Latest / Saved as Draft / LIVE Poetry Reading - October 2026

Transcript

LIVE Poetry Reading - October 2026 · Saved as Draft

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if that's happening to me.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: To our October live poetry reading.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: I always forget how many times we've done this, Stefan.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: You think I would remember by now.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: We started, what, back in June?
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think this is our fifth.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_01: Every time we start one of these,
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_01: I go, I go, I don't
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: know, it's like the fourth, fifth,
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_01: I think this is our fifth.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: Fun fact for everybody.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_01: We get to turn out every time.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: We do.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: I was going to say,
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: fun fact for everybody joining,
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: this whole thing started because you had tagged me in a Substack note.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: I forget.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: I think you had said you wanted to do a live poetry reading or something like that, right?
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: Is that what you said?
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: I can't remember, but you tagged me.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, peer pressure.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: I wonder if Bradley Ramsey will do a live poetry reading with me or something like that.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: And it was like, well, I guess so.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: It's hard to turn down when I do it publicly.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, for sure.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: It's smart.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's smart.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: It worked.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: We're here.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: And we're on number five.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, here.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_01: We have somehow survived.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: And we have confirmation that Tavis did not harm any Arianas in the making of his latest.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: So that's good.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: We got that.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: He didn't submit one to me.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_01: So did he submit one to you?
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_01: Was he on the list there?
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: Tavis, did you not submit one to this week?
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: This month, I mean?
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: I don't see a Tavis link now that you mention it.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I don't have a Tavis link.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't get a Tavis poem.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't get a Laura poem either.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_01: And I tagged her in one.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: Still time to do a last minute submission.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: Something that I'll say, this is actually a great time to mention this.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: If you are in the chat and you submitted a poem,
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: we are going to prioritize people that are in the live chat during the stream here.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: So, for example, Tavis, it sounds like you sent it to Stefan.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: Looks like it's in your DMs.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_01: Can you send it again, Tavis, so I can find it?
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_01: Because I don't have it on my list.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_01: I'll do yours.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_01: The first one I do will be Tavis's.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: Cool.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: I was going to say,
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: we have the submission list,
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: but a great way to guarantee that your poem gets read is to show up on
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: the stream like this.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: We like to reward people that show up and support.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: I know with time zones and everything, it can be really difficult.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_01: We try our best.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_01: Everything that gets read will get restacked by both of us and put in an article.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: And then tomorrow I will post the full recording and I'll put a list like links
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: to everybody's poems in there for the full stream.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll tag everybody, make sure everybody gets credit.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, that's our process.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: That's how we do it.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_01: We'll post links in the chat as we go.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, another
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: thing that we do.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_01: Although I refuse to read anything that's not in dark mode.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_01: So switch your profiles now.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: Just real quick.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: Well, yeah.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_01: That's what we're here, what we're thinking about.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_01: If it's in bright mode, I'm sending it to Bradley.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: Also part of the policy, yep.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: I've got my second monitor here that'll just blast my eyes with the light mode.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: My face will just light up.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that'll be great.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_01: Substack's been...
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_01: Funky recently with the lives.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_01: So I hope you don't have any issues.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_01: I've had a live recently with just like we are, just two people talking.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: Nothing fancy going on where the audio just kept going out for minutes at a time for
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: the audience.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, man.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_01: Stuff like that.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_01: Video going out, stuff like that.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: That is weird.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: Well, yeah, we're just 10 minutes past the hour here.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: Got a nice list of people that have joined.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: If it's cool with you, Stefan, I'll kick us off with the first one in my list here.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: Let me look at who's joined real quick and see.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if I have.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think I have anything from our current audience in my list.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: So I'll start with the top.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: Do you want to share it in a note real quick?
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_01: Share what?
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_01: The list?
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_01: The stream.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, sure, yeah, yeah, we can do that, yeah.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_01: And then this, yeah, it should work.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes that works.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it looks like somebody actually already restaffed and said that we're live right now.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Ian, by the way.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if Ian's watching or not, but thank you.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_01: There we go.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_01: All right, cool, let me restack.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: Now I feel better.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: Let me restack it real quick and then we'll get right into it here.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: I know everybody's waiting for us to get started.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: Let's see here.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, perfect.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: Let me restack that.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: Seeing the feed of myself in your note, it's very weird.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: It's very trippy.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: I'm seeing a delayed feed.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: That's weird.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: Let me get the link here.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: So this first poem that I'm going to read actually is from an author
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: who she sent me two links to poems right after last month's stream.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: So she wanted to get ahead of the game and make sure that I read one this time around.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm going to obviously do that first.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: There's the link there.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I suppose we could do it.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_01: We could allow people to submit for the next one at the end.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_01: We could just put the call out at the end for anyone in the audience at the end.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we could.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_01: If we don't have a theme, which let's be honest, Bradley, we're both too lazy.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: See, like the thing is, I don't want to limit the options that we get either too much.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: Because it's like we could do,
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: for example, like it's we're getting into like, you know, the holiday season.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: We could do like holiday themed poems like that.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: I'd be fine with that.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: But I also I like how we get a bunch of different kinds when we do this.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_01: I don't mind not doing themes.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_01: That doesn't bother me at all.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: There's an argument to be made either way.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: But, okay.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: I'll start us off here.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_01: We got the important people just showed up.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: It looks like Hallie was in the wrong stream.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: That's interesting.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I'm glad you found your way here.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: That's weird.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: Speaking of Substack acting up.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: All right, so I'll kick us off here.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: Our first poem is from Lisa Ann Snow, and it is entitled Glass Shards.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: I dropped the link just a little ways up in the chat there for anybody who wants
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: to follow along.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: This is song lyrics.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: I believe there's a link at the end to listen to the actual song.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, I'm just going to read it here, but these are song lyrics from Lisa Ann Snow.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_01: I mean...
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_01: Bradley, you could sing it to us.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know the melody.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: Don't put me on the spot.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_01: Fair enough.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: If I knew the melody, maybe.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, it's my first time reading it, let alone singing it.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: So here is Glass Shards by Lisa Ann Snow.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: It was like waking, blinking hard in the brightness of you.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: Letting my hope and my expectation pull me forward.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: The flutter inside,
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: my breath escaping,
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: eyes dilating, as I tried to touch you there, wanting to worship your light.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: But a rush of air sucked me backwards as reality cleaved in two.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: I hit the wall hard, raining glass, shards leaving me raw, unable to touch the person I love.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: I felt the new cold of black emptiness surrounding me as I floated in the space
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: between, now alone, unseen.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: Your selfish beauty, your swollen self-worth, stealing you from me.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: The world kept spinning, my fear desperate, you watched laughing.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, your rush of air blew me backwards, my reality completely.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: I grasped the wall,
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: hard, broken glass, shards leaving me faint, unable to face the person I love.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: And then truth revealed, first just a new name, then whole beautiful.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: The Writer's Journey.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: Once there was just us,
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: and beauty,
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: and hope, but your preoccupation with yourself cost us all of that, didn't it?
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, you took my air, threw me backwards, your reality cleaved me, too.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: I clawed the wall,
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_00: hard, throwing glass, shards, trying to live, no longer seeing the person I loved.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: Good stuff.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_00: And then of course,
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: yeah, there's a link here at the bottom to listen to the song, which is cool.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: So I'll kick us off here with this one.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: Definitely felt the rhythm of the song lyrics.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: I'd be curious to hear what kind of melody it has behind it.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously,
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: I imagine it's probably some sort of like More somber,
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: kind of reflective, sad type of slower melody is what I would expect.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: So again, I'm curious to hear that.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: But structurally,
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: I could see how it was passing through different verses
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: and how it would come back around to a sort of chorus there.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I liked that.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: That was really cool.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: Definitely a lot of emotion in the word choice as well, which I enjoyed.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: I'm a big fan of...
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: Because I've done poems with a similar kind of feel to this.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: I really like when poets use a metaphor with relationships and stuff like that.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: Using metaphors like anchors and storms and taking shelter from the storm
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: or being adrift at sea.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: Those kind of images work really well, I think, in this kind of poetry.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: And again, it works well in terms of song lyrics too.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, really beautiful here.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if I've read a whole lot of Lisa Ann Snow's work,
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: but this was a nice first impression.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: And again, one more time, link at the end there to the song if anybody's curious.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, not a bad start.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: Glass Shards.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: What did you think of this one, Stefan?
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not hearing your audio, bud.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_01: Muted.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_01: I'm muted.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_01: That's good.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_01: I was stumbling.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, you would have thought I had a problem.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_01: You're good.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's fairly obvious.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_01: It seems to be a betrayal.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: Mm-hmm.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_01: For what's going on.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_01: And I like the, there's a few cases of symbolism that I thought that stuck out to me.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_01: You mentioned that one with the gravity and the anchor representing
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_01: the shared history, which was kind of cool.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_01: But
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_01: the face that drew sparks representing like a catalyst, like it shatters the gaslighting.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_01: You denied it all, said I was crazy.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_01: And it kind of pierces that self-doubt with the she burns you and stuff like that.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_01: And then my favorite was the partner's actions create a violent rush of air
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_01: that acts as like a vacuum.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_01: And instead of sharing the air, the partner takes it.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_01: And I think there's a line in it.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_01: It actually says, you took my air.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_01: It symbolizes how emotional abuse and betrayal can leave you kind of feeling
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_01: starved
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_01: of agency and stuff.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_01: So it's kind of like the air is a metaphor for the agency that you lose in cases
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: of emotional abuse.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_00: Interesting.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, I can see that.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I was gonna say The Rush of Air.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, there's like,
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: I think this is part of sort of like the chorus area,
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: but it's like The Rush of Air sucked me backwards as reality cleaved in two.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: And then I know like at the end,
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: it kind of gets,
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_00: the lyric kind of gets,
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: flipped a little bit where it says you took my air,
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: threw me backwards, your reality cleaved me too.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: Just, yeah, really, really interesting stuff.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: And the idea of reality itself being cleaved into or ripped away and stuff like
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: that,
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: it kind of suggests sort of the world-shattering experience that
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: a relationship ending can be.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_01: I actually thought it fit well with what gasoline does to your psychology.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_01: Because all of a sudden,
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_01: when you leave that environment,
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_01: your world makes no sense because you're so used
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_01: to having someone else tell you what's true, even if it violates what you perceive.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_00: No, I think that's a really good point.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if gaslighting was, was gaslighting explicitly mentioned or did I derive?
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think it was explicitly mentioned.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it wasn't explicitly mentioned, but I love that you called it out because I see it.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_00: As soon as you said it, I saw it.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I was able to draw the connection.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's a good one.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_01: Very, very good.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, in the chat here,
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: we had a comment from Casey Taylor who said,
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_00: heavy emotional accountability to where the relationship ended up.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_00: I like that analysis too.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously,
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: it is very heavy and emotional,
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_00: but the accountability aspect is a good call out because it's interesting
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: because it doesn't feel like a one-sided poem.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_00: Bless you.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't feel like a one-sided poem in the sense
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: that there is some accountability there, right?
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: It feels like a very measured sort of analysis of the situation,
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_02: you know?
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: It's not like throwing blame entirely in one direction, which I think is interesting.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: So, it's good.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, good stuff, good stuff.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_00: Mike Smith in the chat also said, bless you, by the way, Stefan.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, thank you, Mike.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_01: Mike is wonderfully supportive.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_01: He's new to my Substack.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_00: Good stuff, good stuff.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you know Mike.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think I know Mike.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: But it's wonderful to meet you.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: Virtually-ish.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_01: Virtually, yeah.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_01: I want to call out Tavis here for not being in dark mode.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_01: And I want people to publicly shame him until he changes his ways.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_02: I can't.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_01: I'm kidding.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_01: Don't actually publicly shame Tavis.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_01: He's a nice guy.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: Hitting Stefan with the light mode.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_01: It washes out my payout complexion.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_00: It's not doing me any favors either.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_00: I get it.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_01: I have one by Tavis Ferguson called...
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_01: There is a chair for you here.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: Link in the chat.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: Because I would like to follow along.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: Also, shout out.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: I saw Vernon Butterfly join us.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_00: I saw Wendy joined who said hi.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, Wendy.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_01: Chicano Morano is here.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_01: That's how you pronounce that X word, that X name.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: Love seeing some familiar faces in the chat.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for the link.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: Hello, Debra.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, man.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_00: Well, whenever you're ready to go on, we can start Tavis' call.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_01: I hate the idea that 22 people are actually watching this.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm going to just pretend that it's only three.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, sure.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_01: There is a chair for you here by Tavis Ferguson.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_01: I'm going to try to read this while it's in bright mode.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_01: I spent so many years standing in doorways learning the architecture of leaving
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_01: before anyone could ask me to stay.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_01: I knew how to make myself useful,
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_01: how to fill a silence,
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_01: how to make a room laugh while quietly measuring the distance to the exit.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_01: I mistook being needed for being wanted,
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_01: applause for affection in the absence of rejection for something resembling love.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_01: Then somewhere between September's last light and October's falling leaves,
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_01: strangers began leaving doors open.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_01: Not with grand declarations, not with promises, too beautiful to survive the morning.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_01: Just a word, a kindness, a voice saying, there's always a chair for you here.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_01: And I didn't know what to do with a chair.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_01: That came without conditions.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_01: I wanted to ask what I was supposed to bring,
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_01: how long I could stay, whether the invitation had been meant for someone else.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_01: Instead, I sat and the world did not end.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_01: Somebody read my words and recognize a heartbeat beneath the punctuation.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_01: Somebody remembered me when I wasn't in the room.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_01: Somebody offered kindness without asking for the story or of every wound
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_01: that made me suspicious of it.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_01: Well, meanwhile the boy I used to be kept appearing in old notebooks,
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_01: in photographs, in stories I'd written.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_01: Before I understood what I was trying to save.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_01: He had been waiting all these years for someone to tell him.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_01: He was allowed to take up space.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_01: I wish I could say I finally told him.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_01: But some nights,
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_01: I'm still a boy standing in the doorway,
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_01: convinced that every welcome has an expiration date.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_01: So I practice.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_01: I leave a kind word without checking whether it remains.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_01: I celebrate another person's light.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_01: Without dimming my own, I let a friend buy dinner.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_01: I let someone call me a writer.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_01: I let the silence after a message remain silence instead of turning it into a verdict.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_01: And when the old fear whispers that I have overstayed,
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_01: that I am too much, that eventually everyone will notice, I look around.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_01: There are people here who have never asked me to become smaller.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_01: There are voices I once knew owning as names.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_01: That now feel like windows, opening in a house.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_01: They thought had no air,
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_01: and there is a chair,
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_01: not a throne,
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_01: not a stage, not a place I'd must defend, with another thousand words, just a chair.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_01: Perhaps belonging was never the moment the whole room turned to look at me.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_01: Perhaps it was the moment I stopped watching the door long enough to look at
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_01: the people who had already made room,
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_01: I am still learning how to stay,
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_01: but tonight when someone says there is a chair for you here,
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_01: I think I might finally believe them.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: Wow, wow, wow.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, do you want me to start?
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, go ahead.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_00: Go ahead and share your thoughts for us if you'd like.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_01: So...
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, for me, there's a, I hate to, I just hate to harp on it, but it feels the obvious.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_01: But there's a, so there's a, there's two things I want to comment on.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_01: Standing in the doorway,
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_01: like doorways and thresholds are used a lot in like fairy tales and myths
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_01: to represent a change of something.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_02: Sure, yeah.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_01: Something like that.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_01: So, like,
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_01: the learning,
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_01: the architecture of leaving,
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_01: there's a lot of,
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_01: like, symbolism for, like, the doorway or the exit
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_02: that I thought was
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_01: cool.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_01: And I wanted to call out the,
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_01: there's a single line,
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_01: I believe,
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_01: and it's about the shifting from autumn,
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_01: from September to the falling leaves of October.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, yeah,
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_00: yeah, yeah.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_01: That one is
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_01: my favorite line because it shows the shedding of the old and
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_01: the acceptance of the new.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_01: And it's placed in the middle where the narrator switches how they're approaching it.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_01: So those were the two spots that stood out to me.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_01: And then the obvious feeling welcome when you're used to not being feeling welcome,
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_01: but I didn't want to restate the obvious theme
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_01: because I thought I felt it was pretty plainly said.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_00: No, for sure, for sure.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean,
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_00: the way that I see it is there's no problem with covering like the high level kind
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: of stuff with poetry because that's how you I think that's a great way
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_00: to analyze poetry.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, no, I think the lines you called out are both really good ones.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of really good lines in this one.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_00: I think what's interesting is I want to say like the last poem that we read
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_00: from Tavis like last month maybe or the month before,
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: it was a more like comedy poem.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_00: So I wasn't really expecting something so like,
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_00: you know, kind of like an emotional gut punch like this.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_00: You know,
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_00: like when I think of Tavis' poems that we've read,
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_00: they're usually a bit more, you know, like of a different approach.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_00: So it caught me off guard, but in a good way.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: Not to, again, kind of state the obvious, but I really loved the vulnerability here.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_00: I really liked how open and honest it was.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I feel like it really hits upon some very universal elements of the human experience.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_00: Stuff that I think just about anybody can relate to,
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_00: maybe more so than others, depending on what point they are in their life.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_00: But I mean, I felt like this, right?
