The Poetry Show: The Blues Poetica

 

 

Enlighten Radio Presents

 

So weary....I might as well be Dead.

 

 

Poetry inspired by the Blues music traditions. Langston Hughes, WH Auden, Shelly Ann Williams, Billy Collins

Broadcast LIVE Wednesdays, 10 AM on https://player.enlightenradio.org

Hosts: Janet Harrison, John Case

This Episode Recorded August 7, 2024

Riverbank Blues

Sterling A. Brown
1901 – 1989

A man git his feet set in a sticky mudbank,
A man git dis yellow water in his blood,
No need for hopin', no need for doin',
Muddy streams keep him fixed for good.

Little Muddy, Big Muddy, Moreau and Osage,
Little Mary's, Big Mary's, Cedar Creek,
Flood deir muddy water roundabout a man's roots,
Keep him soaked and stranded and git him weak.

Lazy sun shinin' on a little cabin,
Lazy moon glistenin' over river trees;
Ole river whisperin', lappin' 'gainst de long roots:
"Plenty of rest and peace in these . . ."

Big mules, black loam, apple and peach trees,
But seems lak de river washes us down
Past de rich farms, away from de fat lands,
Dumps us in some ornery riverbank town.

Went down to the river, sot me down an' listened,
Heard de water talkin' quiet, quiet lak an' slow:
"Ain' no need fo' hurry, take yo' time, take yo'
time . . ." Heard it sayin'—"Baby, hyeahs de way life go . . ."

Dat is what it tole me as I watched it slowly rollin',
But somp'n way inside me rared up an' say,
"Better be movin' . . . better be travelin' . . .
Riverbank'll git you ef you stay . . ."

Towns are sinkin' deeper, deeper in de riverbank,
Takin' on de ways of deir sulky Ole Man—
Takin' on his creepy ways, takin' on his evil ways,
"Bes' git way, a long way . . . whiles you can. Man got his
sea too lak de Mississippi Ain't got so long for a whole lot longer way,
Man better move some, better not git rooted Muddy water fool you, ef you stay . . ."

From The Collected Poems of Sterling A. Brown by Sterling A. Brown.

 

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The Last Stop Cafe: Is Football Dying?

 

Enlighten Radio Presents

The Last Stop Cafe: Is Football Dying?

Is Pro Football a sport anymore? Or Just a Biz?

 

 

Broadcasts LIVE, Mondays, 7:15 AM Eastern

Hosts: Mike Cuccherini, John Case, James Boyd

The Turd Sandwich Cafe has been sold. It found a better offer. The Last Stop Cafe cannot guarantee you won't be served a shit sandwich by Fate. But you do not have to eat it here. Outside -- a big decision, maybe a big mistake, awaits. But in here, it's a game -- and we are playing along, noting the desert, wolves, mountains and abyss beyond.

This Episode Recorded August 26, 2024 at the Red Caboose Studio, Harpers Ferry, WV

 

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The Poetry Show: The Theme of Song

 

Enlighten Radio Presents

 

That Singer Stole My Coat:

From the Heel to the Throat

 

 

Poems on the theme of Song from Alice Ostriker, WB Yeats, Alan Shapiro, Elizabeth Bishop, and Susan Jackson, and Langston Hughes

Broadcast LIVE Wednesdays, 10 AM on https://player.enlightenradio.org

Hosts: Janet Harrison, John Case

This Episode Recorded July 31, 2024

 

The Radio Is Playing Ray Charles

by Susan Jackson

Georgia, Georgia the whole day through…
just an old sweet song…
I’m leaning into you
in the smoke and the slow dancing
those low notes
working their way up my spine
stirring up the night
throaty voices in the corner singing along
our hips touching
like moonlight through the pines
moonlight like a folded handkerchief
slanting through the window that night
Georgia, Georgia just a sweet and simple song…
and our whole life laying out like a road
still ahead of us.

 

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The Turd Sandwich Cafe: The Olympics!

 

Enlighten Radio Presents

The Turd Sandwich Cafe: The Olympics!

The Decimation of Trump, and the Rise of Cooperative, Olympic values, is at Hand. Else - make your reservation NOW for the TS Cafe.

 

 

Broadcasts LIVE, Mondays, 7:30 AM Eastern

Hosts: Mike Cuccherini, John Case, James Boyd

James Boyd, formerly of Berkeley County, WV joins our program as a co-host. James, a Vietnam veteran, has a long record working to save lives threatened by opioid addiction, prison and poverty. In both West Virginia and New Jersey. He now resides in New Jersey. Mike does the sports and Olympics report. Then we dig into the stakes for the US and the world in the next 100 day campaign to elect Kamala Harris. and decimate the Confederate forces behind the Trump phenomenon. Case goes to 1860, and Lincoln, searching for a comparable context.

This Episode Recorded July 29, 2024 at the Red Caboose Studio, Harpers Ferry, WV

 

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Winners and Losers: Hey Stranger!

 

Enlighten Radio Presents

Winners and Losers: Hey Stranger!

Darkness Darkness: Take Me To The Light

 

 

Broadcasts LIVE Fridays 7:30 AM Eastern

Hosts: Karen Valentine, John Case

Karen and John are feeling better! Kamala is uplifting our spirits, and hopes --- from the Bottom --- and a Handmaid's Tale

This Episode Recorded July 26, 2024 at the Red Caboose Studio, Harpers Ferry, WV

 

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The Poetry Show: West Virginia Poet Ruth MacQuade

 

Enlighten Radio Presents

A Coal Country Requiem

 

 

Ruth MacQuade, -- a retired federal prosecutor turned short story writer and poet now residing in Shepherdstown --- joins us to share 3 beautiful poems closely tied to her West Virginia coal country upbringing in a family of 15 children.

Broadcast LIVE Wednesdays, 10 AM on https://player.enlightenradio.org

Hosts: Janet Harrison, John Case

This Episode Recorded July 23, 2024

The Making of a Family Portrait

by Ruth MacQuade

It was to be a festive affair.

Making a family portrait at the Greenbrier Resort.

Painted by the famous portraiture artist W.H. Anderson,

who, before us, painted the portraits of Jimmy Carter and Richard Nixon.

Preparations for the portrait were hectic.

The girls needed permanents and matching dresses.

the boys, starched white shirts,

Mother, a new dress, Daddy, a new suit

Designed by my father, it was to be a symmetrical portrait.

The older children to be shown in four sets of three.

The youngest girl in the center, between my mother and father, and

the two youngest boys, at the bottom, facing each other.

Finished, the large 5-foot square family portrait

hung on the wall of my parents living room.

Proudly shown to anyone who wanted to see

the number of happy and healthy children my father sired and my mother reared.

But hidden behind the smiles are

the fearful face of my mother in the presence of my father,

the wincing faces of children caused by the belt lashing of their father,

and the sad faces of two brothers who died by suicide.

 

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The Turd Sandwich Cafe: Take that thing off yr EAR

 

Enlighten Radio Presents

The Turd Sandwich Cafe: Take that thing off Your EAR!

Trump's Shit Sandwich for America:

Kamala Harris Responds: "NO One, NO American, Should Eat This"

 

Broadcasts LIVE, Mondays, 7:15 AM Eastern

Hosts: Mike Cuccherini, John Case

Mike and John note improvements in the Nationals baseball team, while ordering up, from the 69 SDS convention an "eat shit and die, fascist-imperialist business administration majors" SOS breakfast sandwich. The Harris campaign is not planning to show up at the cafe. they have to save the country. She may even need OUR help.

This Episode Recorded July 22, 2024 at the Red Caboose Studio, Harpers Ferry, WV

 

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