31 December 2020

Episode 036: Tiny Dog Infestations

I hope you enjoy this little essay that was selected by a dear friend or me to read as part of an afternoon of music and poetry at my home town library a few years back. "Tiny Dog Infestations" is yet another absurd look into the fact that when people have a tiny dog they somehow always have more than just the one. There's also some historical context in there as well. It's all as true as you want it to be.

You know the drill:

I want to hear what you think of the podcast, whether it's a specific poem or the format, or whatever's on your mind! Leave a review or a comment in your podcast app, or catch me on Twitter @Lefthandrob.

After listening to the podcast (or while listening), visit one of these sites and donate for the cause, because All Black Lives Matter and my fellow white (and cis) people we need to get in the game:

Donate to Black Lives Matter

Donate to the Souther Poverty Law Center

Donate to the Equal Justice Initiative

Transgender Law Center

The poems will continue to flow, but so must the Justice.



Left Hand Poetry: My Podcast of Poems

24 December 2020

Episode 035: Mental Sorbet

The audio this week is a little more  ... intimate sounding that it usually is. I used a different setup, but hey, keeps things interesting for your ears! The poem this week is "Mental Sorbet," which I describe the genesis of said phrase in the poem itself. It's a quick one and something a little weird for you as we head into a weird holiday season when I hit publish on this episode. For those of you downloading and listening in 2020 (or likely too far into 2021), I hope you're safe and secure and that this episode provides a few moments of pleasantly odd distraction from whatever troubles you. Unless it's a certain scene in a certain movie, in which case, sorry about that.

You know the drill:

I want to hear what you think of the podcast, whether it's a specific poem or the format, or whatever's on your mind! Leave a review or a comment in your podcast app, or catch me on Twitter @Lefthandrob.

After listening to the podcast (or while listening), visit one of these sites and donate for the cause, because All Black Lives Matter and my fellow white (and cis) people we need to get in the game:

Donate to Black Lives Matter

Donate to the Souther Poverty Law Center

Donate to the Equal Justice Initiative

Transgender Law Center

The poems will continue to flow, but so must the Justice.



Left Hand Poetry: My Podcast of Poems

18 December 2020

Episode 034: On the Meaning of a Single Snowflake

Folks -- at this point, I think I can even say Friends -- I have a problem. Whenever snow starts falling out of the sky, my brain slips into a poetic mood and unbidden it begins to crank out verses about the stuff. My poetry books are littered with snow poems. So obviously when the first proper snowfall of the winter happened here where I am, I leafed through said books and found a poem on the subject to read for you. And so we have this week's episode "On the Meaning of a Single Snowflake." Of course, it's somewhat ironic given that it refers to those first snowflakes that fall and give us no clue (weather forecasts need not apply) as to whether we're in for several inches and a bit of shoveling or just some flurries that sublimate away before you can say "one horse open sleigh."

You know the drill by now:

I want to hear what you think of the podcast, whether it's a specific poem or the format, or whatever's on your mind! Leave a review or a comment in your podcast app, or catch me on Twitter @Lefthandrob.

After listening to the podcast (or while listening), visit one of these sites and donate for the cause, because All Black Lives Matter and my fellow white (and cis) people we need to get in the game:

Donate to Black Lives Matter

Donate to the Souther Poverty Law Center

Donate to the Equal Justice Initiative

Transgender Law Center

The poems will continue to flow, but so must the Justice.



Left Hand Poetry: My Podcast of Poems

11 December 2020

Episode 033: I Played for the Queen of All Elephants

If you're a regular listener of the podcast, you may have thought that I was finally cashing in on the "or so" part of when I originally told you that this podcast would publish "every week *or so*." Fear not, friend, for I have a fresh episode for you right here. If you're finding this episode at some point in the future - Hi! How's the future? Do we have flying cars yet? 

This week, a poem based on a photo I discovered online, I think it was likely a writing prompt, and if so prompt it did! The photo was of a young girl standing before an elephant playing a violin (the girl was playing the violin, not the elephant. This would have been a much different poem if that had been the case). "I Played for the Queen of All Elephants" is a poem I had thought was done, but when I chose to record it this week and did my pre-record read through I found that the story just trails off. It was all set up and no payoff. So I added a few more stanzas to finish the tale. Hopefully you can't tell where the original bit ends and the new bit begins, unless you have your copy of "Blue." in front of you. You do own a copy of "Blue.," don't you? If not, you can find the link to it on the "Buy my Books" page on my blog (https://lefthandrob.net , if you're not already there).

"I Played..." is a bit of fantasy, tangentially appropriate in this season of dreams, but not Holiday-themed in any way, unless you consider peace, harmony, and music Holiday themes.

I want to hear what you think of the podcast, whether it's a specific poem or the format, or whatever's on your mind! Leave a review or a comment in your podcast app, or catch me on Twitter @Lefthandrob.

After listening to the podcast (or while listening), visit one of these sites and donate for the cause, because All Black Lives Matter and my fellow white (and cis) people we need to get in the game:

Donate to Black Lives Matter

Donate to the Souther Poverty Law Center

Donate to the Equal Justice Initiative

Transgender Law Center

The poems will continue to flow, but so must the Justice.



Left Hand Poetry: My Podcast of Poems

03 December 2020

Episode 032: Avocado (dis)Information

Well, y'all seem to like it when I dig into the absurdity archive, so I pulled out one of my favorites from one of the weirder corners of my brain. I mean, it's been out in the world for about 8 years now, but it's probably new to you. That's right, this week it's "Avocado (dis)Information". See if you can spot the chemistry pun.

I want to hear what you think of the podcast, whether it's a specific poem or the format, or whatever's on your mind! Leave a review or a comment in your podcast app, or catch me on Twitter @Lefthandrob.

After listening to the podcast (or while listening), visit one of these sites and donate for the cause, because All Black Lives Matter and my fellow white (and cis) people we need to get in the game:

Donate to Black Lives Matter

Donate to the Souther Poverty Law Center

Donate to the Equal Justice Initiative

Transgender Law Center

The poems will continue to flow, but so must the Justice.



Left Hand Poetry: My Podcast of Poems