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: And there's definitely times when I still feel like this,
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_00: where it's like,
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_00: I really struggled to show up in a place,
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_00: and shout out to Substack and the community,
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_00: because this place really has made me feel welcome.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_00: But in the past,
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_00: whether it's an online community or just trying to join writing communities
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_00: in person,
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_00: it always felt like I had to show up with something that I had to bring
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_00: a certain level of value to the table or that I wasn't really welcome.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_00: This idea that you could be unconditionally welcomed in a space is You know, it's tough.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_00: Like I said, I think this is something that a lot of people can relate to.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_00: You know, here we go.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_00: We're only second poem in, but I got to talk about the ending.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_01: I'm happy you held out this long.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_00: I was good.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_00: I was good.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_00: I made one poem without mentioning endings.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_00: But no, I just I love the arc that this poem took.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and again, kind of the final lines there.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_00: I think I might finally believe them like.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_01: It just like it hits like it goes straight to the heart and it hits.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_00: I want to look at a few of the comments here to real quick.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, Hallie at one point says this poem hits home.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_00: Vernon Butterfly says and the tears.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_00: Casey Taylor coming in again with a great comment here.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_00: Emotional conditioning leading to a depleted sense of self.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, absolutely.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_00: Feeling like an imposter in a realm.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, yep, yep.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_00: Another comment from Helene says, absolutely beautiful.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_00: Hallie says, my eyes are misty.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, yeah.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that was heavy.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_00: That was heavy, but in a good way.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_00: Like I said,
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_00: it was very powerful in how vulnerable it was and how authentic and genuine it felt.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_00: So really impressive stuff from Tavis.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_00: I like this one a lot.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think everybody can relate to this one.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_00: Very nice piece.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_00: Man, we are hitting the feels early on in this stream.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_00: Well, let's move right along.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_00: Seeing as how Hallie Jules is in the chat, I'm going to read her poem next.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_00: And also shout out to Mr. Hallie.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_00: I think Hallie said at one point that Mr. Hallie is watching too.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_00: So hello.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, let me drop the link in the chat here.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_00: This is Hallie Jules.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_00: I'll give everybody a second to open the link.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_00: I've got it open on my end here.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_00: Fun fact.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_00: Fun fact.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so, um,
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_00: So in this case, the musical pairing is Florence and the Machine.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_00: Same title as the poem, Shake It Out.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, no.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_00: The song is entitled Shake It Out.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_00: The poem is entitled Shake Me Out.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_00: Two different shakeouts.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_00: This is awesome.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_00: Like I said, I love seeing power-up prompts stuff like this.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_00: Before I read it,
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_00: just in case anybody's curious,
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_00: power-up prompts are something that I do when I'm not running writing challenges
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_00: on Substack.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_00: So they're obviously not happening right now because I've got
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_00: a whole horror challenge going on in October this month.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_00: But in November, they'll pick up again.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_00: They come out on Sundays.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_00: They used to come out on Saturdays,
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_00: but I moved them because I also shifted the podcast around each week.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_00: So yes, starting in November, every Sunday, you'll get a power-up prompt from me again.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and just like Hallie did here,
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_00: you can do, um,
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_00: you can do poems, you can do short stories, you can do whatever you'd like for them.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um, there's of course like a submission process.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_00: And then I talk about all the submissions each week on the podcast.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and, uh, yeah, they always come with three pieces.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_00: Three elements is what I call them.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, just a little plug right there, but let me stop talking about myself here.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um, um, so, uh, yeah,
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_00: this, this next poem here is Shake Me Out by Hallie Jules and I'll get started.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_00: I collect identities,
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_00: like a secret agent,
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_00: trying on personas,
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_00: like a kid playing dress-up, and I still haven't found my perfect fit.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_00: The dutiful eldest daughter,
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_00: the good Christian girl,
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_00: the quirky bookworm,
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_00: the weird kid,
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_00: the tomboy,
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_00: the Jezebel,
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_00: the annoying big sister,
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_00: the faithful employee,
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_00: the doormat,
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_00: the blushing young bride, the glowing new mother, The successful man's wife.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_00: The mindful yogi.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_00: The burnt out personal trainer.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_00: The wannabe author.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_00: The invisible cornerstone on which other lives were built.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_00: But what about mine?
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_00: Who am I?
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_00: Is life worth it if I am not at your service?
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_00: If I stopped giving your problems piggybacks and free rides?
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sorry.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going out of business.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_00: This dead horse cannot be beaten back to life.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's buried with the hatchet.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_00: I used to cut the cord.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_00: I used to cut the cord.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_00: Please don't be mad.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_00: I did what I had to do.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_00: Lest the demons beneath my skin finally turned me inside out.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_00: Do I believe in life after regret?
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_00: After the final curtain call on this one-woman shit show,
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_00: I can't say one way or the other, but I'd rather dance alone than with my ghosted.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_00: Just so you know,
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_00: underneath this facade lies a blank slate,
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_00: infinite galaxies yawning awake, a name I no longer claim.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_00: Would a friend,
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_00: a lover,
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_00: a daughter,
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_00: a mother,
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_00: a student,
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_00: a teacher, a singer, a dancer, a creator, By any other name still taste is sweet.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_00: No, nothing tastes as sweet as the freedom I gain by stripping it all off,
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_00: shaking out the shame, dancing naked under the moon to the beat of my own drum.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_00: They say joy arrives with the dawn, but I come alive in the dark, a creature of the night.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_00: Paint myself green with the ink of the leaves,
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_00: a monster of your own making,
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_00: the fragrant reminder of how epically you've failed me.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_00: There is no more forgive and forget, no more muting my voice to protect your guilty ears.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_00: I see the way now.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_00: It is time to go forth into the morn, not gently, but fiercely, completely undone.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_00: Look out, world.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_00: Something wicked this way comes.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_02: Love it.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_00: Great ending.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_00: That was awesome.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_00: Good poem from Hallie Jules there.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and like I said, the musical pairing here is Florence and the Machine, Shake It Out.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, musical pairings are something that I've done since I joined Substack.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_00: The idea,
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_00: of course, being,
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_00: what's the song that I imagine playing while the credits roll,
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_00: you know, after reading this is kind of the concept.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_00: So I asked people to do their own musical pairing with this particular power-up prompt.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, I'll just dive right into the analysis here.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I remember reading this one,
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_00: obviously,
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_00: back when Hallie first posted it,
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_00: but I would say that it is even more relevant now than it was back in January,
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_00: just like knowing the context of everything that's going on right now,
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_00: just on the wider internet with the wider writing community.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_00: You know,
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_00: and then,
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_00: of course,
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_00: like I said,
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_00: with the last poem,
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_00: there's a lot of universal sort of human condition kind of elements here,
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_00: things that I think a lot of us can relate to.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously,
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_00: a big element of this poem's identity were these stanzas where it would kind
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_00: of list off things.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I really liked that because in this particular case, you know, it was listing off titles.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_00: In one case,
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_00: it was listing off like You know,
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_00: like the stanza further on where it's like a friend,
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_00: a lover, a daughter, a mother, so on and so forth.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_00: Again, titles of a different kind.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_00: I really like that.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_00: I think it drove home this idea,
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_00: because when you think of like shaking something off or shaking something out,
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_00: it's like this repetitive motion, right?
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_00: So the poem kind of creates that sort of shaking feel with those stanzas
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_00: where it's like I'm shaking off this thing and that thing and the other thing
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_00: and I'm letting it go.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm, you know, like I'm, you know, stopping, stopping the whole charade.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I really, really like that.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_00: As always with Hallie's work,
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_00: there's just a lot of like really cool word choice,
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_00: really good structure and a ton,
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_00: a ton of emotion always, which is awesome with her poetry.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that's my, my main thoughts on that one.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_00: What'd you think Stefan?
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_01: I think to me, this was about like people pleasing.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_00: Mm hmm.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_01: And I like the, I think it's buried with the hatchet I use to cut the cord.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that was a good line.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_01: The obvious idiom is bury the hatchet, which is kind of funny.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_01: But instead,
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_01: I like the idea of burying the hatchet after you use it,
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_01: which I thought was interesting.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_01: There was a couple of things I wanted to...
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, call it specifically because you did such a good job doing the, the, um,
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_01: my main thought covering my main thoughts is,
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_01: um, by any other name still tastes as sweet.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I think that's a Romeo and Juliet, Juliet reference.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_00: I believe it is.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, which I found very cute.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_01: And then something wicked this way comes is from a Macbeth reference,
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_01: which was, um, uh,
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_01: The difference being here that wickedness isn't evil,
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_01: it's just refusing to be polite,
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_01: but both of them are subversions of Shakespeare in some way.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_01: Right, which is cool.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_01: I like those little references.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_01: Otherwise,
• 33:29
  SPEAKER_01: the paint-myself-green creature of the night is,
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_01: I believe, a reference to folkloric witches.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_01: And the monster, the wild woman, as if refusing to serve other people makes you a monster.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_01: Which was that cool.
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, otherwise, you hit a lot of it.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_00: No, but good points there.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_00: I really like how you called out some of those references
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_00: because I definitely recognize them as I was reading it.
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, it's cool.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_00: I also really like the use of Barry the Hatchet here.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_00: Like you said, the one used to cut the cord.
• 34:07
  SPEAKER_00: It's good stuff.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_00: And like I said, I think this is super relevant now.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_00: This was published back in January, but I feel like this is super relevant now.
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like in today's day and age, in today's world, like, you know, you...
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_00: It's really easy to kind of feel the pressures to sort of fit into a box.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_00: Like if we're just talking about like obviously as people,
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_00: there's all kinds of pressure like that.
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_00: But as writers too, right?
• 34:29
  SPEAKER_00: Like there's this pressure to like write what's going to perform right into
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_00: the market that's going to make money, you know?
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_00: And that's how obviously like traditional publishing has gone and continues to go.
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_00: And it's why indie publishing has gotten so big is it's because it's like,
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_00: no, we shouldn't have to just write what is proven to work.
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_00: I think in general, like a lot of industries are struggling with this right now.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of creative industries are They are so adverse to risk or taking risks
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_00: that they will not greenlight anything but what's guaranteed to be a hit.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_00: That's not how you create new ideas.
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_00: That's not how you foster masterpieces.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_00: That's not how you discover new things.
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_00: It's interesting.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_00: Again, Hallie's poem is more relevant than ever in that regard,
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_00: where it's like,
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_00: at a certain point, you just have to stop listening to the haters, as it were.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_00: You just have to shake it off, be yourself, and know that that's okay.
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_00: It's okay to be yourself, 100%.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_00: You should be, and no one else should make you feel like you can't be.
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_00: For that reason, this poem will always be relevant, I think, no matter how much time goes by.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_00: Good stuff.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_00: Really, really good stuff.
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_00: Fantastic work from Hallie.
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_01: I agree with your assessment.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_00: I concur.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like people are trolling me.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_01: Every poem I've opened so far is light mode.
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_01: And I haven't spotted any Bible references yet.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_01: I had my pen and paper ready.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_00: There's got to be some in here somewhere.
• 36:10
  SPEAKER_01: I haven't noticed any yet, so if I notice one, I'll tell you.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_01: I got one by Casey Taylor, who I believe is in the chat.
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_01: And this one has one like and one restack.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_01: And both of those are me just now.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_00: Well, we need to fix that.
• 36:26
  SPEAKER_00: I will contribute another like.
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_01: If you like this one, make sure you help Casey out here a little bit.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_01: Mike, who did you submit to?
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if I have you on my list.
• 36:41
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, no, I do have you on my list.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_00: I was looking for Mike's as well, actually.
• 36:46
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so he's on your list.
• 36:47
  SPEAKER_01: I do have Mike's on my list.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_00: Good.
• 36:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, if you submitted a poem and you want it read while you're here,
• 36:53
  SPEAKER_01: don't be afraid to speak up because it is very possible we don't connect the dots.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes URLs,
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_00: I just have URLs in a document,
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_00: so sometimes it's hard to tell if the screen name matches the name of the URL,
• 37:05
  SPEAKER_00: like the publication.
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_00: Feel free to speak up.
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_00: Hallie did say just now that Joy Comes with the Dawn was a Bible reference.
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I missed it.
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of emotion in that poem.
• 37:20
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe
• 37:21
  SPEAKER_01: next time I'll catch it.
• 37:25
  SPEAKER_01: How many poems were submitted?
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_01: Somewhere around 30, I think we have.
• 37:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's about 30, yep.
• 37:30
  SPEAKER_01: Which we won't get through all of them, but we'll get through the majority.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we'll get through the majority of them.
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, this is Casey Taylor,
• 37:41
  SPEAKER_01: and it's called Meeting the Fronts,
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_01: and I don't remember if I posted the link or not, so I did.
• 37:49
  SPEAKER_00: You did, I see it now, yeah.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_00: I did, okay, cool.
• 37:52
  SPEAKER_01: We'll give everybody a minute for that.
• 37:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, I'm going to get it open.
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 38:20
  SPEAKER_01: I met northern winds, both cold and brazen.
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_01: No trumpet sounded their approach.
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_01: No warning marked where they encroached.
• 38:29
  SPEAKER_01: Along the line were currents met.
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_01: The stage was laid, the air was set.
• 38:36
  SPEAKER_01: The colder mass beneath would slide.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_01: And this the warmer,
• 38:41
  SPEAKER_01: lighter tide,
• 38:43
  SPEAKER_01: What rose was more than wind alone,
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_01: As vapor climbed through heights unknown,
• 38:50
  SPEAKER_01: And far above the waking plain, The first white towers began to gain.
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_01: The ascent.
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_01: The warmer winds began to rise.
• 39:02
  SPEAKER_01: The burden climbing towards the skies.
• 39:05
  SPEAKER_01: The colder air pressed from below and upward drove the humid flow.
• 39:13
  SPEAKER_01: Through thinning air and currents climbed as heat and height became entwined.
• 39:19
  SPEAKER_01: The vapor cooled, the droplets grew.
• 39:24
  SPEAKER_01: And clouds emerged from open blue.
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_01: Within those towers, heat was freed and fed the rising current's need.
• 39:33
  SPEAKER_01: The new moon cloud began to swell.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_01: The shadows stretched across the dell.
• 39:39
  SPEAKER_01: Still higher climbed the swelling white.
• 39:43
  SPEAKER_01: Its shoulders reaching toward the light.
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_01: The upper winds began to shear and swept its crown through atmosphere.
• 39:53
  SPEAKER_01: Beneath the clouds the daylight waned as countless droplets gathered strained.
• 40:00
  SPEAKER_01: The rising winds refused to yield while shadows swallowed half the field and high
• 40:07
  SPEAKER_01: above the darkened land.
• 40:10
  SPEAKER_01: A towering giant took its stand,
• 40:13
  SPEAKER_01: its crown spread wide, its base grew deep, while restless currents ceased to sleep.
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_01: The turning,
• 40:22
  SPEAKER_01: across the heights the currents veered,
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_01: as shifting winds above appeared,
• 40:29
  SPEAKER_01: while lower breezes pressed ahead, the upper winds another tread.
• 40:36
  SPEAKER_01: Between the paths the rolling grew as unseen wheel the currents drew.
• 40:43
  SPEAKER_01: Along the plains the shear took hold and horizontal spirals rolled.
• 40:49
  SPEAKER_01: The rising column broadened strong.
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_01: Drew spinning currents still up along.
• 40:55
  SPEAKER_01: What once had rolled beneath the sky was tilted upward climbing high.
• 41:00
  SPEAKER_01: Within the cloud the turning spread, a widening spiral overhead.
• 41:07
  SPEAKER_01: The mighty updraft, rising still, began to turn with gathering will.
• 41:13
  SPEAKER_01: The cloud grew dark its belly wide.
• 41:17
  SPEAKER_01: As rain descended down its side,
• 41:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yet deep within the currents spun,
• 41:23
  SPEAKER_01: The circling dance had just begun,
• 41:25
  SPEAKER_01: Above the fields the heavens turned,
• 41:28
  SPEAKER_01: While distant flashes briefly burned,
• 41:32
  SPEAKER_01: Beneath the storm the shadows lay,
• 41:35
  SPEAKER_01: As daylight slowly drained away,
• 41:38
  SPEAKER_01: The descent,
• 41:39
  SPEAKER_01: Beneath the cloud the currents wound,
• 41:42
  SPEAKER_01: As restless winds swept near the ground, Oh, I'm sorry.
• 41:48
  SPEAKER_01: The currents wound as restless winds stepped near the ground.
• 41:52
  SPEAKER_01: The lowering base began to churn.
• 41:56
  SPEAKER_01: While hidden eddies twisted turned,
• 42:00
  SPEAKER_01: the rain swept wide, the heavens roared, as colder currents downward poured.
• 42:07
  SPEAKER_01: Along the edge where warm winds met, a tighter circulation set.
• 42:13
  SPEAKER_01: Beneath the storm a wall descended, while rising, sinking winds contended.
