Poetry Unbound

Children’s demands can be high, and their standards can be exacting. It’s a good thing they’re loveable. Caroline Bird grew up in Leeds, the daughter of noted theater director and producer Jude Kelly. Bird’s first collection of poems, Looking Through Letterboxes (2002), was published when she was just 15. Her other collections of poetry include Trouble Came to the Turnip (2006); Watering Can (2009); The Hat-Stand Union (2013); In These Days of Prohibition (2017), which was shortlisted for both the T.S. Eliot Prize and the Ted Hughes Award; and The Air Year (2020).Find the transcript for this show at onbeing.org.We’re pleased to offer Caroline Bird’s poem, and invite you to sign up here for the latest from Poetry Unbound.  

What do we achieve in our fighting? How can we turn to hope and our deepest nature? Marilyn Nelson was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the daughter of a school teacher and a U. S. serviceman, a member of the last graduating class of Tuskegee Airmen. She is the author or translator of more than 20 books and chapbooks for adults and children. A professor emerita of English at the University of Connecticut, Marilyn was Poet Laureate of Connecticut, 2001– 2006, and founding director of Soul Mountain Retreat, a writers’ colony, 2004-2010.Find the transcript for this show at onbeing.org.We’re pleased to offer Marilyn Nelson’s poem, and invite you to sign up here for the latest from Poetry Unbound. 

Richard Blanco, associate professor of creative writing, discusses the themes of memory, loss, and nostalgia in his poem 'Looking for The Gulf Motel'. He reflects on childhood memories, a family's vacation, and the longing to preserve the past. The poem serves as a vessel for lamenting the loss of a loved one and shared memories, creating a bond between writer and readers.

Is the light a comfort and the night disturbing? Yusef Komunyakaa explores the life and brilliance of what’s in shadow and darkness.Yusef Komunyakaa was born in Bogalusa, Louisiana. The son of a carpenter, Komunyakaa has said that he was first alerted to the power of language through his grandparents, who were church people: “the sound of the Old Testament informed the cadences of their speech,” Komunyakaa has stated. “It was my first introduction to poetry.” He has taught at numerous institutions including University of New Orleans, Indiana University, and Princeton University. He is a senior faculty member in the NYU Creative Writing Program.Find the transcript for this show at onbeing.org.We’re pleased to offer Yusef Komunyakaa’s poem, and invite you to sign up here for the latest from Poetry Unbound.

A poem inviting us to discover our brilliance and our nothingness. Both true. Both vital. Hannah Emerson is the author of The Kissing of Kissing. She is also the author of a chapbook, You Are Helping This Great Universe Explode. Emerson is a nonspeaking autistic writer whose work has appeared in BOMB Magazine, the Poetry Society of America, Literary Hub, and the Brooklyn Rail. She lives in Lafayette, New York.Find the transcript for this show at onbeing.org.We’re pleased to offer Hannah Emerson’s poem, and invite you to sign up here for the latest from Poetry Unbound.

A song of praise to the crop-top from a crop-top-wearing man who encounters comments in public and sings and swings. Kyle Carrero Lopez was born to Cuban parents in northern New Jersey. He is the author of the chapbook MUSCLE MEMORY, winner of the 2020 [PANK] Books Contest. He is also a founding member of LEGACY, a Brooklyn-based production collective by and for Black queer artists.Find the transcript for this show at onbeing.org.We’re pleased to offer Kyle Carrero Lopez’s poem, and invite you to sign up here for the latest from Poetry Unbound.

Divya Victor, author and Associate Professor of English at Michigan State University, discusses the immigration process and the complexities of relationships and emotions. The podcast explores the use of verbs, space, and embodied imagination in poetic language. Divya Victor's poem, 'First Petition', delves into the experiences of migration and the challenges of immigration forms. The podcast also shares a personal connection as the speaker recounts an encounter with a woman named India.

We carry memory in our body: memories of our own selves, but memories of our forebears, too — talking with them as we walk, learning from them as they inquire. Denise Low is the former Kansas Poet Laureate, and an award-winning author of 30 books of prose and poetry. She blogs, reviews, and co-publishes Mammoth Publications, which specializes in Indigenous American authors. Recent poetry books are A Casino Bestiary and Mélange Block, poetry based on geologic structures and mixed-blood experiences.Find the transcript for this show at onbeing.org.We’re pleased to offer Denise Low’s poem, and invite you to sign up here for the latest from Poetry Unbound.

Former U.S. Poet Laureate Rita Dove discusses using myth to communicate with her mother suffering from memory loss. Themes of gentleness, love, and patience unravel in a phone call, merging personal experiences with Greek mythology.

Poetry Unbound with host Pádraig Ó Tuama is back on Monday, April 11. Featured poets in this season include Rita Dove, Joshua Bennett, Tiana Clark, Yu Xiuhua, and many more. New episodes released every Monday and Friday through June 3.Follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Overcast, or wherever you listen.