What Are Poems
Activity Overview
Episode publication activity over the past year
Episodes
Djuna Barnes
02 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Djuna Barnes out here living
John Berryman
19 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It all goes around and around
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
12 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
I’ve returned with my rich buddy Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Robert Lax
21 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
What's this? No scandal? A good man, writing good things who ends up in Greece (not exiled, just alone, but not alone at all) It's Robert Lax on What ...
Frank O'Hara
14 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
He is on the pulse of Late-60's New York City. A friend of all artist -- Frank O'Hara. I discuss a harrowing tale of hammers I heard secon...
The Star-Spangled Banner
03 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Two men choke on grapes in this episode.
Marianne Moore
24 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Marianne Moore was out there. Another poet who's father has a psychotic break. Another poet who was writing, and breathing and living and dying in...
Baxter Black
20 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
NPR contributor, poet, and philosopher Baxter Black's poems are read. I regret making fun of Ronald Reagan in a twist of fate I never saw coming...
Rupert Brooke
13 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It's everyone in England's biggest crush: Rupert Brooke.
John Gillespie Magee Jr.
21 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It's a vivid, quick, important life on What Are Poems today. It's reaching back for inspiration and that inspiration reverberating for generations. He...
Abraham Lincoln
14 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Abraham Lincoln may or may not have written a poem about suicide in 1838. A reading, an investigation, thoughts of Lizzie McGuire.
Dorothy Wordsworth
07 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The sister of William Wordsworth gets some thoughts. My buddy Phil reads a poem at around 4 AM in my home. My buddy Noah says "May I?" A l...
Allen Ginsberg
30 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It's Ginsberg. He's just as I thought he would be.
Gerda Mayer
23 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Number 50! and it's Gerda Mayer (refugee, poet) OPERATION KINDERTRANSPORT. What happened in Jim Thorpe?
12 Minutes on Easter (Amy Lowell Returns)
16 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Quick holiday episode, folks! My thoughts on the top, Amy Lowell mentions a rabbit, we wish each other well.
Jimmy Stewart (And His Poem)
09 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The short story of American film actor James Stewart and the poem he wrote about his dog. (A sort of Special What are POEMS). I read a poem and let ...
Don Welch
02 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Stumbled upon this Don Welch fella. Got into his poems, kept reading them throughout the whole podcast. Neat one. Quiet one. What are Poem...
Ovid
26 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It's Ovid on a LATE NIGHT EPISODE of WHAT ARE POEMS. Hey! How about Ovid? He's not raised by horse people (I just haven't gone to bed yet) but h...
Anne Bradstreet
19 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
She's born when the only thing going on is shoeing horses. She founds Boston (James Brown saves it) She's writing poetry (All the men are shaking thei...
Pauli Murray
12 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
You want to feel like you haven't done anything yet today? Get a load of the life and times of Pauli Murray (lawyer, priest, activist, author and poet...
Etheridge Knight
05 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Stunned by Etheridge Knight. New Favorite Poet. He was doing it. Cursing, Swearing, Inspiring, Sir?! Hatin Regan, bringing people up into the ligh...
Amy King
26 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Poet and Activist Amy King's poems are read. I wonder about the fight at the Golden Corral Buffet.
Muses (Maud Gonne)
19 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Forget Yeats - let's do this. Muses and Yeat's Muse herself, Maud Gonne, are the topic of discussion. A poem about soup is read.
W.B. Yeats
11 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
I fail miserably at tackling the topic of Yeats.
Mary Oliver
26 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This lady was out in the woods!
Homer
16 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
I return for an actual second season after an epiphany while mopping a floor.
Stephen Dunn
08 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Stephen Dunn, American Poet who played basketball, is discussed in and around thought-tangents.
John Keats (Part Three)
15 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
SEASON 2 begins with JOHN KEATS PART 3
John Keats (Part Two)
12 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Keats is a doctor in this EPISODE
John Keats (Part One)
07 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Hey! It's John Keats and it's the First Part of a Three Part Season Finale.
Robot Poetry (A Very Special Episode)
29 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
I explore the evolution of robot poetry
Paul Laurence Dunbar
21 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It's Paul Laurence Dunbar! and it's all fun and games and achievements until he drops the ball at the very end.
