Poet of the ordinary, the common, the very drab, Mary Oliver was willing to listen, to hear. From that willingness emerges a body of work that is as humble as it is wise. She sang with open throat the prayers of the grass, the waggle of honey bees, the flowing river, the waiting sun, and asked on behalf of the earth crumbling under our carbon footprint that we get to know this haven we have called mother.  Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

“Neruda’s poetry touches the depth of things. One feels its interdimensional layers in the way fragrance or taste can harbor time. But with him, it seems to go further than that; down, down, and into the fabric of what is being played out in the landscape of the lived moment. Neruda’s song marvels at appearance, investigates texture, inhabits cells, and sings with particles that uni.verse--song that unites us all--Love." Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Basho’s poetry delves into the present moment and leaves us with flashes, echoes of ordinary things made extraordinary because he took the time to look at them. Short and seemingly simple, it is the very spaciousness of the Haiku that allows him to open the doors of contemplation for us -- and that is what he does, when we let him.  Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Whitman's song catalogs a profound empathy for the other, whom he in many ways identified as himself. That sense of oneness pervades his poetry, and in my mind stands as his most important message--that we are one and must therefore include the other. These ideas are conveyed with forward intimacy, a closeness that engages and reflects with you, a voice that speaks directly to you. It is almost shocking how Whitman gets to us, how well he seems to understand what is most vibrant about the American character:  it’s diversity.  Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Rumi's poetry speaks to us from a state of deep inspiration. The luminescence of his verse carries hope, delivers method and the emotional depth needed to find our way to the knowledge seasoned by love—wisdom. From reading Rumi, one learns that there is a rigor to love. That it reaches beyond attachment to something closer to what we do. “Let the beauty we love be what we do.” Love is action, love is devotion, love is a willingness to make sacred the demands of our higher self, cater to its need for beauty, for gentleness, for light. Such practices push us towards the incredible energy, the dynamism that is human happiness. Having acquired it, we naturally share it, deliver it with abundance. It seems that in such a state we no longer ask what can be done? Rather, what is beloved in my life? What do I cherish? What have I rendered sacred? Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

“Out of the gospel of the middle passage, the blues of slavery, the jazz of big city ghetto nights,” the Nobel Prize winning Toni Morrison whose generative depth and sounding of interiority produces a lyricism that is radiant in its generosity and in my mind can only be described as song. Morrisson rivets because she has an ear tuned to the complexities of the American saga in all of its beauty and travesties. Her dives into her characters' inner lives read like ballads, like rhapsodies, like adagios-- its all music.  Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

“Baudelaire’s life ended in 1861 in syphilitic delirium in a hotel room in Brussels. With him died the caustic dandy: the son of an art critique, the translator who brought Edgar Allan Poe to the French public, the stepson of general Jacques Aupick, the aesthete of impeccable style whose trenchant remarks often made him cruel, […] L’article Charles Baudelaire on suffering in the first world (https://poetonsong.com/podcasts/charles-baudelaire-on-suffering-in-the-first-world/) est apparu en premier sur Poet on song (https://poetonsong.com/). Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

“Paul Laurence Dunbar was the first to take a bird’s-eye view of black identity in America. The first to look at his people objectively and catalog their humor, their pain, their strength, their shortcomings. In short, he offers one of the first literary portraits of Black America. He introduces an African-American character to our literary landscape, one that rises above the painted black faces which made the minstrels such a landmark of our theater.”  Musical Selection for this Podcast The shadow of your smile by Dexter Gordon Farewell Blues by Eric Weissberg Trouble by Mahalia Jackson A change is gonna come by Otis Redding Picking time by Smokey River Boys Chain Gang by Sam Cooke Lenny by Stevie Ray Vaughan Trouble Blues by Sam Cooke I believe to my soul by Ray Charles My home is in the Delta by Muddy Waters L’article Paul Laurence Dunbar on accepting the truth about who we are (https://poetonsong.com/podcasts/paul-laurence-dunbar-on-accepting-the-truth-about-who-we-are/) est apparu en premier sur Poet on song (https://poetonsong.com/). Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

“With Rilke there is always this sense that the universe was not made for us; rather we are a part of it and subject to greater hierarchies–that celestial realm that he felt we could access by leaning into our pain. Beauty is both turmoil and peace, alluring and alarming–a pregnant emptiness. Creativity. This understanding and […] L’article Rainer Maria Rilke on leaning into pain as a way to transcend it (https://poetonsong.com/podcasts/rainer-maria-rilke-on-leaning-into-pain-as-a-way-to-transcend-it/) est apparu en premier sur Poet on song (https://poetonsong.com/). Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

“Akhmatova’s song is capable of articulating love with exactitude and an emotional precision that cuts to the core of you. What makes her so powerful a voice is the emotional history she carries. It’s that feeling documented about what tyrannous institutions do to the human soul; what happens to us when that compassionate part of […] L’article Anna Akhmatova on the human cost of populism (https://poetonsong.com/podcasts/anna-akhmatova-on-the-human-cost-of-populism/) est apparu en premier sur Poet on song (https://poetonsong.com/). Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.