• 42:18
  SPEAKER_01: The ragged clouds began to twist, their edges veiled in rain and mist.
• 42:24
  SPEAKER_01: A narrow finger reached below, its ghostly shape began to show.
• 42:30
  SPEAKER_01: It stretched beneath the thunder's crown, a twisting column reaching down.
• 42:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yet far beneath the silver thread,
• 42:38
  SPEAKER_01: The winds had gathered strength and spread,
• 42:42
  SPEAKER_01: Across the field and grasses bowed,
• 42:45
  SPEAKER_01: As dust arose beneath the cloud,
• 42:48
  SPEAKER_01: The earth and sky were joined at last,
• 42:51
  SPEAKER_01: Through spinning winds that gathered fast,
• 42:54
  SPEAKER_01: A column carved from cloud and air,
• 42:57
  SPEAKER_01: Now crossed the fields that waited there,
• 43:00
  SPEAKER_01: The passage, Across the plains, the vortex tore, a thousand winds within its roar.
• 43:09
  SPEAKER_01: The grass is bent, the branches snapped, as twisting currents struck and wet and wrapped.
• 43:18
  SPEAKER_01: As a cloud, the timbers strained, as driving winds their strength maintained.
• 43:24
  SPEAKER_01: The roots of oaks beneath the ground were wrenched from earth with thunderous sound.
• 43:32
  SPEAKER_01: Stuck the rafters groaned,
• 43:35
  SPEAKER_01: A pressure surge to the timbers moaned,
• 43:38
  SPEAKER_01: The walls that held through years of rain,
• 43:41
  SPEAKER_01: Now buckled underneath the strain,
• 43:43
  SPEAKER_01: A splinted beam,
• 43:45
  SPEAKER_01: a shattered pane,
• 43:46
  SPEAKER_01: Were swept into the whirling rain,
• 43:49
  SPEAKER_01: What once lay still upon the land,
• 43:52
  SPEAKER_01: Now flew beneath the storm's command,
• 43:55
  SPEAKER_01: The Iron Bent,
• 43:56
  SPEAKER_01: The Girder's Swayed,
• 43:58
  SPEAKER_01: As Bolts Gave Way,
• 43:59
  SPEAKER_01: And Joints Betrayed,
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_01: A Thousand Pounds Of Timbers Spun,
• 44:04
  SPEAKER_01: Beneath A Sky That Hid The Sun,
• 44:06
  SPEAKER_01: Through The Fields Of Wheat,
• 44:08
  SPEAKER_01: The Funnel Press,
• 44:10
  SPEAKER_01: And Laid The Golden Harvest West,
• 44:14
  SPEAKER_01: Across The Roads,
• 44:15
  SPEAKER_01: Through Groves Of Pine,
• 44:17
  SPEAKER_01: It Carved A Wandering Broken Line,
• 44:20
  SPEAKER_01: No fury drove its winding course,
• 44:23
  SPEAKER_01: no malice lived within its force,
• 44:25
  SPEAKER_01: the winds obeyed no wrath or will, yet left the shattered valley still.
• 44:31
  SPEAKER_01: And onward swept the turning wall, past broken roofs and trees grown tall.
• 44:38
  SPEAKER_01: The earth lay changed beneath its flight as daylight vanished into night.
• 44:43
  SPEAKER_01: The unraveling, beyond the fields the funnel swayed, its towering column thin and frayed.
• 44:51
  SPEAKER_01: The winds that once had tightly wound began to loosen near the ground.
• 44:57
  SPEAKER_01: The circling current stretched and bent.
• 44:59
  SPEAKER_01: Their strength diminished as they went.
• 45:02
  SPEAKER_01: The narrow waist grew thinner still.
• 45:05
  SPEAKER_01: A twisting rope beyond the hill.
• 45:08
  SPEAKER_01: The thunder rolled across the plain, where distant fields received the rain.
• 45:14
  SPEAKER_01: The ragged funnel writhed on high.
• 45:18
  SPEAKER_01: A fading ribbon in the sky.
• 45:21
  SPEAKER_01: No final cry, no parting sound announced its leaving of the ground.
• 45:27
  SPEAKER_01: The dust that danced beneath its feet fell slowly back through fields of wheat.
• 45:32
  SPEAKER_01: The clouds above continued on, though from the earth the funnel'd gone.
• 45:39
  SPEAKER_01: The storm still held its breath in height.
• 45:44
  SPEAKER_01: Its distant flashes pierced the night,
• 45:47
  SPEAKER_01: and where the turning winds had passed, the air grew quiet, though not at last.
• 45:53
  SPEAKER_01: From far above the current flowed, and through the clouds the thunder rode.
• 46:00
  SPEAKER_01: The aftermath.
• 46:01
  SPEAKER_01: Beyond the hills, the thunder rolled.
• 46:04
  SPEAKER_01: Its fading echoes low and soft and low.
• 46:08
  SPEAKER_01: The clouds withdrew the heavy shade, revealing paths the wind had made.
• 46:13
  SPEAKER_01: Across the fields, the grasses lay, their tangled blades bent far away.
• 46:19
  SPEAKER_01: The ancient oaks whose roots ran deep, they torn from earth in silent sleep.
• 46:25
  SPEAKER_01: Where rooftops stood against the rain, the open sky looked down again.
• 46:31
  SPEAKER_01: The timbers scattered, walls laid bare.
• 46:36
  SPEAKER_01: Stood witness to the passing air.
• 46:38
  SPEAKER_01: A broken fence, a splintered door, lay where they had not lain before.
• 46:44
  SPEAKER_01: The iron rested in the clay where mighty winds had cast away,
• 46:51
  SPEAKER_01: and through the wreckage waters ran along the path that storms began.
• 46:55
  SPEAKER_01: The rain returned to stream and ground where old currents were still well found.
• 47:04
  SPEAKER_01: Above the plain the clouds grew thin,
• 47:07
  SPEAKER_01: The shafts of sunlight entered in,
• 47:11
  SPEAKER_01: No triumph marked the clearing sky,
• 47:13
  SPEAKER_01: No judgment lingered from on high,
• 47:16
  SPEAKER_01: The winds had neither won nor lost,
• 47:19
  SPEAKER_01: Though earth had borne the passing cost,
• 47:21
  SPEAKER_01: What rose had turned what turned had passed,
• 47:24
  SPEAKER_01: And nothing held its shape to last,
• 47:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yet far beyond the quiet plain,
• 47:30
  SPEAKER_01: The sun would warm the earth again,
• 47:33
  SPEAKER_01: And somewhere where the currents meet, the rising air would find its feet.
• 47:40
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 47:41
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 47:42
  SPEAKER_00: Nice job.
• 47:44
  SPEAKER_00: That was a very long one, but I really liked the journey that it took us on.
• 47:50
  SPEAKER_00: Given that you just read all of that,
• 47:51
  SPEAKER_00: do you want me to go first here so you can rest your voice for a second?
• 47:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, go ahead.
• 47:55
  SPEAKER_01: I'll allow you this.
• 47:57
  SPEAKER_00: I was going to say, that was really good.
• 48:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, really nice reading there.
• 48:01
  SPEAKER_00: A few comments in the chat about how nice your reading was.
• 48:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so obviously the flow here is obviously describing sort of this weather patterns.
• 48:13
  SPEAKER_00: There's obviously a tornado sort of happening at a certain point and then kind of the aftermath.
• 48:18
  SPEAKER_00: What I like about this the most is...
• 48:22
  SPEAKER_00: How it presents weather as something like...
• 48:25
  SPEAKER_00: And it kind of hones in on this at the end here where it's talking about how...
• 48:30
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to scroll back down real quick.
• 48:34
  SPEAKER_00: It talks about how the winds had neither won nor lost.
• 48:37
  SPEAKER_00: Basically...
• 48:40
  SPEAKER_00: Again, it's like weather like this can seem like scary and violent and stuff like that.
• 48:45
  SPEAKER_00: But I like the way that this poem kind of presents weather
• 48:48
  SPEAKER_00: as something that's not really trying to do anything.
• 48:50
  SPEAKER_00: It's just sort of like part of the process of the planet, you know?
• 48:55
  SPEAKER_00: And the poem kind of pays it that respect in a lot of ways
• 49:01
  SPEAKER_00: while also being obviously very beautifully written.
• 49:03
  SPEAKER_00: I have to obviously shout out the extremely impressive rhyme structure all the way
• 49:09
  SPEAKER_00: through that...
• 49:10
  SPEAKER_00: I, it would,
• 49:11
  SPEAKER_00: it would have taken me forever to write this because I mean,
• 49:15
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 49:15
  SPEAKER_00: with the poems where I,
• 49:16
  SPEAKER_00: where I do have a rhyme structure, I mean, I'll, I'm,
• 49:19
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like constantly Googling every single word,
• 49:21
  SPEAKER_00: be like, well, what rhymes with this?
• 49:22
  SPEAKER_00: What rhymes with this?
• 49:23
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and I'm looking at like lists of words that rhyme and I'm like, okay, all right.
• 49:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's, it feels like trying to solve a puzzle while also writing the poem, you know what I mean?
• 49:32
  SPEAKER_00: So really impressive stuff there.
• 49:34
  SPEAKER_00: What I was going to say too, is, um,
• 49:36
  SPEAKER_00: I would love for this author,
• 49:38
  SPEAKER_00: Casey Taylor,
• 49:39
  SPEAKER_00: I would love for this author to maybe one day do
• 49:42
  SPEAKER_00: a poetry collection that's all just like weather themed poetry like this,
• 49:46
  SPEAKER_00: because that would be super cool.
• 49:48
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I would read that.
• 49:49
  SPEAKER_00: I just really like the style here.
• 49:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I feel like you could do a lot of things with it.
• 49:52
  SPEAKER_00: Like this was a storm, right?
• 49:54
  SPEAKER_00: But what if we did one about like an ocean,
• 49:56
  SPEAKER_00: you know, like, like, you know, an ocean being calm or an ocean during a storm?
• 50:00
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you could do like...
• 50:02
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know,
• 50:02
  SPEAKER_00: like a volcano or like lightning or there's all different kinds of weather events
• 50:06
  SPEAKER_00: that you could do with this kind of format here.
• 50:08
  SPEAKER_00: So I like that a lot.
• 50:10
  SPEAKER_00: It was, yeah, really, really impressive stuff technically and just from a poetic standpoint.
• 50:15
  SPEAKER_00: I'll let you jump in now.
• 50:17
  SPEAKER_01: So this is an iambic tetrameter, I believe.
• 50:20
  SPEAKER_01: So this is eight syllables per line with an A-A-A-B-B.
• 50:23
  SPEAKER_01: This is...
• 50:29
  SPEAKER_01: As I think, this is harder than it looks.
• 50:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 50:34
  SPEAKER_01: Counting syllables with that line scheme at that length is harder than it looks.
• 50:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 50:41
  SPEAKER_01: Like, yeah,
• 50:42
  SPEAKER_01: that would be,
• 50:44
  SPEAKER_01: anyone who's not tried that would be,
• 50:46
  SPEAKER_01: I encourage everybody to try structured poetry like that.
• 50:50
  SPEAKER_01: I like the opposites, the marriage of the opposites.
• 50:56
  SPEAKER_01: Early on,
• 50:57
  SPEAKER_01: it's south versus north,
• 50:58
  SPEAKER_01: then it's warmth versus cold,
• 51:00
  SPEAKER_01: then it's moisture versus dryness,
• 51:01
  SPEAKER_01: and then you got updraft versus downdraft, and then you got chaos versus order.
• 51:06
  SPEAKER_01: I thought that was cool,
• 51:10
  SPEAKER_01: and I also found it cool that there were lines,
• 51:14
  SPEAKER_01: they weren't repeating lines, but they were...
• 51:20
  SPEAKER_01: um obviously analogous to ones on the opposite side of the structure of the poem
• 51:28
  SPEAKER_01: because you went you went the meeting the ascent the turning the descent the passage
• 51:32
  SPEAKER_01: the unraveling the aftermath and you could see in the middle
• 51:41
  SPEAKER_01: The middle section,
• 51:42
  SPEAKER_01: which was,
• 51:43
  SPEAKER_01: I believe,
• 51:43
  SPEAKER_01: the descent,
• 51:45
  SPEAKER_01: you could then see after that, you started seeing mirrors of lines from the first.
• 51:51
  SPEAKER_01: So I believe in the passage, we've seen mirrors of lines from the turning.
• 51:58
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, yeah, yeah.
• 52:00
  SPEAKER_01: And then so on and so on through the aftermath.
• 52:03
  SPEAKER_01: That just made the structure more impressive to me.
• 52:06
  SPEAKER_00: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
• 52:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, absolutely.
• 52:12
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of elements of this are really impressive.
• 52:14
  SPEAKER_00: Casey actually said in the chat, it took me 10 years off and on.
• 52:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, this is a very impressive undertaking.
• 52:23
  SPEAKER_00: It deserves a lot more likes and restacks.
• 52:25
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're watching, maybe we'll drop the link in there one more time.
• 52:31
  SPEAKER_00: Definitely show some support for this one.
• 52:34
  SPEAKER_00: Really impressive work.
• 52:35
  SPEAKER_00: I'll drop the link again.
• 52:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, really, really nice stuff.
• 52:43
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 52:48
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I'm going to jump into the next poem on my list here.
• 52:52
  SPEAKER_00: I was just looking at it more time.
• 52:53
  SPEAKER_00: I've been watching who's joining.
• 53:00
  SPEAKER_00: So, yeah, I think I can just go to the next one on my list for now.
• 53:04
  SPEAKER_00: Casey also says, I appreciate you guys so much.
• 53:06
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks, Casey.
• 53:07
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for submitting.
• 53:07
  SPEAKER_00: That was amazing.
• 53:08
  SPEAKER_00: Really, really good stuff.
• 53:10
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 53:13
  SPEAKER_00: The next one that I shall read is from,
• 53:18
  SPEAKER_00: I don't believe she's in the chat,
• 53:19
  SPEAKER_00: but Nimita Call has attended the last few poetry readings.
• 53:24
  SPEAKER_00: And if you recall, Stefan, she always does a portrait of us.
• 53:27
  SPEAKER_00: I think she did like two of them the last couple times.
• 53:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, she does them all the time.
• 53:30
  SPEAKER_01: She's great.
• 53:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, regardless of whether or not she's in the chat,
• 53:33
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to read hers next because we both appreciate her
• 53:36
  SPEAKER_00: and I know she'll check out the recording.
• 53:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, she did one of me like two weeks ago for no reason.
• 53:41
  SPEAKER_01: Really?
• 53:42
  SPEAKER_00: Really?
• 53:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's so nice.
• 53:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 53:44
  SPEAKER_00: No, she's awesome.
• 53:45
  SPEAKER_00: Really, really, really nice.
• 53:46
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 53:47
  SPEAKER_00: So this one here from Nimita Call is entitled Do I Wish or Dare?
• 53:53
  SPEAKER_00: And it was composed for a prompt from OceanBeing,
• 53:56
  SPEAKER_00: who goes by BeastlyBeing these days on Substack.
• 53:59
  SPEAKER_00: She changed her screen name there.
• 54:02
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, so this is Do I Wish or Dare from Nimita Call.
• 54:07
  SPEAKER_01: Did you push a link?
• 54:08
  SPEAKER_00: I did not.
• 54:09
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 54:09
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to put it in there now.
• 54:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and if you enjoy these poems,
• 54:14
  SPEAKER_01: people, please support the author and go like and restack this stuff.
• 54:19
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of these poems have criminally little engagement.
• 54:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, for sure.
• 54:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, yep, yep.
• 54:27
  SPEAKER_00: All right, so there's the link there.
• 54:28
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Stefan, for reminding me.
• 54:30
  SPEAKER_00: All right, so here's Do I Wish or Dare by Nimitak Hall.
• 54:36
  SPEAKER_00: I want to be you,
• 54:37
  SPEAKER_00: yet when I gaze into your eyes,
• 54:40
  SPEAKER_00: you seem too blue,
• 54:41
  SPEAKER_00: a little lonely,
• 54:43
  SPEAKER_00: aloof from the rest of the troop, different but as live as the tribe you belong to.
• 54:49
  SPEAKER_00: I've heard your roar reverberate within bodies louder than the bloodlust evident
• 54:55
  SPEAKER_00: in your stance, lest your circumstances fail you.
• 54:59
  SPEAKER_00: Only ever seen you behind a cage.
• 55:02
  SPEAKER_00: I'm doubting if I wish to live your life.
• 55:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yet your gaze pierces through.
• 55:07
  SPEAKER_00: Doubts disappear, leaving me in awe of your being.
• 55:11
  SPEAKER_00: You remind me that the powerful can be contained,
• 55:15
  SPEAKER_00: trapped with its wits on edge,
• 55:18
  SPEAKER_00: simpering anger roiling within, waiting to burst forth and devour.
• 55:24
  SPEAKER_00: You magnificent,
• 55:24
  SPEAKER_00: mysterious creature,
• 55:26
  SPEAKER_00: you have bewitched me with the complexity your existence carries and the simplicity
• 55:32
  SPEAKER_00: in your need to be free.
