"When Someone Dies Young" - Robin Becker
Robin Becker Bio: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/robin-becker
Oct 11, 2022•14 min•Season 4Ep. 2
Basement Poetry Podcast
Recorded in my basement, a podcast where we read and discuss poetry and try to uncover the roots of what makes a poem work.
Last refreshed: ⓘ
Follow this podcast in the Metacast mobile app to refresh it and see new episodes.
Podcasts are better in Metacast mobile app
Don't just listen to podcasts. Learn from them with transcripts, summaries, and chapters for every episode. Skim, search, and bookmark insights. Learn more
Episodes
"Hold The Elevator?" by John Kenney
To spice things up with the start of the 4th season of the Basement Poetry Podcast, we will look at John Kenney's poem, "Hold the Elevator?" Link to John Kenney's website: Books — John Kenney (byjohnkenney.com) Amazon.com: Love Poems for the Office: 9780593190708: Kenney, John: Books If you would like a poem read on the podcast, send an email to basementpoetrypod@gmail.com...
Sep 19, 2022•11 min•Season 4Ep. 1
"The Feeling Sonnets: 15." by Eugene Ostashevsky
Today we will take a look at the poem, "15" from The Feeling Sonnets published in Volume 51 of The American Poetry Review. American Poetry Review – Home (aprweb.org) Eugene Ostashevsky Eugene Ostashevsky was born in Leningrad in 1968 and immigrated with his family to New York in 1979. He is the author of the poetry collections Iterature and The Life and Opinions of DJ Spinoza, both of which are published by Ugly Duckling Presse, and a scholar and translator of Russian avant-garde and contemporar...
Apr 12, 2022•12 min•Season 3Ep. 8
"Crazy Sharon Talks to the BIshop" - Sharon Olds
Link to poem: American Poetry Review – Poems (aprweb.org) If you stayed to listen to the end, or if you did not, please submit your work to American Writers Review ( San Fedele Press Submission Manager (submittable.com)
Mar 25, 2022•14 min•Season 3Ep. 7
"Tonight I Can Write" by Pablo Neruda
https://allpoetry.com/Tonight-I-Can-Write-(The-Saddest-Lines) Happy Valentine's Day. Today we talk about Pablo Neruda's poem, "Tonight I Can Write (The Saddest Lines) Tonight I Can Write (The Saddest Lines) Tonight I can write the saddest lines. Write, for example, 'The night is starry and the stars are blue and shiver in the distance.' The night wind revolves in the sky and sings. Tonight I can write the saddest lines. I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too. Through nights like this one I ...
Feb 15, 2022•12 min•Season 3Ep. 6
"Words for Worry" by Li-Young_Lee
Today we will be looking at the poem "Words for Worry" by Li-Young Lee. Bio: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/li-young-lee The Poem: Words for Worry by Li-Young Lee Another word for father is worry . Worry boils the water for tea in the middle of the night. Worry trimmed the child’s nails before singing him to sleep. Another word for son is delight , another word, hidden . And another is One-Who-Goes-Away . Yet another, One-Who-Returns . So many words for son: He-Dreams-for-All-Our-Sakes ....
Dec 14, 2021•10 min•Season 3Ep. 5
"Mr. On Time" - Alan King
Today we will be looking at the poem "Mr. On Time" by Alan King Link to Alan King's Website: https://alanwking.com/2018/06/02/mr-on-time-alan-kings-point-blank/
Oct 12, 2021•11 min
"The Names" - Billy Collins
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/poet-billy-collins-reflects-on-9-11-victims-in-the-names "The Names" - Billy Collins Yesterday, I lay awake in the palm of the night. A soft rain stole in, unhelped by any breeze, And when I saw the silver glaze on the windows, I started with A, with Ackerman, as it happened, Then Baxter and Calabro, Davis and Eberling, names falling into place As droplets fell through the dark. Names printed on the ceiling of the night. Names slipping around a watery bend. Twen...
Sep 13, 2021•8 min
"The Rainstick" - Seamus Heaney
Today we will take a look at "The Rainstick" by Seamus Heaney. Bio: Seamus Heaney is widely recognized as one of the major poets of the 20th century. A native of Northern Ireland, Heaney was raised in County Derry, and later lived for many years in Dublin. He was the author of over 20 volumes of poetry and criticism, and edited several widely used anthologies. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1995 "for works of lyrical beauty and ethical depth, which exalt everyday miracles and the livin...
Aug 10, 2021•12 min
“No Pancakes Please” — Nikki Giovanni
Today we will be taking a look at the great Nikki Giovanni's poem, "No Pancakes Please" This poem direness from her 2020 collection of poetry and prose Make Me Rain Bio: Nikki Giovanni is one of America’s foremost poets. Over the course of a long career, Giovanni has published numerous collections of poetry—from her first self-published volume Black Feeling Black Talk (1968) to New York Times best-seller Bicycles: Love Poems (2009)—several works of nonfiction and children’s literature, and multi...
