Close Talking

Connor and Jack dig into a fun, funny poem with deep undercurrents: "United" by Naomi Shihab Nye. Connor asks all the right questions, and Jack goes on another riff about the American west. For more on Naomi Shihab Nye: https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/naomi-shihab-nye To read the poem, go to: https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/united Subscribe on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/close-talking/id1185025517?mt=2 Find us on facebook at: facebook.com/closetalking Find us on twitter at: twitter.com/closetalking You can always send us an e-mail with thoughts on this or any of our previous podcasts, as well as suggestions for future shows, at closetalkingpoetry@gmail.com.

Connor and Jack discuss Monica Youn's "Ersatz Ignatz" To read the poem, go here or below: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/53591/ersatz-ignatz For more on Youn: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/monica-youn To check out the collection Ignatz: http://www.powells.com/book/ignatz-9781935536017/61-0 Find us on facebook at: facebook.com/closetalking Find us on twitter at: twitter.com/closetalking You can always send us an e-mail with thoughts on this or any of our previous podcasts, as well as suggestions for future shows, at closetalkingpoetry@gmail.com. POEM: Ersatz Ignatz The clockwork saguaros sprout extra faces like planaria stroked by a razor. Chug say the sparrows, emitting fluffs of steam. Chug chug say the piston-powered ground squirrels. The tumbleweeds circle on retrofitted tracks, but the blue pasteboard welkin is much dented by little winds. The yuccas pulse softly under the grow-light sconces. Here is the door he will paint on the rock.

Connor and Jack discuss Maggie Smith's "Where The Honey Comes From." To read the poem, go here: http://www.vqronline.org/poetry/2015/04/where-honey-comes For more on Smith: https://maggiesmithpoet.com/ To check out her books: https://maggiesmithpoet.com/books/ Find us on facebook at: facebook.com/closetalking Find us on twitter at: twitter.com/closetalking You can always send us an e-mail with thoughts on this or any of our previous podcasts, as well as suggestions for future shows, at closetalkingpoetry@gmail.com.

Connor and Jack take their first request, "Memory" by WWI poet, Siegfried Sassoon. The suggestion came from @DeepStateRadioNerds, the official unofficial fan twitter account of the stellar national security and foreign policy podcast, Deep State Radio. To read the poem, go here: https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/memory-6/ For more on Sassoon: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/siegfried-sassoon Find us on facebook at: facebook.com/closetalking Find us on twitter at: twitter.com/closetalking You can always send us an e-mail with thoughts on this or any of our previous podcasts, as well as suggestions for future shows, at closetalkingpoetry@gmail.com.

Connor and Jack discuss Juan Felipe Herrera's "Notes on the Assemblage." To read the poem, go here: http://bostonreview.net/poetry/national-poetry-month-2015-juan-felipe-herrera-five-poems For more on Herrera: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/juan-felipe-herrera To check out his collection Notes on the Assemblage: http://www.powells.com/book/notes-on-the-assemblage-9780872866973/62-0 Find us on facebook at: facebook.com/closetalking Find us on twitter at: twitter.com/closetalking You can always send us an e-mail with thoughts on this or any of our previous podcasts, as well as suggestions for future shows, at closetalkingpoetry@gmail.com.

Connor and Jack discuss Vijay Seshadri's "Nursing Home." To read the poem, go here: http://plumepoetry.com/2012/09/nursing-home-by-vijay-seshadri/ For more on Seshadri: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/vijay-seshadri To check out his collection Three Sections: http://www.powells.com/book/3-sections-poems-9781555977160 Find us on facebook at: facebook.com/closetalking Find us on twitter at: twitter.com/closetalking You can always send us an e-mail with thoughts on this or any of our previous podcasts, as well as suggestions for future shows, at closetalkingpoetry@gmail.com.

In this special Father's Day episode, Connor and Jack dig into "I-74 Streetcorners of America Poem (Written on the Road Between Albany Illinois and Albany Indiana" by Charlie Rossiter. For Charlie's podcast, go here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/poetry-spoken-here/id1030829938?mt=2 Find us on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/close-talking/id1185025517?mt=2 Find us on facebook at: facebook.com/closetalking Find us on twitter at: twitter.com/closetalking You can always send us an e-mail with thoughts on this or any of our previous podcasts, as well as suggestions for future shows, at closetalkingpoetry@gmail.com.

In this super-sized episode of Close Talking Connor and Jack are joined by special guest Molly Booth. Molly is a YA author whose books have many Shakespeare tie ins. Our three intrepid heroes venture forth into the venerable works of the bard and plumb the depths of a passage from Antony and Cleopatra. For the passage, go here: http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/antony_4_15.html For more on Molly, go here: http://mollybooth.com/ For the Shakespeare character quiz, go here: http://www.americanshakespearecenter.com/quiz/ Subscribe on iTunes at: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/close-talking/id1185025517?mt=2 Find us on facebook at: facebook.com/closetalking Find us on twitter at: twitter.com/closetalking You can always send us an e-mail with thoughts on this or any of our previous podcasts, as well as suggestions for future shows, at closetalkingpoetry@gmail.com.