• 55:34
  SPEAKER_00: Your deliberate pace within confinement,
• 55:38
  SPEAKER_00: laboring frustration that must drive you insane,
• 55:42
  SPEAKER_00: but choosing to be silent,
• 55:43
  SPEAKER_00: observe and recalibrate,
• 55:46
  SPEAKER_00: waiting to be fed while all your strength depletes with its growing disuse,
• 55:52
  SPEAKER_00: spectacle for a breed that doesn't deserve you.
• 55:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yet I want to be you.
• 55:58
  SPEAKER_00: I want that power.
• 55:59
  SPEAKER_00: That glistens when you stare in contemplation, fury, or despair.
• 56:05
  SPEAKER_00: I want to hold and realize what you embody.
• 56:08
  SPEAKER_00: Unbothered about being liked,
• 56:11
  SPEAKER_00: unaffected by slights, ignorant with pride, comfortable alone, seeking no approvals.
• 56:18
  SPEAKER_00: Living from one meal to another,
• 56:20
  SPEAKER_00: dreaming to be on the hunt under the vast aegis of the moonlit forest
• 56:26
  SPEAKER_00: for no one has ever been truly free.
• 56:29
  SPEAKER_00: No one ever escaped such a dream.
• 56:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that was really, really good.
• 56:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I'd be curious to see what the prompt is.
• 56:37
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, there's a link at the bottom there to the prompt that it came from, but,
• 56:40
  SPEAKER_00: um, For those unaware, Nimita always includes some original art with her poetry.
• 56:44
  SPEAKER_00: So in this case here at the end,
• 56:45
  SPEAKER_00: we have a gorgeous,
• 56:47
  SPEAKER_00: looks like watercolor painting of a white tiger,
• 56:51
  SPEAKER_00: which I have to assume is the subject of this piece.
• 56:54
  SPEAKER_00: Looking at the art,
• 56:55
  SPEAKER_00: thinking back on the poem,
• 56:56
  SPEAKER_00: it feels like this is about,
• 56:58
  SPEAKER_00: obviously it mentions being caged,
• 57:00
  SPEAKER_00: but I feel like it's about a tiger or some sort of kind of...
• 57:07
  SPEAKER_00: But equally terrifying creature is kind of what I was getting here.
• 57:15
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously with Nimita's work,
• 57:16
  SPEAKER_00: there's always like,
• 57:17
  SPEAKER_00: there is some really interesting and very unique word choice in here.
• 57:21
  SPEAKER_00: I think my favorite part was the stanza here at the end that reads,
• 57:26
  SPEAKER_00: simpering anger roiling within.
• 57:28
  SPEAKER_00: I haven't heard simpering or roiling in a very long time.
• 57:32
  SPEAKER_00: That was really nice.
• 57:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, there's just,
• 57:36
  SPEAKER_00: Nimita's poetry style is very like,
• 57:39
  SPEAKER_00: It's very elegant, I think is the best word for it.
• 57:42
  SPEAKER_00: Like she has really interesting word choice and it's just beautifully written.
• 57:46
  SPEAKER_00: It sounds really nice when it's read out loud.
• 57:49
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously the structure and flow is really good.
• 57:52
  SPEAKER_00: And in this case,
• 57:53
  SPEAKER_00: this idea of,
• 57:54
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 57:56
  SPEAKER_00: Sympathizing with a caged creature, but also wanting to be it for different reasons.
• 58:01
  SPEAKER_00: I kind of like the back and forth there.
• 58:02
  SPEAKER_00: Like I said, I'll have to see what that prompt is.
• 58:04
  SPEAKER_00: I'm curious.
• 58:05
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, and as always, that art is amazing.
• 58:08
  SPEAKER_00: I love the art that she does with her poems.
• 58:11
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, what'd you think of this one, Stefan?
• 58:15
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's about human longing and alienation.
• 58:22
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 58:25
  SPEAKER_01: And I like the imagery, the two blue eyes.
• 58:35
  SPEAKER_01: Because blue, to me, is symbolism for coldness, distance, and melancholy.
• 58:43
  SPEAKER_01: And the creature associated with bloodlust and fury, the blue gaze,
• 58:50
  SPEAKER_01: I think is a cool contrast.
• 58:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then I like the, um,
• 58:58
  SPEAKER_01: like beyond the physical iron barrier,
• 59:01
  SPEAKER_01: the cage, uh,
• 59:02
  SPEAKER_01: symbolizes like, uh, like, um,
• 59:05
  SPEAKER_01: social expectations and trauma and mundane routines that like trap our ambitions,
• 59:13
  SPEAKER_01: like, um,
• 59:14
  SPEAKER_01: living from one meal to another because your ambitions like,
• 59:18
  SPEAKER_01: uh, outside of your little cage.
• 59:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so it doesn't matter how much you long for your, um,
• 59:27
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't matter how much you long for your goals and something.
• 59:30
  SPEAKER_01: If you're in a cage and you can't get to them.
• 59:33
  SPEAKER_01: And then the moonlit forest dream.
• 59:36
  SPEAKER_01: And I can't believe you didn't mention this.
• 59:38
  SPEAKER_01: Apparently I'm disappointed in your dedication to your cause.
• 59:44
  SPEAKER_01: I like how it shifts the perspective from the physical reality to
• 59:47
  SPEAKER_01: a metaphysical
• 59:51
  SPEAKER_01: issue where
• 59:54
  SPEAKER_01: whether being caged or roaming, you're
• 59:59
  SPEAKER_01: Your ultimate freedom is a shared state of being.
• 1:00:03
  SPEAKER_01: If that makes any sense, I kind of babbled for a few minutes.
• 1:00:09
  SPEAKER_00: No, that makes sense.
• 1:00:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I can see the shift there that you're talking about.
• 1:00:13
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it is a fantastic ending if we're going to talk endings.
• 1:00:17
  SPEAKER_00: Again, the word choice there, the vast aegis of the moonlit forest.
• 1:00:21
  SPEAKER_00: Like, wow, really, really good line there.
• 1:00:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, for no one has ever been truly free.
• 1:00:27
  SPEAKER_00: No one ever escaped such a dream.
• 1:00:29
  SPEAKER_00: That almost feels like a little bit like Edgar Allan Poe.
• 1:00:33
  SPEAKER_00: That last part there.
• 1:00:36
  SPEAKER_00: Feels like she's channeling Poe a little bit there.
• 1:00:38
  SPEAKER_01: I like it.
• 1:00:39
  SPEAKER_01: It's really good.
• 1:00:39
  SPEAKER_01: Possibly.
• 1:00:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:00:41
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if it's like directly referenced.
• 1:00:44
  SPEAKER_00: It's just stylistically.
• 1:00:45
  SPEAKER_00: That reads like Poe to me.
• 1:00:47
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
• 1:00:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:00:49
  SPEAKER_01: I do wonder if there is a...
• 1:00:55
  SPEAKER_02: This is a biblical reference?
• 1:00:59
  SPEAKER_01: Could be.
• 1:00:59
  SPEAKER_01: I do wonder.
• 1:01:00
  SPEAKER_01: Well, because I believe... Frankie says very Polish.
• 1:01:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it was Polish in a way.
• 1:01:08
  SPEAKER_01: I believe the caged lion in...
• 1:01:14
  SPEAKER_01: There was a caged lion in...
• 1:01:20
  SPEAKER_01: What is it?
• 1:01:22
  SPEAKER_01: Somewhere in the Bible,
• 1:01:23
  SPEAKER_01: there's a caged lion where it describes a young man who has learned to hunt and roar
• 1:01:29
  SPEAKER_01: and command fear from people.
• 1:01:34
  SPEAKER_01: And that lion is trapped.
• 1:01:37
  SPEAKER_01: And the poem explores that same tragedy of untamed nature subjected to confinement.
• 1:01:46
  SPEAKER_01: I wonder if that was purposeful,
• 1:01:48
  SPEAKER_01: if I'm just desperately looking for a Bible reference to fill my monthly need.
• 1:01:54
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that makes sense, like, logically.
• 1:01:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I was curious.
• 1:01:58
  SPEAKER_00: I was trying to dig a little bit deeper into the prompt here.
• 1:02:00
  SPEAKER_01: I think in the poem it was actually,
• 1:02:02
  SPEAKER_01: in the art it was a tiger,
• 1:02:04
  SPEAKER_01: but it's never actually described in the poem what predator it is.
• 1:02:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 1:02:11
  SPEAKER_00: No, it's not explicitly described.
• 1:02:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so you're right.
• 1:02:13
  SPEAKER_00: It could be something...
• 1:02:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:02:15
  SPEAKER_00: I just, I saw like, for example, the mention of like the blue eyes and stuff like that.
• 1:02:20
  SPEAKER_00: And then when I got to the poem,
• 1:02:21
  SPEAKER_00: or excuse me, when I got to the painting at the end, I was like, oh, it's the tiger.
• 1:02:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:02:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:02:27
  SPEAKER_00: Cool stuff though.
• 1:02:28
  SPEAKER_01: Really, really good.
• 1:02:29
  SPEAKER_01: Have you seen those like pictures where it's like all grayscale except one thing that's blue?
• 1:02:35
  SPEAKER_01: That's what I mean.
• 1:02:37
  SPEAKER_01: Have you seen those?
• 1:02:38
  SPEAKER_01: That reminds me of one of those.
• 1:02:39
  SPEAKER_01: I get this picture of like a snow tiger or something all in grayscale and
• 1:02:44
  SPEAKER_01: then you have Just the eyes blue.
• 1:02:46
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know why I got that image from the poem, but...
• 1:02:50
  SPEAKER_00: I can see it.
• 1:02:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 1:02:52
  SPEAKER_00: No, that kind of visual is super striking.
• 1:02:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:02:56
  SPEAKER_00: Cool.
• 1:02:56
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 1:02:57
  SPEAKER_00: Excellent stuff.
• 1:02:57
  SPEAKER_00: Great work from Nimit Akal there.
• 1:03:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:03:01
  SPEAKER_00: What do you have lined up next, Stefan?
• 1:03:04
  SPEAKER_01: I have...
• 1:03:07
  SPEAKER_01: I think he's still in the chat, but I have Prettier Than Angels by Mike Smith.
• 1:03:12
  SPEAKER_00: Cool.
• 1:03:13
  SPEAKER_01: Put that in there.
• 1:03:14
  SPEAKER_01: Give people just a minute to...
• 1:03:16
  SPEAKER_00: This has an awesome voiceover.
• 1:03:18
  SPEAKER_01: So if you want to listen to...
• 1:03:22
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's what it says, author voiceover.
• 1:03:23
  SPEAKER_01: Or it has a voiceover.
• 1:03:24
  SPEAKER_01: It has some kind of audio content.
• 1:03:27
  SPEAKER_01: So if you want to listen to some audio content, that's a good one.
• 1:03:35
  SPEAKER_01: Poop.
• 1:03:37
  SPEAKER_01: I screwed everything up.
• 1:03:38
  SPEAKER_00: It's all good.
• 1:03:43
  SPEAKER_00: Oh...
• 1:03:47
  SPEAKER_01: I'm just going to give people a minute while I accidentally closed the poems.
• 1:03:52
  SPEAKER_01: I have to go back through and fix my issues.
• 1:03:58
  SPEAKER_00: No, it's all good.
• 1:03:59
  SPEAKER_00: Mike says in the chat, my terrible voice, haha.
• 1:04:02
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to have to listen to it because I honestly,
• 1:04:05
  SPEAKER_00: you know, everybody's always like their own worst critic.
• 1:04:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I myself, I do a lot of narration on my poetry and stories on Substack.
• 1:04:13
  SPEAKER_00: And so I really love seeing when other authors do it.
• 1:04:15
  SPEAKER_00: So shout out to Mike for recording voiceover here.
• 1:04:18
  SPEAKER_00: Like I said, I'll have to check it out.
• 1:04:20
  SPEAKER_00: I really appreciate when authors do that.
• 1:04:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I know it takes a lot of work.
• 1:04:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, sometimes.
• 1:04:28
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, let's do that.
• 1:04:31
  SPEAKER_01: Well, the city... Oh, this is prettier than angels.
• 1:04:33
  SPEAKER_01: Mike Smith is the author.
• 1:04:35
  SPEAKER_01: While the city sleeps,
• 1:04:36
  SPEAKER_01: I drift alone down an empty street as underfoot the river rushes,
• 1:04:42
  SPEAKER_01: dragged along by violent currents,
• 1:04:44
  SPEAKER_01: caught inside an awful undertow, swept up in tides of shame.
• 1:04:49
  SPEAKER_01: Ghosts own the city.
• 1:04:51
  SPEAKER_01: They roam the street corners where the only crime they committed was to be prettier than angels.
• 1:04:59
  SPEAKER_01: Petty, jealous, made us painful reminders.
• 1:05:02
  SPEAKER_01: We had it all.
• 1:05:04
  SPEAKER_01: All we have now is God's silence.
• 1:05:06
  SPEAKER_01: So we shiver violent in his blade and recreate Babylon,
• 1:05:11
  SPEAKER_01: praying he'll remember that we were once his favorites.
• 1:05:16
  SPEAKER_01: King of the street in a cardboard castle.
• 1:05:20
  SPEAKER_01: Queen of the city with a split lip.
• 1:05:22
  SPEAKER_01: The only crime you committed was to be prettier than angels.
• 1:05:27
  SPEAKER_02: Hmm.
• 1:05:32
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, yeah.
• 1:05:45
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so, oh, I'm supposed to go first.
• 1:05:48
  SPEAKER_01: I was used to you going first because you went first last time.
• 1:05:51
  SPEAKER_01: So this looks to be, I think this is about guilt.
• 1:05:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um...
• 1:05:59
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, yeah, I can see that.
• 1:06:01
  SPEAKER_01: I think this is about guilt,
• 1:06:03
  SPEAKER_01: but I could be wrong because I'm stretching for my immediate thoughts here.
• 1:06:10
  SPEAKER_01: To me, this was the most modern, I feel, of the ones that we had today.
• 1:06:18
  SPEAKER_01: It's almost dystopian with the urban decay,
• 1:06:23
  SPEAKER_01: the homelessness, the violence, what I think is isolation.
• 1:06:28
  SPEAKER_01: And the tone being, it's fairly melancholic and almost cinematic to it.
• 1:06:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:06:39
  SPEAKER_01: And the cardboard castle is interesting imagery.
• 1:06:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:06:46
  SPEAKER_01: I wonder if there is something more behind that
• 1:06:52
  SPEAKER_01: as far as like why
• 1:06:54
  SPEAKER_01: the author would use, why that came to the author.
• 1:07:01
  SPEAKER_01: My initial thought is like the fragility of cardboard, like how easy it is to tear down.
• 1:07:07
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's almost fake, but I don't know if that's what was intended there.
• 1:07:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, really good analysis there and a really, really good poem.
• 1:07:18
  SPEAKER_00: I actually just subscribed to Mike because I was like, all right, I'm in.
• 1:07:21
  SPEAKER_00: This one made me a fan.
• 1:07:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I...
• 1:07:26
  SPEAKER_00: As you were reading this, Stefan, I really agree with what you said about the cinematic angle.
• 1:07:31
  SPEAKER_00: Like to me...
• 1:07:32
  SPEAKER_00: I I'm really picturing this against like,
• 1:07:36
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 1:07:37
  SPEAKER_00: like like a black and white image of a city on a rainy night,
• 1:07:40
  SPEAKER_00: like almost like a film noir kind of feel to it.
• 1:07:43
  SPEAKER_00: I'm imagining like a grizzled kind of detective,
• 1:07:47
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 1:07:48
  SPEAKER_00: like kind of again,
• 1:07:48
  SPEAKER_00: like a noir type feel,
• 1:07:51
  SPEAKER_00: because a lot of that genre obviously deals with like kind of,
• 1:07:54
  SPEAKER_00: you know, metaphors about the city that they take place in.
• 1:07:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't know, like the only crime they committed was to be prettier than the angels.
• 1:08:02
  SPEAKER_00: Again, it sounds like something you'd hear in like a Sin City type of movie
• 1:08:06
  SPEAKER_00: or something like that.
• 1:08:08
  SPEAKER_00: In a really good way.
• 1:08:09
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 1:08:14
  SPEAKER_00: The wording here is super catchy too.
• 1:08:18
  SPEAKER_00: I really like this concept.
• 1:08:19
  SPEAKER_00: The only crime they committed was to be prettier than the angels.
• 1:08:22
  SPEAKER_00: I like how that gets repeated and used at the end there.
• 1:08:25
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, we have the stanza, the second from the last.
• 1:08:28
  SPEAKER_00: All we have now is God's silence.
• 1:08:31
  SPEAKER_00: So we shiver violent in his shade and recreate Babylon,
• 1:08:34
  SPEAKER_00: praying he'll remember that we were once his favorites.
• 1:08:36
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 1:08:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, there's just like there's like a heaviness to it,
• 1:08:41
  SPEAKER_00: like a like kind of a thick atmosphere that it creates with the way
• 1:08:45
  SPEAKER_00: that it's worded, with the the kind of emotion that it brings.
