Wacky Poem Life

Episode 102: She’s a Witch!

Episode 102: She’s a Witch! is the first episode in our series about witches that will accompany the opening of the Rural Oklahoma Museum of Poetry’s exhibit on witches. In this episode we discuss Mother Shipton, and Bill also gives you his Top Ten Witchy Songs!

Episode 101: A Little Comma-Raderie

Episode 101: A Little Comma-Raderie is a celebration of National Punctuation Day, which we turned into National Punctuation Week. Shaun, Bill and special guest Kathleen discuss punctuation in poetry, sing a punctuation song, and debate the Oxford comma. It’s scandalous stuff, but don’t take our word for it. Listen! The song at the beginning and end “Punctuation Blues” is by Jonathan Taylor Brittunculi.

Episode 100: Excess Fowl Who Came to Earth

Episode 100: Excess Fowl Who Came to Earth involves a hullabaloo for our podcast’s 100th episode, including special guests Verla Fletcher and Les Kern, a discussion of the town’s Goose Grab and a review of the county police blotter, with poetic emphasis on Rocklahoma and a new version of our state song. It’s exhaustive . . . and highly entertaining. The wonderful Marea Breedlove also filmed a video of the podcast, which you can watch at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQMjaHabtMw&t=1s

Episode 99: Haiku Hit-Me Stance

Episode 99: Haiku Hit-Me Stance takes you on a journey into the world of tai chai, taekwondo, haiku, poetic truths and truths of everyday life. That’s right, dear listeners, this is some heady stuff, short on the wacky this time, but long on the enlightening bliss! Special guest: Master Paul Flaherty.

Episode 98: The Dude Inside of You

Episode 98: The Dude Inside of You is about a dude hand poem left in the museum and much dudeness and macaroni, Yankee Doodles, bad singing, and the eternal ponderings of the universal human encased in skin with meat and skeleton.

Episode 97: Fruit of the Unenclosed Land

Episode 97: Fruit of the Unenclosed Land is a collage of broken things, with some fruit and goblins thrown in there, plus some anaphora and assonance and other a-words, such as acorns, along with a defense of pockets. Really, does it matter what we say in this description? Thank you to our fans Nora and Verla for the poem suggestion!

Episode 96: To Ramble About Plundering

Episode 96: To Ramble About Plundering includes discussion of one of the best poems we have received at the museum in quite some time. Check out Holly Van Auken’s “In Its Time” and then tolerate Bill and Shaun getting into aesthetics, strip malls, Barbie jokes and more.

Episode 95: Barbie’s Accumulating Emergencies

Episode 95: Barbie's Accumulating Emergencies borrows a phrase from Adrienne Rich, invites a Barbie Manifesto, discusses creativity in the young and rhapsodizes on the importance of creativity and nurturing the fragile growing mind. Yes, we did all that in 30 minutes. Listen and find out. 

Episode 94: Picnicking with the Dead

Episode 94: Picnicking with the Dead is about cemeteries and poems about cemeteries and fears of being buried alive. Bad jokes from both Shaun and Bill., the Master of Metaphor who gets his appropriate birthday present.  Enjoy!

Episode 93: Tunnels I Have Known

Episode 93: Tunnels I Have Known begins with a perfectly lovely poem written in cursive on blue paper and left on the NATURE wall in the museum and then becomes something about tunnels of love because Shaun can't get over Bruce Springsteen. Bill poses questions he knows the answers to, and more subtle wacky ensues. Enjoy.