Connor and Jack close out Poetry Month 2020 with a series of shorter episodes about short poems that can be comforting springboards to reflection and contemplation. In this (not short) episode, they discuss William Butler Yeats's poem "The Old Men Admiring Themselves in the Water." The pair geeks out on Yeats, exploring the relationships between sound, death, and colonialism, and they listen to recordings of a classic hit, a funky drum master, and Yeats the bard himself. The Old Men Admiring Themselves in the Water By: William Butler Yeats I heard the old, old men say ‘Everything alters, And one by one we drop away.’ They had hands like claws, and their knees Were twisted like the old thorn trees By the waters. I heard the old, old men say ‘All that’s beautiful drifts away Like the waters.’ Find us on Facebook at: facebook.com/closetalking  Find us on Twitter at: twitter.com/closetalking  Find us on Instagram: @closetalkingpoetry 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 [email protected].

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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