In honor of National Poetry Writing Month, I started a podcast.

This is, in part, the fault of Natalie Goldberg, who insists on the importance of reading our work aloud to someone. The trouble is, I don’t have any poetry lovers in my house, and when I start talking poetry, they all pretty much… zzzzzz.

So I decided to bring my poetry—along with a bit of classic poetry—to the world via a podcast, because the world clearly does not have enough podcasts yet.

For now, it’s very simple: just me, in a quiet room, reading three of my own poems and one classic poem, all organized around a theme.

In the future, I’d love for this to grow into something a little larger—something like an audio literary journal featuring contemporary voices from all walks of life. A place for fresh, energetic poetry that may not exactly fit the shape and size currently being allowed through the literary gates.

The first episode’s theme is family, and includes three of my poems—Ophelia’s Opal, My Mother’s Attempted Slow Death by Refusing to Eat, and Easter Portrait—along with “The Children’s Hour” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Please forgive the occasional blips as I start and stop. Me in a quiet room reading poetry is still getting the hang of this thing.

You can listen right here, or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

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If you’d like to share your poetry for possible inclusion in a future episode, you can send it to: MichelleReadsPoems@gmail.com

Until next episode… Happy Poet-ing!
-Michelle