Poems A Penny Each

This is the last episode of the season one, and as we are heading into a long winter of uncertainty I decided that the last poem of the season should be one of hope and consolation. So this week I will look at the poem Everything is going to be alright, by the recently deceased Derek Mahon. This poem is reached a global audience online during the early days of the pandemic's outbreak when Andrew Scott read it. As a final treat, I will also read to you my latest poem, This too shall pass, which was inspired by this poem and the ancient Arabian proverb which hinted at the transient nature of life, but in this poem, its application is narrowed down to days of suffering. I hope you enjoy it. To read the poem, as usual click on the big large HERE [https://www.poetrybooks.co.uk/blogs/news/poem-a-day-everything-is-going-to-be-all-right]. Ditto HERE [https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/derek-mahon] if you want to learn a wee bit more about the poet. To watch him read his poem on Youtube click HERE [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNGU11lK_5E]. To learn some more about my poetry, go on, and click HERE [http://vincentscoster.blogspot.com/]. You know you want to. You can also read my poem HERE [https://www.patreon.com/posts/42401746]. I hope you enjoyed listening to my podcast and reading these poems, I will be back in January with season 2. Until then, I hope you all keep safe and well, and whatever good comes your way, may you enjoy it to the full. Don't forget to read more poetry though. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/vincent-s-coster/message

Okay, a little advance warning, this poem looks at the topic of suicide, but this poem deals with the way we cope when we hear of the sad loss of a family member and the way we sometimes think about the pointless deaths of those we love. In this poem, we are taken from the moment when two brothers are clearing leaves as they fall from the garden to the father selling the car one in which the always present sibling has shot himself in. However, it is done with a twist. To read the poem, click HERE [http://poeminabox.blogspot.com/2013/03/poem-31-matt-rasmussen.html]. To hear the poem, click HERE [https://poets.org/poem/reverse-suicide-audio-only]. To learn more about Matt's work click HERE [http://mattrasmussen.net/]. If you feel like reading poetry and want to read some poems that you have never read before, then please read about my work as a poet click HERE [http://vincentscoster.blogspot.com/]. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/vincent-s-coster/message

This week we go back in time to the work of a poet who was a famed member of the New York School of poets. This poem recounts the day that Billie Holiday died and recounts the events of that day from the poet's point of view. This poem was part of the Lunch Poems.  It is an example of an elegy, but without the deep lamentations so commonly used in elegies.  There are a few things about this poem that I love, and why I want to share it with you this week, so listen along as I explain why I think, you should read this poem if you haven't already. To read the poem, click HERE [https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42657/the-day-lady-died]. Click HERE [https://blog.bestamericanpoetry.com/the_best_american_poetry/2013/05/frank-ohara-reads-the-day-lady-died-and-other-poems-in-1966.html] to watch Frank O'Hara read the poem. To find out more about Frank O' Hara's work click on the link HERE [https://www.frankohara.org/]. To see the covers of the New World Writing and New York Post mentioned in this poem, go HERE [https://newyorkschoolpoets.wordpress.com/2013/06/10/a-visual-footnote-to-oharas-the-day-lady-died-new-world-writing-and-the-poets-of-ghana/] The cover photo for this week's episode is a picture of Billie Holiday singing at Storyville in Boston in 1959. The photo was taken by Mel Levine. To learn more about my writing then you can check out the link HERE [https://t.co/lzERcaDaPL?amp=1]. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/vincent-s-coster/message

This week I celebrate the work of another Irish poet, one who writes in both English and Irish and mixes both languages equally throughout her poems. She is part of an amazing wave of young Irish-speakers who have shown us that there is nothing shameful in being a proud Gael, and who often use both languages in the same conversations. Ciara has made this duality part of her identity. She also established Reic, an open-mic event in which poetry in Irish is celebrated. This poem is one that I always enjoy being performed because it has such an important message of female empowerment. So I wanted to share it with you this week. To find out more about Ciara's work... click HERE [https://miseciara.wordpress.com/]. To read the poem, click HERE [https://miseciara.wordpress.com/2020/09/24/phenomenal-woman-na-focail/]. To see and hear it being performed, click HERE [https://youtu.be/7YLvhuUkrRU]. For more information about REIC, then click the link HERE. The cover for this week's episode is a depiction of Macha racing the horses of King Conchobhar's horses. She was heavily pregnant when forced to race the horses after her husband had bragged about her great speed at his expense. Despite her protests that racing the horses would kill her, the king said that her husband would die if she didn't run. So she ran and beat the horses easily. Then she went into labour, gave birth to twins, and as she died she cursed the men of Ulster saying that at the time of their greatest need they would be struck down with labour pains and be unable to defend themselves. I have no information about the artist, but I think it captures the spirit of the poem. To find out some more about my work as a poet, follow the link down the borrow HERE [https://t.co/JyW6FJJVA4?amp=1]. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/vincent-s-coster/message

This week's episode looks at a poem that takes imagery and twists it so that everything is shifting and the reality we are confronted with is completely at odds at what we thought it was going to be. Drawing on the imagery of Alice in Wonderland and that of a young woman selling access to video imagery of herself to others, this poem shows us how reality is being altered through the stories we tell others and ourselves of the people around us. To read the poem click right HERE [https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/58298/the-preachers-daughter]! To read more about Victoria Kennifick and her amazing work, go right ahead and click HERE [https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/victoria-kennefick]. The cover image for this episode is Mariana in the South by John William Waterhouse.  To learn a bit more about him, click HERE [https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/john-william-waterhouse-583]. And lastly, if you want to learn a bit more about my own poetry, and what I have written, then just click HERE [http://vincentscoster.blogspot.com/]. Again thanks for listening, if you want to comment on this episode, use the hashtags #poemsapennyeach, #pennypoems, or just #pape --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/vincent-s-coster/message