• 1:08:48
  SPEAKER_00: Like you said, the sort of dystopian feel.
• 1:08:51
  SPEAKER_00: It's just it's a very atmospheric poem and it does a lot with only a handful
• 1:08:57
  SPEAKER_00: of stanzas here like.
• 1:08:59
  SPEAKER_00: It had me locked in, again, just without a ton of words needed at all.
• 1:09:04
  SPEAKER_00: Again, that's a sign of a really well-constructed poem.
• 1:09:08
  SPEAKER_00: It captured my attention immediately, and it held it all the way through.
• 1:09:13
  SPEAKER_00: Really, really good.
• 1:09:15
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome work, Mike, if you're still in the chat.
• 1:09:16
  SPEAKER_00: Really nice work.
• 1:09:20
  SPEAKER_00: It looks like Mike also said, it's about some things are not your fault.
• 1:09:23
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, interesting.
• 1:09:27
  SPEAKER_00: I can see that,
• 1:09:28
  SPEAKER_00: especially with the first stanza,
• 1:09:30
  SPEAKER_00: dragged along by violent currents,
• 1:09:32
  SPEAKER_00: caught inside an awful undertow, swept up in tides of shame.
• 1:09:34
  SPEAKER_00: Like, yeah, even if it's not your fault, you're kind of pulled into it.
• 1:09:38
  SPEAKER_00: It's interesting.
• 1:09:42
  SPEAKER_00: Man, I like this a lot.
• 1:09:43
  SPEAKER_00: That was really good.
• 1:09:52
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 1:09:52
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 1:09:55
  SPEAKER_00: Let me take a look at my list here.
• 1:10:02
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 1:10:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I've got the next one picked out here.
• 1:10:05
  SPEAKER_00: I'll get the link in the chat this time before I forget.
• 1:10:13
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, some of these links are like, they have like the UTM stuff attached to them.
• 1:10:16
  SPEAKER_00: It's just because they were sent to me that way.
• 1:10:18
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 1:10:20
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 1:10:24
  SPEAKER_00: So what I've got lined up for us next year,
• 1:10:26
  SPEAKER_00: again, this is someone who has been on a few of our prior live streams.
• 1:10:31
  SPEAKER_00: This is Beastly Being.
• 1:10:33
  SPEAKER_00: Nimita's poem that we read was actually for one of Beastly Being's prompts, like I mentioned.
• 1:10:39
  SPEAKER_00: Something to remember, Stefan,
• 1:10:41
  SPEAKER_00: is that she always tells me that whenever I talk about her work,
• 1:10:44
  SPEAKER_00: either here or on the podcast, she wants full feedback.
• 1:10:49
  SPEAKER_00: She wants to know what was good, what could be better.
• 1:10:51
  SPEAKER_00: She wants the whole slate of feedback.
• 1:10:54
  SPEAKER_01: This is for this upcoming poem?
• 1:10:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:10:57
  SPEAKER_00: For this one, let's go ahead and give it the full top-to-bottom feedback treatment.
• 1:11:02
  SPEAKER_00: Again, she asked me to do that with everything of hers that I read,
• 1:11:05
  SPEAKER_00: so I try to remember that whenever I'm reading your stuff.
• 1:11:09
  SPEAKER_00: So anyway, yeah.
• 1:11:11
  SPEAKER_00: So this next one, I got the link in the chat.
• 1:11:13
  SPEAKER_00: This is called No Way In by Beastly Being.
• 1:11:20
  SPEAKER_00: Two minds, two feet, two ways out.
• 1:11:24
  SPEAKER_00: Come here.
• 1:11:25
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 1:11:26
  SPEAKER_00: There.
• 1:11:28
  SPEAKER_00: Closer.
• 1:11:29
  SPEAKER_00: Let me breathe.
• 1:11:30
  SPEAKER_00: See me.
• 1:11:31
  SPEAKER_00: Don't stare.
• 1:11:33
  SPEAKER_00: Hear me.
• 1:11:34
  SPEAKER_00: Choose me.
• 1:11:35
  SPEAKER_00: Let me go.
• 1:11:37
  SPEAKER_00: Come back.
• 1:11:38
  SPEAKER_00: Don't follow.
• 1:11:39
  SPEAKER_00: Then again.
• 1:11:40
  SPEAKER_00: Then again.
• 1:11:41
  SPEAKER_00: I miss you.
• 1:11:43
  SPEAKER_00: Don't call.
• 1:11:44
  SPEAKER_00: I want your voice.
• 1:11:46
  SPEAKER_00: Not now.
• 1:11:47
  SPEAKER_00: Say something.
• 1:11:48
  SPEAKER_00: Ask nothing.
• 1:11:50
  SPEAKER_00: Disappear.
• 1:11:51
  SPEAKER_00: Two thumbs.
• 1:11:52
  SPEAKER_00: Two lungs.
• 1:11:54
  SPEAKER_00: Two kinds.
• 1:11:55
  SPEAKER_00: Two minds.
• 1:11:57
  SPEAKER_00: Fighting for one breath in.
• 1:12:01
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 1:12:05
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 1:12:06
  SPEAKER_00: So something else to note, too, is that the subtitle here says BPD splitting.
• 1:12:12
  SPEAKER_00: And I believe BPD here is bipolar disorder.
• 1:12:14
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like that's what it's referring to there.
• 1:12:18
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think she's in the chat to confirm,
• 1:12:20
  SPEAKER_00: but I'm pretty sure that's what that's referring to here.
• 1:12:24
  SPEAKER_00: And so if that is what it's referring to, I can definitely see that reflected in the poem here.
• 1:12:28
  SPEAKER_00: This this kind of this back and forth,
• 1:12:31
  SPEAKER_00: like this war inside the mind of like two different perspectives
• 1:12:34
  SPEAKER_00: or two different like ways of feeling how they're kind of clashing
• 1:12:37
  SPEAKER_00: against each other.
• 1:12:40
  SPEAKER_00: I really like how that's portrayed in the poem here.
• 1:12:43
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, in this case, these are very, very short stanzas, like a couple of words.
• 1:12:49
  SPEAKER_00: But again, I feel like that sort of fragmented approach was intense.
• 1:12:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and it, I, I feel like it works pretty much in the poem's favor.
• 1:13:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um, another,
• 1:13:02
  SPEAKER_00: another thing that's interesting too,
• 1:13:03
  SPEAKER_00: is that certain words in the poem are a different color.
• 1:13:07
  SPEAKER_00: So if you have the link open,
• 1:13:07
  SPEAKER_00: you'll see this,
• 1:13:08
  SPEAKER_00: but like two feet is green, uh,
• 1:13:11
  SPEAKER_00: two ways out,
• 1:13:11
  SPEAKER_00: just the word out is green, um,
• 1:13:14
  SPEAKER_00: towards the end, uh,
• 1:13:15
  SPEAKER_00: one breath and then in are all like shades of green,
• 1:13:19
  SPEAKER_00: just an interesting stylistic choice there.
• 1:13:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um,
• 1:13:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so from a surface-level perspective,
• 1:13:28
  SPEAKER_00: if this is meant to be,
• 1:13:29
  SPEAKER_00: like I said,
• 1:13:29
  SPEAKER_00: sort of an examination on bipolar disorder, I feel like it does that very well.
• 1:13:36
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like it portrays the sort of internal conflict, the back and forth, really well here.
• 1:13:43
  SPEAKER_00: And again, I like the short, punchy stanzas.
• 1:13:46
  SPEAKER_00: I think it works well.
• 1:13:49
  SPEAKER_00: Again, I can hear her asking, okay, well, what could be better?
• 1:13:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:13:54
  SPEAKER_00: If I'm thinking about how I would improve this one,
• 1:13:56
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like,
• 1:14:01
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like there,
• 1:14:03
  SPEAKER_00: and I'm curious what you think, Stefan,
• 1:14:04
  SPEAKER_00: but I feel like there could have been at least a couple of moments here where
• 1:14:09
  SPEAKER_00: the kind of fast and punchy rhythm lets off the gas a little bit,
• 1:14:13
  SPEAKER_00: and we get maybe just something,
• 1:14:15
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 1:14:16
  SPEAKER_00: not like completely different,
• 1:14:17
  SPEAKER_00: but like,
• 1:14:17
  SPEAKER_00: A few kind of longer lines or maybe like longer stanzas that are allowed to breathe
• 1:14:22
  SPEAKER_00: a little bit.
• 1:14:22
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like if you have sort of kind of a balance there between like
• 1:14:26
  SPEAKER_00: the short punchy stuff and then maybe some stuff that's a little bit more,
• 1:14:29
  SPEAKER_00: you know, kind of it has more just length to it.
• 1:14:32
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like that may have.
• 1:14:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I, I feel like it's, it's cut down a little too far.
• 1:14:37
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like it, it should have had a little bit more, um, meat on its bones as it were.
• 1:14:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but again, I think in terms of what it's trying to accomplish, it does very well.
• 1:14:43
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you know, um,
• 1:15:01
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, that's, that's kind of my top level thoughts.
• 1:15:03
  SPEAKER_00: What did, what did you think of this one?
• 1:15:04
  SPEAKER_00: I'm curious what you think.
• 1:15:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I got anxiety from it.
• 1:15:12
  SPEAKER_01: Not like, I wasn't, I'm not anxious, but I thought it was representing anxiety.
• 1:15:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I thought that I think the,
• 1:15:20
  SPEAKER_01: like in the middle stanzas,
• 1:15:21
  SPEAKER_01: there's a wrap,
• 1:15:22
  SPEAKER_01: there's like a move in like rapid, um,
• 1:15:26
  SPEAKER_01: Contradictory couplets,
• 1:15:27
  SPEAKER_01: like it goes,
• 1:15:28
  SPEAKER_01: come here,
• 1:15:29
  SPEAKER_01: no there, closer,
• 1:15:31
  SPEAKER_01: let me breathe, see me,
• 1:15:33
  SPEAKER_01: don't stare,
• 1:15:35
  SPEAKER_01: hear me,
• 1:15:36
  SPEAKER_01: choose me,
• 1:15:36
  SPEAKER_01: let me go,
• 1:15:37
  SPEAKER_01: come back, don't follow, I miss you, don't call, I want your voice, not now.
• 1:15:44
  SPEAKER_01: I think that those are really quite, I like how those go.
• 1:15:52
  SPEAKER_01: That's what I'll do.
• 1:15:54
  SPEAKER_01: I think the let me breathe two lungs fighting for one breathing.
• 1:15:59
  SPEAKER_01: I
• 1:16:03
  SPEAKER_01: think the physical breathing becomes a metaphor for emotional space.
• 1:16:10
  SPEAKER_01: It's like a tug of war in those middle stanzas, which I thought was very nicely done.
• 1:16:18
  SPEAKER_01: I don't agree with your criticism.
• 1:16:21
  SPEAKER_01: I think expanding the Lines would ruin the poem or significantly detract from the poem.
• 1:16:27
  SPEAKER_01: I would do almost anything except expand it if I was to do it.
• 1:16:33
  SPEAKER_01: What I do think, what I didn't like, and maybe there's a reason for this, is the ending.
• 1:16:43
  SPEAKER_01: Specifically, breathing without the G. Is breathing an intentional truncated line?
• 1:16:49
  SPEAKER_01: Or...
• 1:16:52
  SPEAKER_01: Because it wants to mimic the final inhalation, the final breath.
• 1:16:58
  SPEAKER_01: And if it is,
• 1:17:00
  SPEAKER_01: then that's not super clear to me that it looks like an air because of
• 1:17:06
  SPEAKER_01: the casual drop of the G.
• 1:17:09
  SPEAKER_01: But there's not an apostrophe,
• 1:17:11
  SPEAKER_01: so it's not clear that it's a drop of a G, another typo.
• 1:17:16
  SPEAKER_01: And if it's meant to cut off abruptly...
• 1:17:21
  SPEAKER_01: Again, maybe I would try an M- because I didn't find it.
• 1:17:25
  SPEAKER_01: I felt like to me, the final line feels like a typo.
• 1:17:32
  SPEAKER_01: The final stanza feels like there was mistakes made in its formatting that weren't intentional.
• 1:17:37
  SPEAKER_01: And if they were,
• 1:17:38
  SPEAKER_01: there were
• 1:17:41
  SPEAKER_01: ways within standard use of grammar that would have either an apostrophe
• 1:17:48
  SPEAKER_01: at the end of the breathing,
• 1:17:51
  SPEAKER_01: Or an M-dash or something like that where she could have made it look intentional
• 1:17:58
  SPEAKER_01: when it isn't.
• 1:18:00
  SPEAKER_01: Because other than that, I like the poem.
• 1:18:03
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, yeah.
• 1:18:04
  SPEAKER_00: No, I think that's fair.
• 1:18:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 1:18:07
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, cool.
• 1:18:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm sure she'll check out the recording.
• 1:18:13
  SPEAKER_00: Get the thoughts.
• 1:18:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, again...
• 1:18:15
  SPEAKER_01: The...
• 1:18:18
  SPEAKER_01: The suspense of waiting to hear a response.
• 1:18:20
  SPEAKER_01: Because last time we got the response immediately.
• 1:18:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:18:24
  SPEAKER_01: Giving critique and not getting a response for 24 hours could be... Yeah.
• 1:18:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:18:29
  SPEAKER_00: No, but I really liked your analysis.
• 1:18:31
  SPEAKER_00: Like I said, I was curious what you thought of it.
• 1:18:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I definitely respect where you're coming from,
• 1:18:35
  SPEAKER_00: too, about not wanting to change the abruptness of it.
• 1:18:39
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's totally fair.
• 1:18:42
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I think if it's about anxiety, maybe I'm not.
• 1:18:47
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe I'm mistaken.
• 1:18:47
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's about some bipolar, like Bradley said.
• 1:18:51
  SPEAKER_01: But if it's about anxiety and those lines are meant to mimic rapid breathing.
• 1:18:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:18:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:18:56
  SPEAKER_01: Then expanding the lines is obviously an objective mistake.
• 1:19:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, that's a fair point.
• 1:19:05
  SPEAKER_00: That's absolutely a fair point.
• 1:19:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah,
• 1:19:07
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 1:19:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 1:19:09
  SPEAKER_00: We'll have to see what she says.
• 1:19:10
  SPEAKER_00: But it's interesting.
• 1:19:12
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like this is definitely different, too, than the last poem we read from her last month.
• 1:19:16
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like that one had shorter lines too, but this one's even shorter.
• 1:19:20
  SPEAKER_00: Some of these obviously are like one word per line, but it works.
• 1:19:23
  SPEAKER_00: It does.
• 1:19:26
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if there's a word for that format, but I like that format.
• 1:19:30
  SPEAKER_01: Really short lines.
• 1:19:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:19:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so.
• 1:19:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's definitely impactful.
• 1:19:39
  SPEAKER_00: Good stuff.
• 1:19:40
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 1:19:43
  SPEAKER_01: We have an intellectual slot.
• 1:19:45
  SPEAKER_01: In the chat.
• 1:19:49
  SPEAKER_00: That is important to you.
• 1:19:52
  SPEAKER_01: I think she has a submission.
• 1:19:54
  SPEAKER_01: You said she had a submission, didn't you?
• 1:20:02
  SPEAKER_01: Or was that me projecting the hope onto you?
• 1:20:07
  SPEAKER_00: I don't see them in my list here unless I'm missing the link.
• 1:20:15
  SPEAKER_02: Sorry,
• 1:20:22
  SPEAKER_01: that just gave me time to restack that one.
• 1:20:25
  SPEAKER_01: Or schedule the restack for that one for tomorrow.
• 1:20:31
  SPEAKER_01: My thing timed out, okay.
• 1:20:34
  SPEAKER_01: Schedule.
• 1:20:47
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 1:20:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I don't see a link from them.
• 1:20:51
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 1:21:00
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 1:21:00
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I can't restack that at the moment.
• 1:21:01
  SPEAKER_01: I'll restack that later because Substack's freaking out.
• 1:21:09
  SPEAKER_01: I don't see.
• 1:21:11
  SPEAKER_01: Let's see.
• 1:21:12
  SPEAKER_01: Is there anyone else in the chat that submitted one?
• 1:21:18
  SPEAKER_01: God, I got too many
• 1:21:18
  SPEAKER_02: of these things.
• 1:21:22
  SPEAKER_01: Is this what you go through every time, Bradley?
• 1:21:25
  SPEAKER_01: You scroll into a two-page list of links, being like, who's still in the chat?
• 1:21:33
  SPEAKER_00: So it looks like E did submit a poem.
• 1:21:37
  SPEAKER_01: Did you submit it to me or Bradley?
• 1:21:41
  SPEAKER_01: I don't see that one in my list.
• 1:21:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:21:44
  SPEAKER_00: But if we can track down the link, we can do that one next.
• 1:21:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I can look it up because I'll do that next.
• 1:21:50
  SPEAKER_01: Because I don't have another one.
• 1:21:53
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, looks like they submitted it to you.
• 1:21:57
  SPEAKER_01: Do you want to... No, just find it.
• 1:22:01
  SPEAKER_01: I'll just find it.
