this episode are from memory, which helps explain the adorable botched limerick she busts out with at the end. Get the kids gathered 'round for this one!

I wanted to re-release this old episode for any new young listeners. It's one of my favorites. The nine-year-old interviewed here is now taller than I am. <3 My daughter Vivian shares some of her favorite funny poems from The National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry, which is a favorite around our household.

How it all began. This is the first and most downloaded recording of TTP. This pilot episode includes stories of how "Let Evening Come" by Jane Kenyon has been passed around like a gift in my life and how the poem derives its simplicity and rootedness from material nouns that have been in our language from the very beginning. Collected Poems of Jane Kenyon

As my end-of-school-year poem I bring you "The Writer" by Richard Wilbur

I have a thing for poems about work. Poets seem to have a thing for writing about work. I share that thing with you. In Episode 63, Episode 80, and today. "Digging" by Seamus Heaney "Labor" by Jericho Brown

A poem that peers into the wrestling of a conflicted human heart. Holy Sonnet XIV by John Donne.

Nothing ends more endingly than a "summer" together. "Lost Garden" by Dana Gioia

Even if that child is just yourself. "Rain" by Robert Lewis Stevenson "Drippy Weather" by Aileen Fisher "Spring Rain" by Marchette Chute I first encountered these in Poems to Read to the Very Young edited by Josette Frank, illustrated by Eloise Wilkin Bonus: "April Rain Song" by Langston Hughes

I give you a poem I recently received: "Oregon Winter" by Jeanne McGahey. From the collection Winter Poems selected by Barbara Rogasky

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! <3 <3 <3 "A Romance" by Stephen Dunn "The Country of Marriage" by Wendell Berry

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