1 Minute with The Bald-Headed Poet

To My Dear and Loving Husband by Anne Bradstreet If ever two were one, then surely we. If ever man were loved by wife, then thee. If ever wife was happy in a man, Compare with me, ye women, if you can. I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold, Or all the riches that the East doth hold. My love is such that rivers cannot quench, Nor ought but love from thee give recompense. Thy love is such I...

Birds of Prey by Claude McKay Their shadow dims the sunshine of our day, As they go lumbering across the sky, Squawking in joy of feeling safe on high, Beating their heavy wings of owlish gray. They scare the singing birds of earth away As, greed-impelled, they circle threateningly, Watching the toilers with malignant eye, From their exclusive haven--birds of prey. They swoop down for the spoil in...

When We Two Parted by George Gordon, Lord Byron When we two parted In silence and tears, Half broken-hearted To sever for years, Pale grew thy cheek and cold, Colder thy kiss; Truly that hour foretold Sorrow to this. The dew of the morning Sunk chill on my brow— It felt like the warning Of what I feel now. Thy vows are all broken, And light is thy fame; I hear thy name spoken, And share in its sha...

Myself by Edgar Albert Guest I have to live with myself and so I want to be fit for myself to know. I want to be able as days go by, always to look myself straight in the eye; I don't want to stand with the setting sun and hate myself for the things I have done. I don't want to keep on a closet shelf a lot of secrets about myself and fool myself as I come and go into thinking no one else...

Artist in the Spotlight: Jay Word reads her poem Stuck | Navigating Life's Challenges with MS Part 1 In this heartfelt episode, poet Jay Word shares her moving piece, "Stuck." Through raw and imaginative verse, she captures the daily reality of living with Multiple Sclerosis—the frustration, the complexities, and the fight to keep moving forward. A must-listen for anyone facing an i...

Tormented by my Mind by Jay Word ©  Multiple Sclerosis has ravaged me – Not just my body, but my brain.  Even with a stable mood, it often feels like I'm going insane.  I get confused; say the wrong words with a stutter.  I complete tasks in the wrong way.  I can't trust my calculations on any given day. I forget the pin I've used for two decades; have to ask my daughter to confirm...

Life's Tragedy by Paul Laurence Dunbar It may be misery not to sing at all, And to go silent through the brimming day; It may be misery never to be loved, But deeper griefs than these beset the way.   To sing the perfect song, And by a half-tone lost the key, There the potent sorrow, there the grief, The pale, sad staring of Life's Tragedy.   To have come near to the perfect love, Not th...

9/11 Tribute Poem I rushed past the memorial to get to a gig. I stared at the monuments from the 17th floor glass. The towers are gone yet the twin squares are a sight to be seen. I walked over to Greenwich Street. The place was sacred, peaceful and serene, I’m sure the spirits of the loss are amongst the crowds, I couldn’t believe how quiet it was although folks were all around. Typical Manhattan...

Psalm 82 A psalm of Asaph. 1 God presides in the great assembly;     he renders judgment among the “gods”: 2 “How long will you defend the unjust     and show partiality to the wicked? 3 Defend the weak and the fatherless;     uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. 4 Rescue the weak and the needy;     deliver them from the hand of the wicked. 5 “The ‘gods’ know nothing, they understand no...

Bear In There by Shel Silverstein There's a Polar Bear In our Frigidaire-- He likes it 'cause it's cold in there. With his seat in the meat And his face in the fish And his big hairy paws In the buttery dish, He's nibbling the noodles, He's munching the rice, He's slurping the soda, He's licking the ice. And he lets out a roar If you open the door. And it gives m...

In Good Time...  By Abimbola T. Alabi Life can seem an endless maze, The twists and turns, lulls and delays, But things always fall into place... In good time.   Friends will sometimes go away. Some may disappoint or others betray, But new ones will come to stay... In good time.   The hurt of getting something wrong, And the lesson it often brings along Are there, you see, to make you strong... In...

Step into the world of poetry and music and experience the delight of celebrating life, love, and happiness. As your host, I am thrilled to share with you heartwarming stories, meaningful insights, and delightful surprises that will make your day brighter. From funny anecdotes to touching moments of gratitude, each episode is a treasure trove of emotions and connections. But the real gift lies in...