• 1:22:02
  SPEAKER_01: It's fine.
• 1:22:03
  SPEAKER_01: It's fine.
• 1:22:04
  SPEAKER_01: I can find it.
• 1:22:04
  SPEAKER_01: I was going to have... Oh my gosh, Substack, please work.
• 1:22:11
  SPEAKER_01: What was it called again?
• 1:22:12
  SPEAKER_00: You're asking a lot of Substacks.
• 1:22:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, apparently it's like, nope, not today.
• 1:22:26
  SPEAKER_00: There's a link in the chat there.
• 1:22:30
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, you are the best.
• 1:22:33
  SPEAKER_01: I had a system this time.
• 1:22:35
  SPEAKER_01: As they were being submitted, I was posting them.
• 1:22:37
  SPEAKER_01: I was using the read later.
• 1:22:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um, feature on Chrome because I had nothing else to do with my,
• 1:22:46
  SPEAKER_01: with my Chrome installation and I still screwed it up.
• 1:22:49
  SPEAKER_01: Can you believe that?
• 1:22:52
  SPEAKER_00: Ridiculous.
• 1:22:52
  SPEAKER_00: Ridiculous.
• 1:22:54
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 1:22:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I won't post, I won't post it in the chat because she already did.
• 1:22:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 1:23:03
  SPEAKER_01: I thought you had done one.
• 1:23:05
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my god.
• 1:23:10
  SPEAKER_02: Everything's gone to hell.
• 1:23:14
  SPEAKER_01: Substack's not working at all.
• 1:23:16
  SPEAKER_01: When this loads, I'll read it, I promise.
• 1:23:23
  SPEAKER_01: Bradley, does your Substack work?
• 1:23:25
  SPEAKER_01: Can you pull up another poem?
• 1:23:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I actually have this one open too.
• 1:23:30
  SPEAKER_00: It worked for me,
• 1:23:31
  SPEAKER_00: but I have another one if you want to take a second and try and get this one working
• 1:23:34
  SPEAKER_00: for you.
• 1:23:35
  SPEAKER_01: Let me see if I can refresh.
• 1:23:36
  SPEAKER_01: Is it just me?
• 1:23:38
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, there it goes.
• 1:23:39
  SPEAKER_00: I got it.
• 1:23:41
  SPEAKER_00: You got it?
• 1:23:41
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, I was going to say Happy just said that Substack is down for her.
• 1:23:45
  SPEAKER_00: So, I don't know.
• 1:23:47
  SPEAKER_01: I was getting just an error.
• 1:23:48
  SPEAKER_01: It would just say error on a blank screen.
• 1:23:50
  SPEAKER_01: It would be like, okay, whatever.
• 1:23:53
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so this one is called...
• 1:23:57
  SPEAKER_01: Content warning is a cuss word.
• 1:23:59
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, this one's called Fuck I Want You.
• 1:24:03
  SPEAKER_01: It's by E, the intellectual slut.
• 1:24:07
  SPEAKER_01: And it has a
• 1:24:12
  SPEAKER_01: meme that has satanic imagery in a misty forest.
• 1:24:17
  SPEAKER_01: It says, WTF is casual.
• 1:24:19
  SPEAKER_01: Let's merge souls.
• 1:24:22
  SPEAKER_00: So good.
• 1:24:23
  SPEAKER_00: Great image.
• 1:24:27
  SPEAKER_01: It says,
• 1:24:28
  SPEAKER_01: not dramatically,
• 1:24:30
  SPEAKER_01: not with decorations, promises, or anything that requires a decision.
• 1:24:36
  SPEAKER_01: Just here with me,
• 1:24:37
  SPEAKER_01: somewhere along the way,
• 1:24:39
  SPEAKER_01: days became months,
• 1:24:40
  SPEAKER_01: and hours between us disappeared, and being myself was finally enough.
• 1:24:46
  SPEAKER_01: You have this particular way of grounding my chaos
• 1:24:49
  SPEAKER_01: without ever making me feel like I need to be less of it.
• 1:24:53
  SPEAKER_01: You are the lyrics to a song I play on repeat.
• 1:24:56
  SPEAKER_01: You assure me when I'm anxious.
• 1:24:58
  SPEAKER_01: You tell me how it is when I need to hear it.
• 1:25:01
  SPEAKER_01: Then you troll me so relentlessly that my witty banter temporarily resigns
• 1:25:06
  SPEAKER_01: because I can't stop laughing.
• 1:25:09
  SPEAKER_01: And it's an impressive feat for someone so stubborn and wholesome, often against his own will.
• 1:25:15
  SPEAKER_01: When I tell you the song is I've got friends in loads of places, you smirk.
• 1:25:20
  SPEAKER_01: Of course you do.
• 1:25:21
  SPEAKER_01: I can hear it from here.
• 1:25:24
  SPEAKER_01: Fuck, I want you flirtatiously.
• 1:25:26
  SPEAKER_01: I want to be with you sitting beneath a tree at my favorite pond,
• 1:25:32
  SPEAKER_01: watching the frogs and listening to crickets.
• 1:25:35
  SPEAKER_01: I want to hear you exhale,
• 1:25:37
  SPEAKER_01: content with slowing down, closing your eyes and feeling breeze when it passes.
• 1:25:44
  SPEAKER_01: You have a certain stillness about you that still feels like it was earned in
• 1:25:48
  SPEAKER_01: the hard way,
• 1:25:50
  SPEAKER_01: like someone who learned early on that not everything beautiful needs to be chased.
• 1:25:55
  SPEAKER_01: Let's lie under the trees together,
• 1:25:58
  SPEAKER_01: looking up at the stars just to feel how vast the universe is.
• 1:26:03
  SPEAKER_01: Let's stay here for a while, play me music while I rest, my head in your lap.
• 1:26:08
  SPEAKER_01: Put a slow version of I want to dance with somebody, feeding me pancakes with a
• 1:26:18
  SPEAKER_01: Tell me about the birds.
• 1:26:20
  SPEAKER_01: I want to know the little details you swear aren't important.
• 1:26:23
  SPEAKER_01: Tell me what you had for lunch.
• 1:26:25
  SPEAKER_01: Tell me the things you think are too ordinary to be worth remembering.
• 1:26:30
  SPEAKER_01: I'll remember every part.
• 1:26:31
  SPEAKER_01: Your favorite things have a way of etching themselves into my memory.
• 1:26:35
  SPEAKER_01: I want to hear about whatever is keeping your mind running at midnight,
• 1:26:40
  SPEAKER_01: even if you drift off halfway through telling me, fuck, I want you, tenderly.
• 1:26:46
  SPEAKER_01: There
• 1:26:52
  SPEAKER_01: something incredibly tender about being trusted with somebody else's...
• 1:26:59
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh, I can't read Bradley.
• 1:27:01
  SPEAKER_01: There's something incredibly tender about being trusted with someone's unfinished thoughts.
• 1:27:06
  SPEAKER_01: That's one of the things I like most.
• 1:27:10
  SPEAKER_01: The little moments that make minutes drift into hours.
• 1:27:13
  SPEAKER_01: The songs, the pancakes, the birds, the smirk.
• 1:27:16
  SPEAKER_01: The trolling moments neither of us intends to end.
• 1:27:21
  SPEAKER_01: The way you say something that makes me laugh,
• 1:27:24
  SPEAKER_01: when I was halfway to overthinking myself into another universe,
• 1:27:28
  SPEAKER_01: the way I grin when you call me pretty,
• 1:27:30
  SPEAKER_01: as if getting me to smile is the easiest thing in the world,
• 1:27:34
  SPEAKER_01: I like being here with you.
• 1:27:36
  SPEAKER_01: And when my thoughts start to pull away,
• 1:27:41
  SPEAKER_01: grab a balloon string in the effortlessly gentle way you always do,
• 1:27:47
  SPEAKER_01: You don't have to fix anything.
• 1:27:49
  SPEAKER_01: Ground me with those three little words that always seem quiet, like too quiet the noise.
• 1:27:55
  SPEAKER_01: You're safe, pretty.
• 1:27:57
  SPEAKER_01: Fuck, I want you wholesome and wit included.
• 1:28:00
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 1:28:07
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, boy.
• 1:28:08
  SPEAKER_02: Oh.
• 1:28:13
  SPEAKER_02: I got to get myself organized again.
• 1:28:18
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so...
• 1:28:30
  SPEAKER_01: So this, to me, is about...
• 1:28:34
  SPEAKER_01: It's fairly obviously about love.
• 1:28:39
  SPEAKER_01: So that's the obvious thing.
• 1:28:43
  SPEAKER_01: I think the structure is the opposite of the one you read.
• 1:28:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:28:50
  SPEAKER_01: Because this one had long flowing, almost prose-like structure.
• 1:28:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, definitely.
• 1:28:57
  SPEAKER_01: So that was a change from before.
• 1:29:01
  SPEAKER_01: There wasn't what I was expecting,
• 1:29:02
  SPEAKER_01: given the imagery with the Satanic and
• 1:29:08
  SPEAKER_01: the Goat imagery in the Misty Forest.
• 1:29:11
  SPEAKER_01: I expected something a lot more, a lot darker when this was almost whimsical or playful.
• 1:29:21
  SPEAKER_01: The balloon string,
• 1:29:23
  SPEAKER_01: it was really cool because the partner didn't need this grand plan to rescue them
• 1:29:30
  SPEAKER_01: or clinical advice.
• 1:29:32
  SPEAKER_01: They just reached out and grabbed this childish string of a balloon.
• 1:29:37
  SPEAKER_01: I thought that was pretty cool.
• 1:29:41
  SPEAKER_01: And then I like the stillness of a pond with crickets and frogs in the breeze.
• 1:29:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it's like, uh, the calming effect of like the situation on the nervous system.
• 1:29:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so that's what I have.
• 1:29:59
  SPEAKER_00: Cool.
• 1:29:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 1:30:00
  SPEAKER_00: No, yeah.
• 1:30:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um, this one, this one was really, really good.
• 1:30:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I obviously,
• 1:30:05
  SPEAKER_00: like you said,
• 1:30:05
  SPEAKER_00: like the,
• 1:30:06
  SPEAKER_00: the theme here is love,
• 1:30:07
  SPEAKER_00: but I think what's really interesting,
• 1:30:09
  SPEAKER_00: um, and I, I, it all kind of fit together for me right at the end.
• 1:30:13
  SPEAKER_00: But right after the last line, there's a couple of italic sections down here.
• 1:30:19
  SPEAKER_00: One of them says,
• 1:30:20
  SPEAKER_00: share this with someone you initially texted for booty calls,
• 1:30:23
  SPEAKER_00: but find yourself wanting to split pancakes with the next day.
• 1:30:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:30:47
  SPEAKER_00: Of that transformation.
• 1:30:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's like this beautiful thing where like an initial connection deepens
• 1:30:51
  SPEAKER_00: into something more mature, more special, more unique to the people involved.
• 1:30:57
  SPEAKER_00: And there's a few ways that it does that.
• 1:30:59
  SPEAKER_00: So for example, the title of the poem shows up a few times throughout.
• 1:31:02
  SPEAKER_00: The first time we see it,
• 1:31:04
  SPEAKER_00: it's flirtatiously,
• 1:31:05
  SPEAKER_00: again, very like you just met, there's that spark, there's that connection, right?
• 1:31:09
  SPEAKER_00: But then you go into the poem a bit more We see the same phrase again.
• 1:31:12
  SPEAKER_00: Now it's tenderly, right?
• 1:31:14
  SPEAKER_00: It's changed.
• 1:31:15
  SPEAKER_00: It's the same words, but the context is now different.
• 1:31:18
  SPEAKER_00: And then all the way at the end here,
• 1:31:21
  SPEAKER_00: one last time we see the phrase wholesomely with wit included.
• 1:31:25
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah,
• 1:31:26
  SPEAKER_00: it's like this slow,
• 1:31:28
  SPEAKER_00: beautiful transformation from just a spark into something that still burns bright,
• 1:31:34
  SPEAKER_00: but it's more...
• 1:31:37
  SPEAKER_00: It's going to stand the test of time, right?
• 1:31:39
  SPEAKER_00: And gosh, that's beautiful.
• 1:31:41
  SPEAKER_00: That is so, so beautiful.
• 1:31:43
  SPEAKER_00: And I love how it's described here with like,
• 1:31:46
  SPEAKER_00: it's almost like those moments where you connect with somebody and you kind
• 1:31:50
  SPEAKER_00: of have your own inside jokes.
• 1:31:51
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
• 1:31:52
  SPEAKER_00: Those little things that are unique to you and the other person.
• 1:31:54
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like someone outside looking in,
• 1:31:56
  SPEAKER_00: you can see that it's like, well, that's their relationship.
• 1:31:59
  SPEAKER_00: But to them, it's so much more than that.
• 1:32:02
  SPEAKER_00: Just beautifully, beautifully done here.
• 1:32:04
  SPEAKER_00: Really, really nice.
• 1:32:06
  SPEAKER_00: Lots of really good lines.
• 1:32:07
  SPEAKER_00: Like you said, this one has like kind of longer lines, but it worked.
• 1:32:10
  SPEAKER_00: It worked really well.
• 1:32:13
  SPEAKER_00: My favorite line,
• 1:32:14
  SPEAKER_00: I think,
• 1:32:14
  SPEAKER_00: is the part where it says,
• 1:32:15
  SPEAKER_00: the way you say something that makes me laugh when I was halfway
• 1:32:18
  SPEAKER_00: to overthinking myself into another universe.
• 1:32:20
  SPEAKER_00: As someone who's very bad at overthinking, like, gosh,
• 1:32:23
  SPEAKER_00: that phrase,
• 1:32:24
  SPEAKER_00: overthinking myself into another universe, like, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.
• 1:32:29
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely amazing work here.
• 1:32:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:32:35
  SPEAKER_00: Tell you right now,
• 1:32:36
  SPEAKER_00: that's another subscription that I'm handling right here and now, so I don't forget.
• 1:32:43
  SPEAKER_00: Beautiful work.
• 1:32:49
  SPEAKER_01: If Substack, that's me.
• 1:32:51
  SPEAKER_01: Schedule a reset.
• 1:32:52
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, it did.
• 1:32:53
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, we're saved.
• 1:32:57
  SPEAKER_01: We're saved.
• 1:32:59
  SPEAKER_01: I can schedule.
• 1:33:00
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, nope, not that one.
• 1:33:01
  SPEAKER_01: That one's still bugged.
• 1:33:03
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, gosh.
• 1:33:07
  SPEAKER_02: Beastly Beans, Cursed.
• 1:33:14
  SPEAKER_00: Grab this link here.
• 1:33:15
  SPEAKER_00: That was a wonderful one.
• 1:33:16
  SPEAKER_00: I really like that one.
• 1:33:19
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, why?
• 1:33:21
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my god, I hate this website.
• 1:33:22
  SPEAKER_01: Bradley, I hate this website so much.
• 1:33:26
  SPEAKER_01: I hate this website so much.
• 1:33:28
  SPEAKER_00: It can be infuriating.
• 1:33:29
  SPEAKER_01: I'm trying to restack the poem, but when I hit restack with note...
• 1:33:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:33:34
  SPEAKER_01: The poem doesn't show up.
• 1:33:35
  SPEAKER_01: It's just me.
• 1:33:36
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, my God.
• 1:33:40
  SPEAKER_00: No, it sounds like it sounds like they might be struggling right now with some stuff.
• 1:33:44
  SPEAKER_00: So probably not just you.
• 1:33:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:33:48
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I hate it so much.
• 1:33:50
  SPEAKER_01: It's so bad.
• 1:33:51
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 1:33:52
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, God.
• 1:33:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's all over.
• 1:33:55
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 1:33:58
  SPEAKER_01: Do you have one pulled up badly?
• 1:34:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, I do.
• 1:34:02
  SPEAKER_01: Can you save us from the awkwardness of my technical issues?
• 1:34:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, I can.
• 1:34:10
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 1:34:11
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I've got another one pulled up here.
• 1:34:13
  SPEAKER_00: I was also going to say, Stefan, if you want, I'll do this one.
• 1:34:16
  SPEAKER_00: And then seeing as how we're at the hour and a half mark,
• 1:34:19
  SPEAKER_00: maybe after this, we switch to hours to close things out.
• 1:34:22
  SPEAKER_00: Is that okay with you?
• 1:34:23
  SPEAKER_01: That works for me.
• 1:34:24
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, sweet.
• 1:34:26
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 1:34:28
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so this one that I have here,
• 1:34:32
  SPEAKER_00: it's not really formatted like a poem,
• 1:34:35
  SPEAKER_00: but it definitely reads like one from what I've seen.
• 1:34:37
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm a big fan of this particular author, so I'll go ahead and read this one.
• 1:34:40
  SPEAKER_00: I'll put the link in the chat here.
• 1:34:42
  SPEAKER_00: It's kind of posted as a note.
• 1:34:45
  SPEAKER_00: Looks like it was based off of a sketch here from Thomas Cargan, which I really like his art.
• 1:34:54
  SPEAKER_00: Really good stuff.
• 1:34:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:34:57
  SPEAKER_00: Give everybody a second to open that one up.
