Wacky Poem Life

Episode 171: Pocket Poems 2026 is about Poem in Your Pocket Day, where people are encouraged to carry a poem in their pocket all day and share it with others. Two folks shared their poems with us, and we talked about them and Shaun also had some bad jokes that Bill suffered through, and we discussed whether burn piles or poetry coroners would make a better topic for a book.

Episode 170: Turtle Kingdom is about Earth Day and turtles, hugging trees, listening to birds, dancing on the earth, carrying your world on your back–all these beautiful things. Let’s be engaged in the world around us–through poetry or anything creative that makes your heart sing and helps you be present. Let’s be people of the earth.

Episode 169: The Boy Poet from Corn reveals a Grand Prize Co-Winner in the Oklahoma Poem Contest. Third Grader and Corn OK resident Luke Thiessen wrote a prize-winning poem about Oklahoma's state reptile the Eastern Collared Lizard. And that poem inspired another . . . and others. We also discuss how poetry changes the world. Luke knows this. You must listen.

Episode 168: Spring Pez, Pickles & Poetry provides you with lovely spring poems and lowly spring items from the dollar store, plus a  Spring "Scented Fun Dough" challenge that Bill, of course, wins. Here's your 30ish minutes of fun and poetry for the month.

Episode 167: Homo-Hetero-Homo-Hetero is not what you think. We discuss a poem by Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa and discuss his heteronyms, which then led us into a discussion of homonyms, homographs, and other homos. Then, we were joined by one of the winners of the Rhyming & ROMPing on Route 66 poetry contest, Linda Rosenthal, who came in with her husband as they were traveling from Texas to their home in Michigan. It's a potpourri of poetic juice. You are welcome.

Episode 166: Whip Me with a Goat’s Hide. We don’t mean to be blunt, but Valentine’s Day had some bloody and violent origins. Don’t blame us. It’s those pesky Romans. Anyway, join Shaun and Bill for some non-bloody discussions of Victorian valentines and contemporary ones written on the cuff. Celebrate this violent holiday in true style. Have a listen!

Episode 165: The Pinnacle of Tack takes you back to Route 66 fodder–prize-winning poems in the Rhyming & ROMPing on Route 66 poetry contest, and a potpourri of off-topic subjects, like only Shaun & Bill can do!

This Maiden Voyage is a reissue of our very first episode from 2021 where we talked about dog farts and poetry. Enjoy.

Episode 164: Haiku Tonic delivers some thoughts and feelings about one of our most popular poetic forms--the haiku. Writing a haiku can be a tonic for the heart and soul. Take the Haiku Tonic challenge!

Episode 163: Repeat After Me begins with a 7-year-old's poem that makes great use of repetition, one of the finest tools of the poet. Then, we diverge into conversations about what a poem is, why cats multiply, the myth of ownership, and various other themes. In other words, typical Wacky with Bill and Shaun!