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson  Who is this brown girl dreaming, my teacher wants to know. Staring out the window so. Head in hands and eyes – gone from here. Where are you, Dear? Come back to the classroom, my pretty brown girl I fear you’re halfway around the world. Where is that mind of yours now? Outside the winter stabs through the air sneaks past the classroom windowpane and there...

Ecclesiastes 6 The Futility of Life, New International Version 6 I have seen another evil under the sun, and it weighs heavily on mankind: 2 God gives some people wealth, possessions and honor, so that they lack nothing their hearts desire, but God does not grant them the ability to enjoy them, and strangers enjoy them instead. This is meaningless, a grievous evil. 3 A man may have a hundred child...

The Equalizer My Dad and I talk most Sundays since I’m far away. He’s worried about me. I say, Dad, I’m all right, God keeps me safe. We talk about various subjects including men, well, not anymore since I’m divorced. My Dad gives good advice. He always talks about his accidents, since he came close to death repeatedly. He wants to write a book too, Called, The life of an Angel. He’s one of thirte...

Bio: Ivy Rozen is an Asheville-based poet whose work has been published in Fine Art Globe, Chatham Life & Style Magazine, Education NC, Bottlecap Press and more. Previously the senior editor of Black Mountain Press, Ivy was selected to judge the Elon University Historic Neighborhood’s annual Primavera Poetry Contest for 2026, and recently founded the Midnight Draft Poetry Collective, which pro...

Conundrum (on my birthday) (for Rico) by James Baldwin Between holding on, and letting go,  I wonder how you know the difference. It must be something like the difference between heaven and hell  but how, in advance, can you tell? If letting go is saying no, then what is holding on saying? Come. Can anyone be held? Can I—? The impossible conundrum, the closed circle,  why does lightning strike thi...

Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley I met a traveller from an antique land Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them and the heart...

Ecclesiastes 1 New Living Translation 1 These are the words of the Teacher,[ a ] King David’s son, who ruled in Jerusalem. Everything Is Meaningless 2 “Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!” 3 What do people get for all their hard work under the sun? 4 Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes. 5 The sun rises and the sun sets, then hurries a...

In 1955, 14-year-old Emmett Till traveled to Money, Mississippi, to visit relatives. He was kidnapped, tortured, and murdered after reportedly whistling at a white woman. His mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, insisted on an open-casket funeral near their hometown of Chicago. Her brave decision let the world see the racist violence inflicted upon her son and set the Civil Rights Movement into motion. http...

Flowers by W. H. Davies  What favourite flowers are mine, I cannot say - My fancy changes with the summer's day. Sometimes I think, agreeing with the Bees, That my best flowers are those tall apple trees, Who give a Bee his cyder while in bloom, And keep me waiting till their apples come. Sometimes I think the Columbine has won, Who hangs her head and never looks the Sun Straight in the face....

We Rode All the Way to Delhi by Ruskin Bond In the Bicycle Age  When I was a kid We rode all the way to Delhi,  Yes we did! Somi and Ranji and I ... It took us three days As we pressed on our pedals,  All two hundred miles  From Dehra to Delhi, And they gave us no medals! We sheltered in dhabas  And ate what they gave us,  But no welcoming crowd  In Delhi received us  As dusty, dishevelled We cros...

Ice and Fire by Edmund Spencer   My love is like to ice, and I to fire: How comes it then that this her cold so great Is not dissolved through my so hot desire, But harder grows the more I her entreat? Or how comes it that my exceeding heat Is not allayed by her heart-frozen cold, But that I burn much more in boiling sweat, And feel my flames augmented manifold? What more miraculous thing may be t...

Midnight by Louise Gluck  Speak to me, aching heart: what  Ridiculous errand are you inventing for yourself  Weeping in the dark garage  With your sack of garbage: it is not your job  To take out the garbage, it is your job  To empty the dishwasher. You are showing off  Again,  Exactly as you did in childhood--where  Is your sporting side, your famous  Ironic detachment? A little moonlight hits  T...

Independent Dream by Dan Higgins I n the face of oppression, an idea was born N ever again to tyranny, we’d be sworn D etermined to create a place free of scorn E very Fourth of July, a new hope is reborn P ursuing happiness, no longer forlorn E ach firework fired, a salute to the morn’ N ation of dreamers, by independence adorned D reaming of a future, by freedom’s hand drawn E njoying the fruits...