Rainer Maria Rilke
14 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
What's going on with this guys early life? Holy Crow! My cats almost get out.
Amy Lowell
07 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Amy Lowell knocks it out of the park with her poem "Bath" - I also read a poem about a bath. In a Very Special Bath Episode of WHAT ARE POEMS?
Lawrence Ferlinghetti
28 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Lawrence Ferlinghetti doesn't hit as hard as I suspect he will. My poem "American Legion" is read.
Philip Levine
22 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Detroit poet Philip Levine is explored. How about Nature Documentaries?
Roses Are Red (An Origin Story)
14 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The origins of Roses are Red are explored, and Thomas Crapper gets some thoughts.
Amanda Gorman
08 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman is discussed along with the idea that Stenonychosaurus could have evolved into a dinosaur man.
Dr. Seuss
31 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
How about it? Dr. Seuss? I read Yertle the Turtle and get so exhausted I can't compose my own poem.
Rhina P. Espaillat
24 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Rhina P. Espaillat who is currently in the news is discussed. My friend Phil's poem is read.
Eavan Boland
18 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Eavan Boland (Irish Poet) makes for a very (Irish Poet) episode as your host is informed of the closure of his favorite Dinette.
Quincy Troupe
12 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Quincy Troupe's jazzy take on poetry
Karl Shapiro
04 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Karl Shapiro, son of Baltimore is explored.
Billy Collins
29 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Billy Collins is explored. Dueling poems about the Susquehanna river are read.
The Night Before Christmas
22 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Happy Holidays from What Are Poems?!
H.D.
15 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Manic-Pixie-Dream-Girl H.D. (Hilda Doolittle) is finally discussed in full. I think about DVDS.
Joy Harjo
08 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Poet, musician, playwright, and author Joy Harjo is discussed and my own brother sends me in a poem.
Seamus Heaney
02 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
20th Century Poet Seamus Heaney is discussed, my own poem "Deborah" is read.
Edna St. Vincent Millay
14 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Original scene girl Edna St. Vincent Milllay is explored and my poem "You put the Beans out" is read.
William Carlos Williams
09 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
William Carlos Williams is explored.
Adrienne Rich
31 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Adrienne Rich and her poetry is explored and the secret meaning behind MaGilla Gorilla is revealed.
e.e. cummings
27 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
e.e. cummings is explored and a listener's poem is read.
Rudyard Kipling
19 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The location where Rudyard Kipling wrote The Jungle Book is finally revealed.
Herbert Huncke
03 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Beat Poet, Drug Addict, Hustler and The Mayor of 42nd Street is explored in this episode: His Poem "Two for One" is read and I read my own work "Someo...
Gwendolyn Brooks
27 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Chicago Poet Gwendolyn Brooks is discussed. Poems include: The Bean Eaters by Gwendolyn Brooks and Poem #8 by J. Davies
Shel Silverstein
19 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Playboy Contributor and Children's Poet Shel Silverstein is discussed, and we dig our heels into an anti-academic stance of poetry as a whole. Poems...
Langston Hughes
12 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
American Poet Langston Hughes is discussed. His poems: The Negro Speaks of Rivers and I, Too, Sing are read along with my original work: Chickens.
Ezra Pound
06 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Ezra Pound's antisemitism is explored. Pound's poem April along with the original poem entitled "Ezra Pound"
William Shakespeare
30 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Big Balls Bard's sonnets and shot-gun wedding are explored. Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 is read along with my own poem: Spooky Poem
Edgar Allan Poe
23 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Fixated on Poe's death and slanderous obituary, this episode runs a little long. FEATURED POEMS: Dream within a Dream by Edgar Allan Poe and Fro...
Walt Whitman
18 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Completely blown away by Walt Whitman who gives off real Bowie vibes. Featured Poems: I feel the body electric, Song of Myself and Misanthrope
Robert Frost
16 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Robert Frost is explored. His poems The Road Not Taken and Ove'n Bird are read as well as an original piece entitled I Bought a Hoagie to Share with Y...
Emily Dickinson
16 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Jake Davies (man living inside own head) attempts to figure out Poetry by reading and writing poetry and consulting Wikipedia. (Poems in this episode ...