The Poetry Tavern

In this episode, we talk about sci-fi and poems that talk about sci-fi stuff, with poems by Tracy K Smith and Ryan Teitman. Show Notes: • Follow or reach out at... • Instagram - @thepoetrytavern • Email - charlotte@thepoetrytavern.co.uk • Website - thepoetrytavern.co.uk • For updates on episodes, please go to our website and join the mailing list! Listen online: https://thepoetrytavern.co.uk/episo...

In this episode we talk about poems that in some way relate to travel, with poems from Sheenagh Pugh and Martha Medeiros. Show Notes: • Follow or reach out at... • Instagram - @thepoetrytavern • Email - charlotte@thepoetrytavern.co.uk • Website - thepoetrytavern.co.uk • For updates on episodes, please go to our website and join the mailing list! Listen online: https://thepoetrytavern.co.uk/episode...

In this episode, we talk about poems that are centred around pop culture, specifically figures from popular culture, with poems that by Juana Adcock and Desree. Show Notes: • Follow or reach out at... • Instagram - @thepoetrytavern • Email - charlotte@thepoetrytavern.co.uk • Website - thepoetrytavern.co.uk • For updates on episodes, please go to our website and join the mailing list! Listen online...

In this episode, we look at poems related to and talking about crows, with examples from Ted Hughes and Margaret Atwood. Show Notes: • Follow or reach out at... • Instagram - @thepoetrytavern • Email - charlotte@thepoetrytavern.co.uk • Website - thepoetrytavern.co.uk • For updates on episodes, please go to our website and join the mailing list! Listen online: https://thepoetrytavern.co.uk/episodes...

In this episode, we talk about poems to do with theatre, with poems from Len Verwey and Wallace Stevens. Show Notes: Listen online: https://thepoetrytavern.co.uk/episodes/theater Download: https://thepoetrytavern.co.uk/download/47 Subscribe to The Poetry Tavern for more episodes about poetry, literature, and the art of verse.

In this episodes, we look at poems that adress the topic of dance, whether that is specific dances or just the expressive movement as a whole. This episode includes poems from both Myles C Poydras and Billy Collins. Show Notes: • Follow or reach out at... • Instagram - @thepoetrytavern • Email - charlotte@thepoetrytavern.co.uk • Website - thepoetrytavern.co.uk • For updates on episodes, please go...

In this episode, we explore the theme of Solitude through poetry, with poems by Robert Duncan and Greg Sellers. Follow or reach out at... Instagram - @thepoetrytavern Email - charlotte@thepoetrytavern.co.uk Website - thepoetrytavern.co.uk For updates on episodes, please go to our website and join the mailing list! Show Notes: Listen online: https://thepoetrytavern.co.uk/episodes/solitude Download:...

This episode is all about poems talking about writing poetry, with works by Marianne Moore and Charles Bukowski Show Notes: Listen online: https://thepoetrytavern.co.uk/episodes/ars-poetica Download: https://thepoetrytavern.co.uk/download/11 Subscribe to The Poetry Tavern for more episodes about poetry, literature, and the art of verse.

This episode discusses poems all about the silver screen and the human emotion associated with movies, with poems by Denise Duhamel and Haji Kharari. Show Notes: Listen online: https://thepoetrytavern.co.uk/episodes/movies Download: https://thepoetrytavern.co.uk/download/44 Subscribe to The Poetry Tavern for more episodes about poetry, literature, and the art of verse.

A reflective Poetry Tavern episode exploring poems about games, from card-table companionship and grief in Louise Glück’s “Widows” to luck, fate, and obsession in Christina Rossetti’s “The Queen of Hearts.” Join us for a thoughtful discussion on how simple games can reveal loneliness, love, rivalry, and the strange ways people try to hold on. Show Notes: Listen online: https://thepoetrytavern.co.u...

A playful Poetry Tavern episode exploring poems about TV, from Rodney Jones’s look at television as a once-taboo temptation to Bruce Lansky’s funny take on family hypocrisy and screen time. Charlotte reflects on how television can be feared, mocked, loved, and deeply meaningful, showing how even “bad TV” poems can spark thoughtful ideas. Show Notes: Listen online: https://thepoetrytavern.co.uk/epi...

A thoughtful Poetry Tavern episode exploring poems about phones, from the frustration of automated call systems in Kirin O’Driscoll’s “Please Hold” to digital longing and illusion in Thomas Wells’s “Social Media Princess.” Charlotte reflects on how modern communication can connect, isolate, mislead, and trap us, revealing the strange emotional weight carried by phones and screens. Show Notes: List...