• 1:35:00
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think this has a title.
• 1:35:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's just like it's kind of presented like a note.
• 1:35:07
  SPEAKER_01: Like I said, it looks like it's inspired by the art there.
• 1:35:10
  SPEAKER_00: Anyway, this piece is by an author by the name of Asteria.
• 1:35:14
  SPEAKER_00: Like I said, big fan of Asteria's work.
• 1:35:17
  SPEAKER_00: And we'll just say this one's untitled.
• 1:35:20
  SPEAKER_00: But here we go.
• 1:35:22
  SPEAKER_00: Bradley, can you do me a favor?
• 1:35:27
  SPEAKER_01: DM me the link.
• 1:35:29
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, sure.
• 1:35:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:35:30
  SPEAKER_01: Because I can't actually access... Oh, never mind.
• 1:35:33
  SPEAKER_01: I fixed it.
• 1:35:34
  SPEAKER_01: Never mind.
• 1:35:35
  SPEAKER_01: You got it?
• 1:35:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I couldn't actually see the chat.
• 1:35:37
  SPEAKER_01: It just said, but now it's...
• 1:35:39
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 1:35:41
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 1:35:44
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 1:35:44
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 1:35:45
  SPEAKER_00: So this is a piece by Asteria.
• 1:35:47
  SPEAKER_00: It says, there is a skeleton in my boat, which in itself is already an odd thing to say.
• 1:35:54
  SPEAKER_00: I don't own a boat.
• 1:35:56
  SPEAKER_00: Neither have I left any bodies unburied.
• 1:35:59
  SPEAKER_00: I would not mind the skeleton so much if it could row,
• 1:36:02
  SPEAKER_00: but it simply settles deeper into the boat,
• 1:36:04
  SPEAKER_00: spine resting against the wood,
• 1:36:06
  SPEAKER_00: its jaw hanging open as if it has heard a marvelous joke just now.
• 1:36:11
  SPEAKER_00: Autumn on the water is an unkind tide.
• 1:36:14
  SPEAKER_00: The Writer's Journey.
• 1:36:38
  SPEAKER_00: The tide is unkind and it doesn't care how tired you are,
• 1:36:41
  SPEAKER_00: how badly you want to arrive, how much you long for winter.
• 1:36:45
  SPEAKER_00: Because winter is the season of the body and it does not care
• 1:36:48
  SPEAKER_00: whether I have forgiven myself or anyone else.
• 1:36:51
  SPEAKER_00: It wants a blanket.
• 1:36:53
  SPEAKER_00: It wants the windows shut,
• 1:36:54
  SPEAKER_00: the big light off,
• 1:36:56
  SPEAKER_00: soup simmering on the stove, coffee, cinnamon rolls, and movies from your childhood.
• 1:37:02
  SPEAKER_00: But spring has passed.
• 1:37:04
  SPEAKER_00: We're well past the season of ideas,
• 1:37:06
  SPEAKER_00: of plans having been made,
• 1:37:08
  SPEAKER_00: paths having been taken, doors having been opened and shut.
• 1:37:13
  SPEAKER_00: Summer has passed, too.
• 1:37:15
  SPEAKER_00: Whatever spark it had has been scattered among the small disasters that make up
• 1:37:19
  SPEAKER_00: the warmer months, the nights on the balcony, the mists sleep due to heat.
• 1:37:24
  SPEAKER_00: What comes next is winter, and it'll take all autumn to get there.
• 1:37:31
  SPEAKER_00: Good stuff.
• 1:37:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:37:33
  SPEAKER_00: And again, Thomas Cargan art is amazing there.
• 1:37:37
  SPEAKER_00: He does really, really good art.
• 1:37:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:37:40
  SPEAKER_00: So obviously this one's not like formatted like a poem,
• 1:37:42
  SPEAKER_00: but it reads like one, if that makes sense.
• 1:37:44
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's very poetic in terms of the word choice and the flow.
• 1:37:47
  SPEAKER_00: And it's almost like the way the way the notes actually structured here,
• 1:37:50
  SPEAKER_00: it's like these blocks of text that feel like And again,
• 1:37:55
  SPEAKER_00: the reason why I wanted to read this one is because I'm a huge fan
• 1:38:06
  SPEAKER_00: of Asteria's work.
• 1:38:08
  SPEAKER_00: In this one here, I, again,
• 1:38:11
  SPEAKER_00: you can tell it's based off of the art here,
• 1:38:13
  SPEAKER_00: the skeleton in the boat,
• 1:38:14
  SPEAKER_00: like it's the same setting and everything,
• 1:38:16
  SPEAKER_00: but I like how she carries it through the seasons, you know, as the poem goes on.
• 1:38:22
  SPEAKER_00: Really, really nice.
• 1:38:23
  SPEAKER_00: Great, great word choice.
• 1:38:24
  SPEAKER_00: Beautiful imagery.
• 1:38:27
  SPEAKER_00: There's like kind of a distinct sort of identity to each of the seasons too
• 1:38:31
  SPEAKER_00: in these kind of block stanzas.
• 1:38:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 1:38:36
  SPEAKER_00: Similar.
• 1:38:36
  SPEAKER_00: It reminds me a little bit of the,
• 1:38:38
  SPEAKER_00: I think it was Casey Taylor,
• 1:38:39
  SPEAKER_00: the piece we read earlier that was also sort of weather themed.
• 1:38:42
  SPEAKER_00: It kind of reminds me of that a little bit,
• 1:38:44
  SPEAKER_00: obviously with a different sort of kind of focus here.
• 1:38:48
  SPEAKER_00: But it definitely has like sort of a journey to it that I really enjoyed.
• 1:38:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:38:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:38:54
  SPEAKER_01: Really, really good stuff.
• 1:38:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's also interesting.
• 1:38:56
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm going to, I'm going to talk about the ending for a second.
• 1:38:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's really interesting how like it says,
• 1:39:01
  SPEAKER_00: it says what comes next is winter and it'll take all autumn to get there.
• 1:39:05
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, yes, obviously that's how the seasons work, but there's something deeper there.
• 1:39:10
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's just the context of the piece and like the,
• 1:39:12
  SPEAKER_00: the sort of like a vibe or the mood that it's created where it's like,
• 1:39:17
  SPEAKER_00: What those words mean is something that we could all agree is,
• 1:39:20
  SPEAKER_00: yes, that's how it works.
• 1:39:21
  SPEAKER_00: But this idea, I don't know.
• 1:39:24
  SPEAKER_00: It'll take all autumn to get there.
• 1:39:26
  SPEAKER_00: It feels like the season has suddenly become longer at the end there.
• 1:39:31
  SPEAKER_00: I really, really like that.
• 1:39:32
  SPEAKER_00: That was great.
• 1:39:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I like the I don't own a boat line.
• 1:39:49
  SPEAKER_01: We should talk about the I don't own a boat line.
• 1:39:52
  SPEAKER_01: That seems like...
• 1:40:02
  SPEAKER_01: So, in my mind,
• 1:40:04
  SPEAKER_01: the I don't own a boat line,
• 1:40:06
  SPEAKER_01: it's interesting because to me, this is like a life journey.
• 1:40:13
  SPEAKER_01: Probably trauma or something like that.
• 1:40:18
  SPEAKER_01: It could even be something like grief, burnout, something like that.
• 1:40:21
  SPEAKER_01: It's through some kind of negative experience or emotion.
• 1:40:26
  SPEAKER_01: And so the I don't own a boat line implies the person doesn't have a boat, obviously.
• 1:40:33
  SPEAKER_01: But in this, the boat seems to represent the life journey, the moving through life.
• 1:40:39
  SPEAKER_01: So the I don't own a boat line implies being caught in a life situation
• 1:40:43
  SPEAKER_01: an emotional state, which I thought was...
• 1:40:47
  SPEAKER_01: Very cool that you find yourself adrift in,
• 1:40:52
  SPEAKER_01: like, a boat you don't ask for, carrying a burden you didn't create.
• 1:40:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 1:40:58
  SPEAKER_01: There's this, like,
• 1:40:59
  SPEAKER_01: there's this,
• 1:41:00
  SPEAKER_01: in my mind,
• 1:41:01
  SPEAKER_01: in that, there's, like, this disconnect between, like, choice and circumstance.
• 1:41:08
  SPEAKER_01: You become, like, this, you, like, surrender your own...
• 1:41:13
  SPEAKER_01: Agency to move through life.
• 1:41:16
  SPEAKER_01: And you get hijacked by whatever you're almost like a captive of
• 1:41:21
  SPEAKER_01: or whatever's boat you're stealing.
• 1:41:25
  SPEAKER_01: Because you don't own your own boat, obviously.
• 1:41:29
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that it's interesting in
• 1:41:36
  SPEAKER_01: couple ways.
• 1:41:38
  SPEAKER_01: From the accidental passage where it says...
• 1:41:41
  SPEAKER_01: And I believe the line is, I never chose to be here.
• 1:41:44
  SPEAKER_01: And
• 1:41:49
  SPEAKER_01: then the absurdity of involuntary responsibility.
• 1:41:54
  SPEAKER_01: You're trapped in a boat you didn't ask for,
• 1:41:56
  SPEAKER_01: burdened with a corpse you didn't kill,
• 1:41:57
  SPEAKER_01: forced to row through an autumn tide that doesn't care how tired you are.
• 1:42:04
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like unearned labor and you can't refuse to row the boat that isn't yours.
• 1:42:10
  SPEAKER_01: And if you stop, the tide takes you away.
• 1:42:12
  SPEAKER_01: So I don't know.
• 1:42:15
  SPEAKER_01: I just, I found like the whole drift versus steering, like whose boat are you in?
• 1:42:21
  SPEAKER_01: I just found that line was
• 1:42:26
  SPEAKER_01: where I was, where my mind was most of the time.
• 1:42:32
  SPEAKER_00: No, I love that analysis.
• 1:42:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm sure Asteria would too.
• 1:42:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's really, really nice.
• 1:42:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:42:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, what a beautiful piece.
• 1:42:40
  SPEAKER_00: Great art to go with it too.
• 1:42:43
  SPEAKER_00: And of course the art inspired it.
• 1:42:47
  SPEAKER_00: Good stuff.
• 1:42:48
  SPEAKER_00: Good, good stuff.
• 1:42:49
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 1:42:50
  SPEAKER_00: Well, let me...
• 1:42:52
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think I sent you the link to... Kathy asked what we think the skeleton refers to.
• 1:42:57
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah.
• 1:42:58
  SPEAKER_01: And I thought the skeleton referred to like...
• 1:43:03
  SPEAKER_01: Unresolved baggage or past trauma, past mistakes, something like that.
• 1:43:07
  SPEAKER_01: Like a skeleton in the closet, but subverted a little bit.
• 1:43:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I would agree with that.
• 1:43:13
  SPEAKER_00: I was going to say that I think,
• 1:43:15
  SPEAKER_00: to your point, Stefan,
• 1:43:16
  SPEAKER_00: I think the skeleton could be symbolic of the old you,
• 1:43:21
  SPEAKER_00: the version of you that's died that you're still kind of carrying with you.
• 1:43:25
  SPEAKER_00: Like a reminder of your past, maybe.
• 1:43:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's how I would interpret it.
• 1:43:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's a good question though.
• 1:43:34
  SPEAKER_00: Let's see here.
• 1:43:38
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 1:43:45
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 1:43:46
  SPEAKER_01: So now you want to switch to ours?
• 1:43:49
  SPEAKER_00: I think so.
• 1:43:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:43:50
  SPEAKER_00: If that sounds good to you.
• 1:43:51
  SPEAKER_01: It works for me.
• 1:43:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 1:43:53
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to send you my link in our chat.
• 1:43:57
  SPEAKER_01: I was a bad boy and didn't send Bradley my link.
• 1:44:05
  SPEAKER_00: I remembered like 10 minutes before we started the stream, so...
• 1:44:09
  SPEAKER_01: Fair enough.
• 1:44:12
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, let's go to this.
• 1:44:19
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, and this one will be...
• 1:44:23
  SPEAKER_01: There's two poems in this, but only the first one is relevant for our discussion.
• 1:44:30
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 1:44:31
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not going to...
• 1:44:34
  SPEAKER_01: Otherwise you'll be like, oh, you submitted two points.
• 1:44:38
  SPEAKER_01: Trying to pull fast ones to find?
• 1:44:40
  SPEAKER_01: Trying to pull a fast one on me.
• 1:44:45
  SPEAKER_00: Cool.
• 1:44:50
  SPEAKER_01: Then I will put this link in the chat and whoever wants to
• 1:45:00
  SPEAKER_01: read along can do that.
• 1:45:01
  SPEAKER_00: Mm-hmm.
• 1:45:07
  SPEAKER_01: Bradley, there's a National Poetry Month thing.
• 1:45:12
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if that's relevant.
• 1:45:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that particular piece was for, I think it was last year that I wrote it.
• 1:45:19
  SPEAKER_00: It was for National Poetry Month.
• 1:45:26
  SPEAKER_00: The poet that I tagged there, V. Walker, she was hosting a challenge for Poetry Month.
• 1:45:30
  SPEAKER_00: There's a little context there about what inspired the piece, what the prompt was.
• 1:45:38
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, and this poem is Shelter Through the Storm by some loser named Bradley Ramsey.
• 1:45:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I wouldn't recommend him.
• 1:45:51
  SPEAKER_01: No one recommends this character.
• 1:45:52
  SPEAKER_01: No, no, no.
• 1:46:00
  SPEAKER_01: Although, Dries, this one, this was back in April of last year.
• 1:46:04
  SPEAKER_01: So this is a... Yeah, it's an older one, yeah.
• 1:46:06
  SPEAKER_01: You went deep into the vault for this one.
• 1:46:09
  SPEAKER_00: I did, I did.
• 1:46:12
  SPEAKER_01: I'm happy the chat found my humor funny.
• 1:46:17
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think I read it.
• 1:46:18
  SPEAKER_01: This is called Shelter Through the...
• 1:46:21
  SPEAKER_00: I was going to say, I feel like that's like a running joke between you and I.
• 1:46:24
  SPEAKER_00: Whenever it gets to mine at the end, we're always like, who the hell is this Bradley guy?
• 1:46:27
  SPEAKER_01: Who the hell is this Bradley guy?
• 1:46:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:46:30
  SPEAKER_01: That's what we do.
• 1:46:33
  SPEAKER_01: He does have lovely hair.
• 1:46:35
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 1:46:35
  SPEAKER_01: Some of the loveliest hair on Substack.
• 1:46:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I do love my hair.
• 1:46:40
  SPEAKER_00: I do, I do.
• 1:46:41
  SPEAKER_01: This is Sheltered Through the Storm by Bradley Ramsey.
• 1:46:43
  SPEAKER_01: I walk this earth with a heavy burden,
• 1:46:46
  SPEAKER_01: unable to ever speak or get a word in,
• 1:46:51
  SPEAKER_01: as she screeches my name into the ether, convinced that I'm somehow beneath her.
• 1:46:58
  SPEAKER_01: It wasn't enough to leave scars people can't see.
• 1:47:01
  SPEAKER_01: You had to continue your relentless killing spree.
• 1:47:05
  SPEAKER_01: You took the one thing I could never get back,
• 1:47:07
  SPEAKER_01: convincing me all along there was something I lack.
• 1:47:11
  SPEAKER_01: You knew my demons,
• 1:47:13
  SPEAKER_01: yet you sated their thirst, handed them the bottle when you knew I was cursed.
• 1:47:18
  SPEAKER_01: You tossed me aside when your work was through,
• 1:47:21
  SPEAKER_01: yet you were shocked when I refused to talk to you.
• 1:47:25
  SPEAKER_01: I applaud the vivid nature of your mask.
• 1:47:28
  SPEAKER_01: Fooling me must have been quite the task.
• 1:47:31
  SPEAKER_01: I've learned now how to draw that boundary.
• 1:47:35
  SPEAKER_01: My resolve is stronger than a steel foundry.
• 1:47:39
  SPEAKER_01: Your heart is encased in ice.
• 1:47:41
  SPEAKER_01: Nothing but my defeat will suffice.
• 1:47:44
  SPEAKER_01: But you fail to see that I've already won.
• 1:47:47
  SPEAKER_01: I'm free and my story has just begun.
• 1:47:50
  SPEAKER_01: You take after both our mothers, so filled with spite.
• 1:47:54
  SPEAKER_01: You don't know how to forgive, only how to fight.
• 1:47:58
  SPEAKER_01: Instead of trying to break myself,
• 1:48:00
  SPEAKER_01: I just wish I knew that I would never be good enough for any of you.
• 1:48:07
  SPEAKER_01: The Writer's Journey.
• 1:48:28
  SPEAKER_01: There's no price to pay for comfort or her love.
• 1:48:32
  SPEAKER_01: She has saved me like an angel sent from above.
• 1:48:36
  SPEAKER_01: I was a husk, degenerate, desperate to keep my flame alive.
• 1:48:42
  SPEAKER_01: She was a nomadic soul seeking a place to thrive.
