Pet Project

Hot goss about Victorian poet(s) Michael Field precedes a conversation about the deep loss of animals, and the intimacy, friendship, and love we share with them.

Please consider supporting the poets we mention in today's show! If you need a good indie bookstore, we recommend Loyalty Bookstores, a DC-area Black-owned bookshop.

We reference a scene from the show Yellowstone where Beth tells her son Carter
the universal truths of getting money. You can watch that clip here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=118&v=a68StSECIGI&feature=emb_logo

Read more criticism and biography about Michael Field here.

Read more poems by Michael Field here.

Links to poems we read during this episode include:
Jane Kenyon's "Biscuit"
Paisley Rekdal's "Once"
Bruce Weigl's "May"

We'll add to this list of other poems about the love we give to and receive from animals here. Suggest some on our social media.

Carl Phillips: "Something to Believe In"
Marie Howe: "Buddy"
Mark Doty: "Golden Retrievals"
Victoria Redel: "The Pact"
Mary Oliver: "Little Dog's Rhapsody in the Night" (see Oliver read it here).
Kevin Young: "Bereavement"
Nomi Stone: "Waiting for Happiness"
Robert Duncan: "A Little Language"
Pattiann Rogers, "Finding the Cat in a Spring Field at Midnight"
William Matthews, "Loyal"
Christopher Smart, "from Jubilate Agno (for I will consider my cat Joffrey...)"


The Humane Society suggests a few coping strategies for dealing with the loss of a loved pet:

• Acknowledge your grief and give yourself permission to express it.
• Don't hesitate to reach out to others who can lend a sympathetic ear. Do a little research online and you'll find hundreds of resources and support groups that may be helpful to you.
• Write about your feelings, either in a journal or a poem, essay, or short story.
• Call your veterinarian or local humane society to see whether they offer a pet-loss support group or hotline, or can refer you to one.
• Prepare a memorial for your pet.