This episode of The Poetry Tavern explores poetry inspired by birds, from mythological symbolism to everyday moments of empathy. Charlotte reflects on works by Carl Phillips and Craig Ong, examining how birds are used to express memory, emotion, and connection. The discussion moves between the haunting aftermath of transformation and the quiet tenderness of noticing small suffering. Through though...

This episode of The Poetry Tavern explores poems centered on Earth, from the vastness of the planet to the intimacy of the ground beneath us. Charlotte reflects on works by Fernando Pessoa and Sharon Olds, examining humanity’s connection to nature and existence. Through themes of life, death, and natural balance, the episode highlights how human emotion mirrors the rhythms of the Earth. Blending t...

This episode of The Poetry Tavern explores poetry inspired by planets, with a special focus on Pluto and Neptune. Charlotte shares powerful poems that reflect themes of rebellion, isolation, and hope through cosmic imagery. Blending raw energy with emotional depth, the episode connects distant planets to deeply human experiences. Through thoughtful discussion, it reveals how poetry can turn the va...

This week in The Poetry Tavern, Charlotte explores poems inspired by the beauty and mystery of stars. From imaginative cosmic imagery to quiet, reflective stargazing, the episode contrasts science with wonder. Featuring works by Norman MacCaig and Walt Whitman, it delves into how we see our place in the universe. A short but thoughtful episode celebrating curiosity, perspective, and poetic awe. Sh...

Ocean inspired poetry exploring powerful themes and deeper meanings of the sea. The ocean reflects creativity, emotion, and the challenges of understanding poetry. Vivid imagery and layered interpretations reveal beauty, mystery, and depth. Perfect for poetry lovers seeking inspiration, analysis, and a deeper connection to nature and literature. Show Notes: Listen online: https://thepoetrytavern.c...

This week in The Poetry Tavern Charlotte explores poems inspired by music. Featuring Ghost Music by Robert Graves and Roof Nightclub by Ishion Hutchinson. A discussion of haunting melodies, dub music, chaos, and the atmosphere music creates in poetry. Next week’s theme will be poems about the ocean. Show Notes: Listen online: https://thepoetrytavern.co.uk/episodes/music Download: https://thepoetry...

This episode explores poems centred on fire, beginning with Anne Bradstreet’s account of losing her home and the way faith reshapes her grief into gratitude. Charlotte reflects on resilience, perspective, and how surprisingly accessible a seventeenth century poem can feel. The discussion then turns to G. F. Bradby’s The Fireside, where glowing embers spark memories, nursery rhymes, and half forgot...

In this episode, Charlotte dives into poems about aliens, from the tender metaphor of an unborn child in The Alien to the surreal outside observers of The White Fires of Venus. Together, they reveal how the unknown can feel strange, divine, and deeply human. Show Notes: Listen online: https://thepoetrytavern.co.uk/episodes/aliens Download: https://thepoetrytavern.co.uk/download/33 Subscribe to The...

In this week’s episode, Charlotte explores the theme of coffee and what it represents in poetry. Moving away from poetic devices and into broader themes, she looks at how something as simple as a morning cup can hold deeper meaning. She discusses Prose Poem by Ron Padgett, where coffee becomes a quiet ritual between sleep and wakefulness, before the poem takes a surprising and darker turn. She als...

In this episode, host Charlotte dives into pleonasm, the use of seemingly unnecessary or doubled words, and asks whether excess language can still be purposeful, beautiful, or emotionally effective. Through close readings of poems by Mary Oliver and Stephen Sexton, this episode explores how repetition and reinforcement can deepen themes of comfort, ownership, memory, and beauty. Rather than treati...

This week we are looking into the use of diacope within poetry, with examples from the work of Simon Armitage and Leopold Marks. Show Notes: Listen online: https://thepoetrytavern.co.uk/episodes/diacope Download: https://thepoetrytavern.co.uk/download/30 Subscribe to The Poetry Tavern for more episodes about poetry, literature, and the art of verse.

In this episode, we cover the use of anaphora, with poetry examples from Chen Chen and Sherine Gilmour. Show Notes: Listen online: https://thepoetrytavern.co.uk/episodes/anaphora Download: https://thepoetrytavern.co.uk/download/29 Subscribe to The Poetry Tavern for more episodes about poetry, literature, and the art of verse.

This week we are talking about semantic fields, with examples in poetry from Jo Bratten and Percy Bysshe Shelley. Show Notes: Listen online: https://thepoetrytavern.co.uk/episodes/semantic-fields Download: https://thepoetrytavern.co.uk/download/28 Subscribe to The Poetry Tavern for more episodes about poetry, literature, and the art of verse.