Poems & Songs – The Talking People Podcast

Poems. Emily Dickinson & Why Read Poetry

Read the poems on the Literature page on the Talking People website

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One of the poems in the podcast episode!

Poems. Mina Loy’s “There is no Life or Death”

Go to the Mina Loy page on Literature – Talking People

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Poems. “Dear Webster” by Connie Fife (Cree/Mohawk)

Read or print the poem

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Poems. About bridges, by Marilyn Monroe

Read the poem

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Poems. Child, by Sylvia Plath

Read the poem at the Mujer Palabra website.

Check out the webpage at Talking People about Sylvia Plath

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Poems. Dreams, by Langston Hughes

Read the poem

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Poems. Song, by Adrienne Rich

Read the poem and learn more about this insightful author

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Poems. To be or not to be, by William Shakespeare

Welcome to the TP Podcast!
This time I’m going to read one of the most human poems ever written, a poem that can be understood even if we don’t share the same its author’s time space and culture. I’ll read Shakespeare’s “To be or not to be” in Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Then I’ll tell you my pacifist version of the first five lines, which was what I declared when I was arrested after taking Direct Nonviolent Action (DNVA) at Greenham Common in 1990. (I have to add here that the Sergeant was quite enthusiastic about my statement. I was released about half an hour later!)
Read “To be or not to be”. Here is the pacifist version, also in Spanish.
Here is the Talking People webpage devoted to Shakespeare, who we love!
If you’ve never thought about what the to be or not to be question is, I suggest you think about it now, and if you can, discuss it with more people – you will be surprised.
Thank you for listening and have a nice day!

Listen to this episode.

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Poems. Her Kind, by Anne Sexton

Check out the Talking People webpage for Anne Sexton, and you’ll be able to listen to her!!!

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Poems. This Is Just to Say, by William Carlos Williams

I love this poem. It’s so mysterious, and so honest. I don’t know what it means. I just know it means something mysterious and daily and beautiful, plus totally human. Picture it as a post-it note on a fridge. Hope you enjoy it!

Read the poem

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Poems. Brief Bus Stop, by Ani Difranco

Read the lyrics here (from her album “not so soft”, 1991)
Language notes: “to wane” is something the moon does, because the moon waxes and wanes! “To toe the line” is ‘to conform to a rule or standard’.
More on Ani Difranco at the Talking People Website (Music)