Aug 02, 2021•10 min•Season 3Ep. 28
"I Am A Black Poet."
It's Wednesday, which means I'll be reading a poem I recently wrote called, "I Am A Black Poet"
May 10, 2021•7 min•Season 1Ep. 14
All of Us, In Prison - Jevon Jackson
Jevon Jackson was awarded First Prize in Poetry in the PENamerica 2019 Prison Writing Contest. Pen America interview with Jevon Jackson - https://pen.org/pen-ten-interview-jevon-jackson/ Poem: All of Us, In Prison Some prisons are pistol-thick, core-earth dense with a long electric fence that wraps around, and some prisons are softer than the molecules in muslin, as it drapes across the bundled bed, clinging to your body; Some prisons taste like salt, copper, sludge when you bite and crunch down...
Jan 22, 2021•12 min•Season 2Ep. 2
"The Snow Man" - Wallace Stevens
Welcome Back!!!! Today we will take a look the poem, "The Snow man" by Wallace Stevens I also forgot to mention in the episode that in most cases the word "Snowman" is one word, yet Wallace Stevens spells it "Snow Man" in the title. Take that for whatever you want it to be. Bio - https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/wallace-stevens The Snow Man One must have a mind of winter To regard the frost and the boughs Of the pine-trees crusted with snow; And have been cold a long time To behold the jun...
Jan 08, 2021•10 min•Season 2Ep. 1
"Kind" by James Owens
Today we will be taking a look at the poem “Kind” by James Owens This poem originally appeared in the summer 2020 issue of Chestnut Review. https://chestnutreview.com/wp-content/uploads/CR2-1.pdf James Owens Bio: James Owens’s newest book is Family Portrait with Scythe (Bottom Dog Press, 2020). His poems and translations appear widely in liter- ary journals, including upcoming publications in Atlanta Review, The Shore, The Windhover, and Southword. He earned an MFA at the Uni- versity of Alabama...
Oct 12, 2020•12 min•Season 1Ep. 25
Dorothy Cantwell "On, Lusty Gentlemen"
Today we will be taking a look at the poem "On, Lusty Gentlemen" by Dorothy Cantwell, published in the summer 2020 issue of River and South Review. https://riverandsouth.com Link to poem: https://riverandsouth.com/index.php/2020/06/12/on-lusty-gentlemendorothy-cantwell/ For Submissions/Guidelines: https://riverandsouth.com/index.php/submissions/
Oct 02, 2020•9 min•Season 1Ep. 24
"East Coker" by T.S. Eliot
Today we will be taking a look at the 3rd section of "East Coker" by T.S. Eliot. Bio: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/t-s-eliot Link to Poem: http://www.davidgorman.com/4quartets/2-coker.htm O dark dark dark. They all go into the dark, The vacant interstellar spaces, the vacant into the vacant, The captains, merchant bankers, eminent men of letters, The generous patrons of art, the statesmen and the rulers, Distinguished civil servants, chairmen of many committees, Industrial lords and pe...
Sep 14, 2020•12 min•Season 1Ep. 22
"Out, Out—" by Robert Frost
Today we will take a look at "Out, Out—" by Robert Frost Bio: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/robert-frost Poem: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/53087/out-out ‘Out, Out—’ BY ROBERT FROST The buzz saw snarled and rattled in the yard And made dust and dropped stove-length sticks of wood, Sweet-scented stuff when the breeze drew across it. And from there those that lifted eyes could count Five mountain ranges one behind the other Under the sunset far into Vermont. And the saw snarled ...
Sep 07, 2020•13 min•Season 1Ep. 21
Pablo Neruda "Your Laughter"
Today we will look at Pablo Neruda's poem "Tu Risa" or "Your Laughter" Link to both English and Spanish Version :https://msu.edu/~sullivan/NerudaPoemLaugh.html Tu risa (Spanish) Quítame el pan si quieres, quítame el aire, pero no me quites tu risa. No me quites la rosa, la lanza que desgranas, el agua que de pronto estalla en tu alegría, la repentina ola de planta que te nace. Mi lucha es dura y vuelvo con los ojos cansados a veces de haber visto la tierra que no cambia, pero al entrar tu risa s...
Aug 25, 2020•11 min•Season 1Ep. 20
Dylan Thomas "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night"
Today we will be looking at the poem "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" by Dylan Thomas Bio: https://poets.org/poet/dylan-thomas Do not go gentle into that good night Do not go gentle into that good night. Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Though wise men at their end know dark is right, Because their words had forked no lightning they Do not go gentle into that good night. Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright Their frail deeds...
