Poems for Company

“One Word”: The poems on today’s show implicitly urge us to consider how strange language is when we examine it up close.  Each of...

“Three Controversial Musicians”: Today’s three poems spotlight three individuals known for their musical talents, as well as the controversy they provoked.  Naomi Shihab Nye,...

“Gifts”: One poet recalls her complex strategies as a teen gift-giver, a second recalls the gift his parents bestowed on him when he was...

“A Redwood, an Ancient Orchard, a Sequoia”: Do you have a favorite tree you pay special attention to when you take a routine walk? ...

“Running on Empathy”: Three authors display various degrees of empathy in their depictions of Abraham Lincoln.  Walt Whitman, prose passages from Specimen Days, and...

“Mysterious Encounters”: Three sing-songy poems are featured on today’s episode.  All three depict encounters between two individuals: all three resist our efforts to make...