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Hope is the Thing with Feathers

Notes: 1. The title alludes to Emily Dickinson’s poem “Hope is the thing with feathers,” in which hope is figured as an indestructible bird that “perches in the soul — / And sings the tune without the words — / And never stops — at all.” In the present sonnet, the bird with feathers meets a different fate. 2. On May 2, 2026, the Seattle Mariners retired Randy Johnson’s No. 51 at T-Mobile Park — the second time the franchise retired that number, having retired it for Ichiro Suzuki the previous year. Johnson, known as “The Big Unit,” stood six-foot-ten and pitched for the Mariners from 1989 to 1998, arriving via trade from the Montreal Expos. He won 303 games, struck out 4,875 batters (second all-time behind Nolan Ryan), earned five Cy Young Awards, and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015. 3. On March 24, 2001, during a spring training game in Tucson, Arizona, Johnson threw a fastball estimated at 100 mph that struck a mourning dove in flight. The bird was killed instantly in what catcher Rod Barajas described as “an explosion.” The pitch was ruled a no-pitch — neither ball nor strike. After his retirement, Johnson pursued a second career as a photographer, and his business logo depicts a bird lying on its back with X’d-out eyes and feathers floating above it. 4. “Nos amours” in line 4 refers to the Montreal Expos, popularly known as Nos Amours (”Our Loves”), and also nods to the preceding sonnet in this series, which bears that title. Johnson began his career with the Expos before being traded to Seattle in 1989. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jopomojo.substack.com/subscribe [https://jopomojo.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

The Road Ahead

The crows of worry … This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jopomojo.substack.com/subscribe [https://jopomojo.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Enter the Dragon

It seems ... This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jopomojo.substack.com/subscribe [https://jopomojo.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Fuel for the Dance

The sky is the wood, dawn the flame, my mind the pot coming to a head— for my porridge and coffee and cream— boiling upward with thunder and dreams to enliven the dance of this happy shift of circumstance. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jopomojo.substack.com/subscribe [https://jopomojo.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

The Bee & the Rose

The bee returns to the rose. But not the same bee, and not the same rose, just as you and I are not the same now as when we began, these many years past. And yet love continues to last. Potter Poems is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jopomojo.substack.com/subscribe [https://jopomojo.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]