The Devotions Podcast

I love you. I'm glad I exist.Hi friends,Today’s poem is “The Orange” by Wendy Cope*.At lunchtime I bought a huge orange—The size of it made us all laugh.I peeled it and shared it with Robert and Dave—They got quarters and I had a half.And that orange, it made me so happy,As ordinary things often doJust lately. The shopping. A walk in the park.This is peace and contentment

Why not / live each day as if it were the first—/ all raw astonishmentHappy Sunday! Apologies for being a bit casual (and sniffly) this week :-)Today’s poem is “Imaginary Conversation” by the late Linda Pastan*.You tell me to live each dayas if it were my last. This is in the kitchenwhere before coffee I complainof the day ahead—that obstacle raceof minutes and hours,groc

Is there a vocabulary for this—one to make dailiness amplify / and not diminish wonder?Hi friends,Sorry for the delay in getting this out — thank you so much for your patience. Today’s poem is “Do You Speak Persian?” by Kaveh Akbar.Some days we can see Venus in mid-afternoon. Then at night, starsseparated by billions of miles, light travelling yearsto die in the back of a

Put myself entirely / in the keep of this rainy morning.Hi friends,A casual one today, recorded in bed, on my phone. I am usually more meticulous about my recordings and what I say, but let me know if this more conversational format resonates with you.Today’s poem is “Rain” by Raymond Carver.* Here it is copied below:Woke up this morning witha terrific urge to lie in bed all

afraid, yes, but among you againHi friends,Today’s poem is “Snowdrops” by Louise Glück* Here it is copied below:Do you know what I was, how I lived? You knowwhat despair is; thenwinter should have meaning for you.I did not expect to survive,earth suppressing me. I didn't expectto waken again, to feelin damp earth my bodyable to respond again, rememberingafter so long how to

i fold and unfold / my heart a hundred times each / dayToday’s poem is “Under The Day” by Victoria Chang.* Here it is copied below:Every day I laugh,do you hear my mouth lifting?I fold and unfoldmy heart a hundred times eachday so that it doesn’t freeze.I would love to hear some of the ways you fold and unfold your hearts. Please let me know in the comments if you’d like

while we are laughing and crying, eating of the last sweet biteHi friends,This week’s poem is “Perhaps the World Ends Here” by Joy Harjo*. It’s copied below.The world begins at a kitchen table. No matter what, we must eat to live.The gifts of earth are brought and prepared, set on the table. So it has been since creation, and it will go on.We chase chickens or dogs away fro

when it is August, / you can have it August and abundantly soHi friends,This week’s poem is “You Can’t Have It All” by Barbara Ras*. It’s copied below.But you can have the fig tree and its fat leaves like clown handsgloved with green. You can have the touch of a single eleven-year-old fingeron your cheek, waking you at one a.m. to say the hamster is back.You can have the

A gentle introduction + thoughts on poetryHi friends!This is the introduction to The Devotions Podcast. It’s an entirely new format to me so I’m sure it will change a bit as time goes on, but I hope you like it. It’s poetry-centred and episodes will come out every other week.Referenced in this episode is Audre Lorde’s “Poetry is Not A Luxury”.Have a great Sunday!<3 T