Aug 18, 2020•9 min•Season 1Ep. 19
Yusef Komunyakaa "Hearsay"
Today we will talk about the poem "Hearsay" by Yusef Komunyakaa from his collection of poems, Talking Dirty to the Gods https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/yusef-komunyakaa
Aug 11, 2020•10 min•Season 1Ep. 19
Ada Limón "The Vulture & The Body"
Poem - "The Vulture & The Body" Link to Poem - https://www.vqronline.org/poetry/2017/10/vulture-body Poem: On my way to the fertility clinic, I pass five dead animals. First a raccoon with all four paws to the sky like he’s going to catch whatever bullshit load falls on him next. Then, a grown coyote, his furred golden body soft against the white cement lip of the traffic barrier. Trickster no longer, an eye closed to what’s coming. Close to the water tower that says, “Florence, Y’all,” whic...
Aug 08, 2020•10 min•Season 1Ep. 18
"The Flock Of The Ewe" Wanda Coleman
Today we will be looking at the poem "The Flock Of The Ewe" by Wanda Coleman Wanda Coleman Bio/other poems: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/wanda-coleman Send poetry suggestions and all other inquiries to BasementPoetryPod@gmail.com
Aug 04, 2020•12 min•Season 1Ep. 17
Lucile Clifton "Homage To My Hips"
Today we will listen to Lucile Clifton read her poem “Homage To My Hips”
Jul 25, 2020•6 min•Season 1Ep. 15
A Few Questions For You. Yes You!
I just have a few questions for you, yes YOU. You can send answers at Basementpoetrypod@gmail.com 1. What are your thoughts on poetry? 2. Do you have a favorite poem? 3. Do you write poetry/What is your favorite type of poetry?
Jul 21, 2020•7 min
"This Is Just To Say" - William Carlos Williams
Today we will take a look at the poem "This Is Just To Say" by William Carlos Williams. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/56159/this-is-just-to-say This Is Just To Say I have eaten the plums that were in the icebox and which you were probably saving for breakfast Forgive me they were delicious so sweet and so cold...
Jul 20, 2020•7 min•Season 1Ep. 14
"I, Being Born a Woman..." - Edna St. Vincent Millay
Link to Poem: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/148564/i-being-born-a-woman-and-distressed "I, being born a woman and distressed" BY EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY I, being born a woman and distressed By all the needs and notions of my kind, Am urged by your propinquity to find Your person fair, and feel a certain zest To bear your body’s weight upon my breast: So subtly is the fume of life designed, To clarify the pulse and cloud the mind, And leave me once again undone, possessed. Think not for ...
Jul 19, 2020•9 min•Season 1Ep. 13
Langston Hughes: "Dinner Guest: Me"
Today we will discussing the poem Dinner Guest: Me by Langston Hughes Link to reading by Langston Hughes: https://open.spotify.com/track/7Ji7oKNUCM3WasFMjS7eD1?si=Fts84dpLSyWJ0m6C2rTeTQ
Jul 16, 2020•8 min•Season 1Ep. 12
Is This The End?
This may be the exact poem you need to get you through the Apocolypse Today we will be talking about a poem titled "Zombie" by Daniel McGinn from an anthology of zombie poetry titled "Aim For The Head" edited by Rob Sturma Link to Anthology: https://www.amazon.com/Aim-Head-Rob-Sturma-ebook/dp/B0071NV5JY Link to Poem: https://books.google.com/books?id=04dXDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT43&lpg=PT43&dq=zombie+Daniel+Mcginn&source=bl&ots=NGorwDVAqv&sig=ACfU3U2DS9rPdZ7UUy4yqcBkMY15jq7u0w&h...
Jul 11, 2020•12 min•Season 1Ep. 11
Love
Today I will be reading a poem of mine that was just published today titled "Love" Link to Poem: https://www.perhappened.com/lovewaynebenson.html For Inquiries: Basementpoetrypod@gmail.com
Jul 08, 2020•7 min•Season 1Ep. 10
"After great pain, a formal feeling comes – (372)"
We will be taking a look at Emily Dickinson's poem "After great pain, a formal feeling comes " https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/emily-dickinson After great pain, a formal feeling comes After great pain, a formal feeling comes – The Nerves sit ceremonious, like Tombs – The stiff Heart questions ‘was it He, that bore,’ And ‘Yesterday, or Centuries before’? The Feet, mechanical, go round – A Wooden way Of Ground, or Air, or Ought – Regardless grown, A Quartz contentment, like a stone – This i...
Jun 30, 2020•11 min•Season 1Ep. 9
Hosted on Spotify for Creators (Anchor)
For the best experience, listen in Metacast app for iOS or Android