Connor and Jack admire and discuss the work of a classic American poet: Emily Dickinson. On this week's episode they dive into "To Make A Prairie" a short poem that contains multitudes. To find the poem, go here: https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/make-prairie-1755 For more on Emily Dickinson, go here: https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/emily-dickinson Find us on facebook at: facebook.com/closetalking Find us on twitter at: twitter.com/closetalking You can always send us an e-mail with thoughts on this or any of our previous podcasts, as well as suggestions for future shows, at closetalkingpoetry@gmail.com.

Connor and Jack discuss Eavan Boland's poem "A Woman Without A Country" To read the poem, go here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/detail/56177 For more on Eavan Boland, go here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/eavan-boland Find us on facebook at: facebook.com/closetalking Find us on twitter at: twitter.com/closetalking You can always send us an e-mail with thoughts on this or any of our previous podcasts, as well as suggestions for future shows, at closetalkingpoetry@gmail.com.

Jack offers his thoughts on how poetry makes the nation more secure. For more on Joseph S. Nye, Jr, go here: http://joenye.com/ Find us on facebook at: facebook.com/closetalking Find us on twitter at: twitter.com/closetalking You can always send us an e-mail with thoughts on this or any of our previous podcasts, as well as suggestions for future shows, at closetalkingpoetry@gmail.com.

Connor and Jack discuss Louise Gluck's poem "Presque Isle" For more on Louise Gluck, go here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/louise-gluck Find us on facebook at: facebook.com/closetalking Find us on twitter at: twitter.com/closetalking You can always send us an e-mail with thoughts on this or any of our previous podcasts, as well as suggestions for future shows, at closetalkingpoetry@gmail.com.

Connor and Jack discuss "Anaphora as Coping Mechanism" by Ocean Vuong. For more on Ocean Vuong, go here: http://www.oceanvuong.com/poems, or here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/ocean-vuong Find us on facebook at: facebook.com/closetalking Find us on twitter at: twitter.com/closetalking You can always send us an e-mail with thoughts on this or any of our previous podcasts, as well as suggestions for future shows, at closetalkingpoetry@gmail.com.

Connor and Jack discuss "Fourth of July at Santa Ynez" by John Haines. To read the poem go here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/50163 For more on John Haines, go here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/john-haines Find us on facebook at: facebook.com/closetalking Find us on twitter at: twitter.com/closetalking You can always send us an e-mail with thoughts on this or any of our previous podcasts, as well as suggestions for future shows, at closetalkingpoetry@gmail.com.

Connor and Jack discuss the Tracy K Smith poem "The Weather In Space." More about Tracy K Smith here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/tracy-k-smith. Check out her book Life on Mars and her new memoir Ordinary Light! Find us on facebook at: facebook.com/closetalking Find us on twitter at: twitter.com/closetalking You can always send us an e-mail with thoughts on this or any of our previous podcasts, as well as suggestions for future shows, at closetalkingpoetry@gmail.com.

After a few political episodes, Connor and Jack dig deep into a poem of loss and remembrance this week: Marie Howe's "What the Living Do" More on Marie Howe: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/marie-howe New episodes posted on the 2nd and 4th Friday of every month. Subscribe on iTunes! https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/close-talking/id1185025517?mt=2 Find us on facebook at: facebook.com/closetalking Find us on twitter at: twitter.com/closetalking You can always send us an e-mail with thoughts on this or any of our previous podcasts, as well as suggestions for future shows, at closetalkingpoetry@gmail.com.

Connor and Jack discuss the Ray Gonzalez poem "The Lynching Postcard, Duluth, Minnesota." More about Ray Gonzalez here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/ray-gonzalez, and more about his new collection of poetry here: http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-938160-83-7 Find us on facebook at: facebook.com/closetalking Find us on twitter at: twitter.com/closetalking You can always send us an e-mail with thoughts on this or any of our previous podcasts, as well as suggestions for future shows, at closetalkingpoetry@gmail.com.

Connor and Jack discuss the Langston Hughes poem "Kids Who Die" a work that, especially in light of the inauguration and recent protests, has an enduring resonance. This poem is, in small part, a prayer for resisters everywhere. Find us on facebook at: facebook.com/closetalking Find us on twitter at: twitter.com/closetalking You can always send us an e-mail with thoughts on this or any of our previous podcasts, as well as suggestions for future shows, at closetalkingpoetry@gmail.com.

In this special episode, Jack and Connor discuss Specimen Days [The Inauguration], Walt Whitman's poetic reflection on Abraham Lincoln's second inauguration in 1865. Today is inauguration day in the United States. For the first time since Robert Frost read at John F. Kennedy’s inauguration in 1961, there will not be an inaugural poem. Perhaps there is no great meaning to be found in this. However, a recent report indicated that budget cuts proposed by the incoming administration include the privatization of PBS and the elimination of the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Much as they decided that they could not let the election pass without some reflection, Connor and Jack venture into the literary wilds and offer some thoughts on an inauguration-themed poem. Specimen Days [The Inauguration] By: Walt Whitman (1882) March 4th.—The President very quietly rode down to the Capitol in his own carriage, by himself, on a sharp trot, about noon, either because he wish

Connor and Jack dig into an excerpt from Dawn Lundy Martin's work, "Life in a Box is a Pretty Life" Their discussion delves into the questions the poem raises about race, gender, sexual orientation, and what it means to live in a body that patriarchal society has difficulty embracing.