In the final episode of Season One, I Offer Poetry explores Wild Geese by Mary Oliver.

Mary Oliver's work is greatly influenced by her upbringing in Ohio and her chosen home, New England, as well as the authors Walt Whitman and Henry David Thoreau. While the focus of this episode is Wild Geese, Elizabeth also mentions two other poems of Oliver's (The Summer Day and The Invitation) which she highly recommends to the audience for further reading.

A peaceful episode exploring answerless questions, admitting tough seasons often require post-it-note covered mirrors, and welcoming the invitation to stop feeling the need to constantly repent. This poem encapsulates what Elizabeth hopes we will all approach the New Year with; the desire and pursuit of letting the soft animal of your body love what it loves.

Timestamps:

00:01:13 Poem Reading (Elizabeth)

00:02:26 Author Info

00:06:02 Elizabeth's Relationship to the Poem

00:20:14 Pause / Poem Reading (Elizabeth)

00:22:36 Reflection & Gratitude

Poem & Links:

Wild Geese by Mary Oliver (© 1986)

Wild Geese Reading by Mary Oliver

The Summer Day (Mary Oliver)

Invitation (Mary Oliver)

I.O.P. Lexicon:

Repent: (verb) feel or express sincere regret or remorse about one's wrongdoing or sin.

Where to find our host Elizabeth:

@ellsonelizabeth | Twitter

Where to find us:

@iofferpoetry | Instagram

@iofferpoetry | Twitter

iofferpoetry@gmail.com | iofferpoetry.com

Produced & Edited by John Campione:

Campiaudio.com | @campiaudio

campiaudio@gmail.com

Music @zacharymanno | Art @sammycampioneart

In the final guest episode of Season One, Elizabeth hosts her friend Kiran Subramaniam and they discuss the poetry of Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Kiran Subramaniam is a writer & performer living in Los Angeles by day, who dreams of the North Carolina mountains and beach by night. She currently works on the show Hightown as seen on Starz. She's a fan of chewy raspberry licorice, books, Spotify, and international architecture. Her first dog will be named Toby, a la the curmudgeonly Toby Zielger of The West Wing.

During their discussion of the poem 'To William Shelley' the conversation floats from the surface aspects of Percy's scandalous personal life, all the way to the depths of the poetic mind/body split and our souls becoming one with nature. In unpacking a poem which centers on the loss of a child, the two women take an opportunity to explore their ideas of what parenthood and having a life outside your chest might feel like. As with many episodes, this conversation includes investigation into punctuation choices and how universal it feels to run out of words when we have lost the irreplaceable.

Join us for a guest episode which touches on many genuine, tender heartstrings but also pokes fun at Percy's inarguably hipster, would-be Perez Hilton cover-story-worthy life.

Timestamps:

00:00:48 Guest Introduction

00:03:05 Poem Reading (Kiran)

00:04:41 Author Info

00:07:46 Kiran's Relationship to the Poem

00:28:14 Pause / Poem Reading (Kiran)

00:35:30 Reflection & Offering

Poem & Links:

To William Shelley (© 1824)

To William Shelley, Ink & Quill Draft

Percy Shelley Portrait

I.O.P. Lexicon:

Lustre: (noun) a gentle sheen or soft glow, especially that of a partly reflective surface Italian Translation: non e piu come era prima || it is no longer as it was before

Where to find Kiran:

@ohyesitskiraness | Instagram

@subrawoman | Twitter

Where to find our host Elizabeth:

@ellsonelizabeth | Twitter

Where to find us:

@iofferpoetry | Instagram

@iofferpoetry | Twitter

iofferpoetry@gmail.com | iofferpoetry.com

Produced & Edited by John Campione:

Campiaudio.com | @campiaudio

campiaudio@gmail.com

Music @zacharymanno | Art @sammycampioneart

In this episode Elizabeth explores the poetry of contemporary poet Leila Chatti. The poem was originally sent to Elizabeth via snail mail and arrived as a page torn from the The New York Times Magazine; Confession by Leila Chatti.

Timestamps:

00:00:41 Poem Reading (Elizabeth)

00:04:00 Author Info

00:5:36 Elizabeth's Relationship to the Poem

00:18:58 Pause / Poem Reading (Elizabeth)

00:24:03 Reflection & Invitation to Write Us

Poem & Links:

Confession by Leila Chatti

@laypay | Instagram

@laypay | Twitter

Leila Chatti Publications

Freedom Reads

Five Lessons from Surah Maryam (by Jessica Daqamsseh)

I.O.P. Lexicon:

Rivulets: (noun) a small stream; brook

Voyeurs: (noun) a person who engages in voyeurism; the practice of obtaining sexual gratification by looking at sexual objects or acts, especially secretively

Fronds: (noun) botany term for an often large, finely divided leaf, usually applied to ferns and certain palms

Where to find our host Elizabeth:

@ellsonelizabeth | Twitter

Where to find us:

@iofferpoetry | Instagram

@iofferpoetry | Twitter

iofferpoetry@gmail.com | iofferpoetry.com

Produced & Edited by John Campione:

Campiaudio.com | @campiaudio

campiaudio@gmail.com

Music @zacharymanno | Art @sammycampioneart