• 1:48:47
  SPEAKER_01: She told me she wouldn't leave my side during any storm,
• 1:48:51
  SPEAKER_01: and I told her that I can be the flame that keeps you warm.
• 1:48:55
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, sorry about the...
• 1:48:59
  SPEAKER_01: Freudian slip.
• 1:49:01
  SPEAKER_01: No, you're good.
• 1:49:02
  SPEAKER_01: You're good.
• 1:49:04
  SPEAKER_01: I couldn't get it out of my mind.
• 1:49:07
  SPEAKER_01: So it was rough.
• 1:49:09
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 1:49:09
  SPEAKER_01: So he does have lovely hair.
• 1:49:15
  SPEAKER_01: So this is an emotional,
• 1:49:22
  SPEAKER_01: like the emotional arc of like moving into an abusive relationship.
• 1:49:26
  SPEAKER_01: This is the second one.
• 1:49:28
  SPEAKER_01: Was this our theme tonight?
• 1:49:29
  SPEAKER_01: It was emotional abuse?
• 1:49:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it must have been our accidental theme, as we often have.
• 1:49:43
  SPEAKER_01: There's two things.
• 1:49:44
  SPEAKER_01: The thermodynamic contrasts.
• 1:49:49
  SPEAKER_01: Between encased in ice and desperate to keep my flame alive.
• 1:49:54
  SPEAKER_01: I believe it's one of the two lines.
• 1:49:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:49:58
  SPEAKER_01: That mimics the feeling of loneliness and isolation when you're in
• 1:50:05
  SPEAKER_01: the emotional abuse versus the freedom you get when you're out, which was cool.
• 1:50:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:50:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:50:12
  SPEAKER_01: And then the idea that you are offering warmth after leaving a cold environment is,
• 1:50:20
  SPEAKER_01: I think, a very empathetic thing to do.
• 1:50:31
  SPEAKER_01: And then the mask,
• 1:50:32
  SPEAKER_01: calling out the vivid nature of your mask recognizes that an abuser's,
• 1:50:37
  SPEAKER_01: in cases of emotional abuse,
• 1:50:39
  SPEAKER_01: the abuser's charm in public face is often artificially constructed to protect them
• 1:50:46
  SPEAKER_01: from criticism.
• 1:50:48
  SPEAKER_01: And unmasking them in your mind is a relatively important step to...
• 1:50:58
  SPEAKER_01: Moving on, at least for me, it was an important step to moving on.
• 1:51:02
  SPEAKER_01: So as somebody who has went through emotional abuse in a prolonged relationship,
• 1:51:06
  SPEAKER_01: that's what stuck out to me.
• 1:51:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, it's a spot on analysis.
• 1:51:12
  SPEAKER_00: I really like what you called out there.
• 1:51:14
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, I mean, yeah,
• 1:51:16
  SPEAKER_00: you hit the nail on the head with every single thing that you were saying just now.
• 1:51:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 1:51:22
  SPEAKER_00: Wonderful read as always and really, really good analysis.
• 1:51:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 1:51:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:51:31
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm sorry I called you a degenerate halfway through.
• 1:51:34
  SPEAKER_00: No, it's fine.
• 1:51:37
  SPEAKER_00: It's fine.
• 1:51:37
  SPEAKER_00: It's fine.
• 1:51:39
  SPEAKER_00: Water under the bridge.
• 1:51:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:51:45
  SPEAKER_00: I was going to say, as you can see at the top there, the National Post.
• 1:51:49
  SPEAKER_00: I've done that with fiction where they give you a first line or a final line.
• 1:51:55
  SPEAKER_00: You have to do it.
• 1:52:17
  SPEAKER_01: There is significant difficulty to doing that in a way
• 1:52:22
  SPEAKER_01: where somebody can't tell what your prompt line was.
• 1:52:28
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't read the foreword at all because you just kind of spoke on
• 1:52:33
  SPEAKER_01: and you didn't mention the prompt.
• 1:52:34
  SPEAKER_01: Had you not pointed it out, I wouldn't have known it was prompted in that way.
• 1:52:38
  SPEAKER_00: No, I appreciate you saying that.
• 1:52:40
  SPEAKER_00: I was trying to work it in naturally there, the ending line.
• 1:52:43
  SPEAKER_00: So that's awesome that it didn't immediately jump out.
• 1:52:45
  SPEAKER_00: That's great.
• 1:52:47
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so for your poem, Stefan,
• 1:52:50
  SPEAKER_00: you want me to just read the first one here, The Prince's Lament, is that right?
• 1:52:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the two poems both mimic a famous Edgar Allan Poe poem, and they're both about Snow White.
• 1:53:03
  SPEAKER_00: Nice.
• 1:53:05
  SPEAKER_01: You can do both, but I'm submitting the first.
• 1:53:09
  SPEAKER_00: I'm fine to read both if it's okay with you.
• 1:53:11
  SPEAKER_00: We can see how it all flows.
• 1:53:13
  SPEAKER_01: You are welcome to do that.
• 1:53:15
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, all right.
• 1:53:18
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 1:53:18
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 1:53:18
  SPEAKER_00: So we've got the link in the chat there.
• 1:53:20
  SPEAKER_00: This is our final poem for this month's stream.
• 1:53:22
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, everybody, for hanging out tonight.
• 1:53:24
  SPEAKER_00: We'll obviously do a little outro after this.
• 1:53:26
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, let's dive into The Glass Casket by my co-host here, Stefan Pasek.
• 1:53:36
  SPEAKER_00: It was many and many a year ago in a kingdom of ice and stone that
• 1:53:41
  SPEAKER_00: a maiden there lived whom you may know by the name of Snow White alone.
• 1:53:46
  SPEAKER_00: And this maiden she lived with no other thought than to rot on a marble throne.
• 1:53:52
  SPEAKER_00: I was a child and she was a child in this kingdom of ice and stone.
• 1:53:57
  SPEAKER_00: But we loved with a love that was glass edged and wild.
• 1:54:00
  SPEAKER_00: I and my Snow White alone.
• 1:54:03
  SPEAKER_00: And this was the reason that long ago,
• 1:54:10
  SPEAKER_00: in this kingdom of ice and stone,
• 1:54:13
  SPEAKER_00: a wind blew out of a mirror of woe,
• 1:54:16
  SPEAKER_00: chilling my beautiful snow,
• 1:54:18
  SPEAKER_00: so that her highborn kinsmen came and bore her away from me to shut her up in
• 1:54:24
  SPEAKER_00: a casket of glass in this kingdom by the sea.
• 1:54:28
  SPEAKER_00: For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams of the girl with the lips of red.
• 1:54:33
  SPEAKER_00: And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes of the girl who is legally dead.
• 1:54:39
  SPEAKER_00: And so all the night tide,
• 1:54:41
  SPEAKER_00: I lie down by the side of my darling, my darling, my life and my bride.
• 1:54:48
  SPEAKER_00: In her sepulcher there by the sea, in her tomb by the surrounding sea.
• 1:54:53
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
• 1:54:54
  SPEAKER_00: I'll jump right into the next one here.
• 1:54:56
  SPEAKER_00: Next one is Queen's Quest.
• 1:55:00
  SPEAKER_00: Gayly bedight in a veil of night had journeyed a shadowy queen through
• 1:55:05
  SPEAKER_00: the velvet gloom to a vaulted room where the silver truth was seen.
• 1:55:10
  SPEAKER_00: But she grew old,
• 1:55:12
  SPEAKER_00: this queen so cold,
• 1:55:14
  SPEAKER_00: and over her heart a shadow fell as she found no hallowed ground
• 1:55:19
  SPEAKER_00: where youth might evergreen grow.
• 1:55:22
  SPEAKER_00: And as her strength failed her at length, she met a mirror spirit.
• 1:55:27
  SPEAKER_00: Mirror, said she, where can it be?
• 1:55:30
  SPEAKER_00: That grace I should inherit.
• 1:55:33
  SPEAKER_00: Over the mountains of the moon,
• 1:55:35
  SPEAKER_00: down the valley of the shadow,
• 1:55:37
  SPEAKER_00: ride, boldly ride, the glass replied, to the heart that sleeps in the snow.
• 1:55:45
  SPEAKER_00: Really glad I read both.
• 1:55:46
  SPEAKER_00: I love the way they play off each other.
• 1:55:48
  SPEAKER_00: Damn, every time, man, every time I read your poetry, I'm like, this guy is just...
• 1:55:54
  SPEAKER_00: You're on another level.
• 1:55:56
  SPEAKER_00: On another level.
• 1:55:57
  SPEAKER_00: This is so good.
• 1:55:58
  SPEAKER_00: I remember this image.
• 1:55:59
  SPEAKER_00: I remember when you posted this,
• 1:56:01
  SPEAKER_00: but this is my first time I think I'm reading it,
• 1:56:03
  SPEAKER_00: but I remember it's a very striking cover image.
• 1:56:06
  SPEAKER_00: And then, of course, the Snow White reimagined there and the image is nice.
• 1:56:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:56:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean,
• 1:56:12
  SPEAKER_00: you said,
• 1:56:13
  SPEAKER_00: I'm curious,
• 1:56:14
  SPEAKER_00: you mentioned this at the beginning,
• 1:56:15
  SPEAKER_00: this was inspired by or paid homage to an Edgar Allan Poe piece, is that right?
• 1:56:21
  SPEAKER_00: As well as Snow White?
• 1:56:21
  SPEAKER_01: The first one was Annabelle Lee.
• 1:56:25
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 1:56:26
  SPEAKER_01: The second one was Eldorado, both famous Edgar Allan Poe poems.
• 1:56:29
  SPEAKER_01: I see that now, okay.
• 1:56:30
  SPEAKER_00: Got it, got it.
• 1:56:31
  SPEAKER_01: I have this thing where I take pop culture.
• 1:56:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:56:35
  SPEAKER_01: Things like Disney.
• 1:56:37
  SPEAKER_01: And I did one for Lord of the Rings.
• 1:56:39
  SPEAKER_01: And I write poetry that takes the structure of a famous Edgar Allen Poe poem.
• 1:56:46
  SPEAKER_01: And I warp the
• 1:56:51
  SPEAKER_01: pop culture reference to fit the poem.
• 1:56:55
  SPEAKER_00: Interesting.
• 1:56:55
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 1:56:56
  SPEAKER_00: That's really, really cool.
• 1:56:58
  SPEAKER_00: Man, I just, your poetry is just like, It's so good.
• 1:57:02
  SPEAKER_00: Like, especially like in this case here where you were kind of paying homage to Edgar Allan Poe.
• 1:57:07
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, the snow white elements come through beautifully.
• 1:57:11
  SPEAKER_00: You know, like I recognized all the different references there and stuff like that.
• 1:57:15
  SPEAKER_00: But the way that you're able to adapt to Poe's style here, like...
• 1:57:19
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that if you covered up
• 1:57:22
  SPEAKER_00: the author's name here and you told me this was a long lost Edgar Allan Poe piece,
• 1:57:27
  SPEAKER_00: I'd believe you.
• 1:57:28
  SPEAKER_00: I would.
• 1:57:28
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's that good.
• 1:57:30
  SPEAKER_00: It captures the style really, really well.
• 1:57:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm sure the chat would agree.
• 1:57:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 1:57:37
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't know how you do it,
• 1:57:38
  SPEAKER_00: but every time I read one of your poems on these streams,
• 1:57:40
  SPEAKER_00: it's somehow better than the last one.
• 1:57:41
  SPEAKER_00: They just get better and better.
• 1:57:44
  SPEAKER_00: I really like it.
• 1:57:46
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I appreciate that.
• 1:57:47
  SPEAKER_01: Very kind words.
• 1:57:51
  SPEAKER_00: That was really, really good.
• 1:57:52
  SPEAKER_00: And I like that we got to finish with that one.
• 1:57:54
  SPEAKER_01: I giggled.
• 1:57:55
  SPEAKER_01: I was hoping, but you didn't even break stride on the line of the girl who is legally dead.
• 1:58:01
  SPEAKER_01: I thought for sure you...
• 1:58:05
  SPEAKER_01: I thought I'd get you there, but I didn't get you.
• 1:58:09
  SPEAKER_00: I'm a professional through
• 1:58:12
  SPEAKER_01: and through.
• 1:58:13
  SPEAKER_01: I almost did with the... No, I did with the Cowbell, Edgar Allan Poe poem.
• 1:58:20
  SPEAKER_00: That's right, yeah.
• 1:58:22
  SPEAKER_01: I got a chuckle of you for that one, but otherwise you are unflappable.
• 1:58:28
  SPEAKER_00: No, I was locked in.
• 1:58:29
  SPEAKER_00: I was locked in.
• 1:58:33
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
• 1:58:33
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 1:58:34
  SPEAKER_00: Well, yeah,
• 1:58:35
  SPEAKER_00: we managed to get through over 10 poems tonight,
• 1:58:37
  SPEAKER_00: but as always, you know, I think we said earlier we had like 30 submitted.
• 1:58:41
  SPEAKER_00: We had
• 1:58:42
  SPEAKER_01: a lot.
• 1:58:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we had a lot this time.
• 1:58:44
  SPEAKER_01: I should not have...
• 1:58:47
  SPEAKER_01: I maybe shouldn't have posted quite as aggressively.
• 1:58:50
  SPEAKER_01: I was going to say,
• 1:58:52
  SPEAKER_01: we're going to
• 1:58:52
  SPEAKER_00: have to, like,
• 1:58:53
  SPEAKER_00: the only way that we would actually finish all the poems in one of these streams is
• 1:58:56
  SPEAKER_00: if we stream for, like, four or five hours, I feel like.
• 1:59:00
  SPEAKER_01: I think,
• 1:59:01
  SPEAKER_01: Bradley,
• 1:59:01
  SPEAKER_01: and I think we should do this,
• 1:59:03
  SPEAKER_01: last week,
• 1:59:04
  SPEAKER_01: last one of these of the year,
• 1:59:05
  SPEAKER_01: or maybe,
• 1:59:06
  SPEAKER_01: yeah, maybe December's or January's, we should do, we should revisit our favorites.
• 1:59:15
  SPEAKER_00: Hmm, I like that idea.
• 1:59:16
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 1:59:18
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe each pick,
• 1:59:20
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know how many we're going through,
• 1:59:21
  SPEAKER_01: but if we each go through five,
• 1:59:22
  SPEAKER_01: which is what it feels like,
• 1:59:24
  SPEAKER_01: just each pick five,
• 1:59:26
  SPEAKER_01: and then when we do our analysis of them,
• 1:59:30
  SPEAKER_01: we can still give our thoughts on them,
• 1:59:33
  SPEAKER_01: especially if it's changed or anything, but just give why we picked that one.
• 1:59:39
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, yeah, no, I think it's a great idea.
• 1:59:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we can do that in December.
• 1:59:43
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's perfect.
• 1:59:44
  SPEAKER_00: We'll do another standard Stream next month for November.
• 1:59:48
  SPEAKER_00: And then for December, we won't take any new submissions.
• 1:59:51
  SPEAKER_00: Like you said, each of us will pick our top five.
• 1:59:53
  SPEAKER_00: And we can talk about why we picked them.
• 1:59:55
  SPEAKER_00: And we'll read them again, obviously, on that stream.
• 1:59:57
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's a cool idea.
• 1:59:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that would be...
• 2:00:00
  SPEAKER_01: I think that would be a cool revisit.
• 2:00:02
  SPEAKER_01: Because I can think of...
• 2:00:03
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know about you, but I can think of two or three already that I would...
• 2:00:07
  SPEAKER_01: I'm quite fond of.
• 2:00:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's going to,
• 2:00:10
  SPEAKER_00: honestly,
• 2:00:11
  SPEAKER_00: I love all the poems we read on these streams,
• 2:00:13
  SPEAKER_00: so it's going to be tough to narrow it down to five,
• 2:00:15
  SPEAKER_00: but I love that idea, so I'm totally on board.
• 2:00:19
  SPEAKER_01: Well, very good.
• 2:00:21
  SPEAKER_01: And that's very kind of you, Mike, and we're happy you stopped by.
• 2:00:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, thanks, Mike.
• 2:00:27
  SPEAKER_00: Mike's poem might have to be one of my top five.
• 2:00:28
  SPEAKER_00: That was amazing.
• 2:00:29
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, wow.
• 2:00:29
  SPEAKER_01: That was really good.
• 2:00:30
  SPEAKER_01: High praise already.
• 2:00:32
  SPEAKER_01: We'll see.
• 2:00:32
  SPEAKER_00: I got to go down the list, but I really like that one.
• 2:00:35
  SPEAKER_01: And I think we should,
• 2:00:37
  SPEAKER_01: for that, we should definitely do the top five, not including each other's.
• 2:00:43
  SPEAKER_01: And then we can just revisit our favorite of each other's on top of that, maybe.
• 2:00:47
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 2:00:48
  SPEAKER_00: That sounds good.
• 2:00:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 2:00:49
  SPEAKER_01: Just so we're not, yeah, that way there's no conflict.
• 2:00:53
  SPEAKER_01: That's what we're, you know, we give, we give five other people the spotlight.
• 2:00:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 2:00:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 2:00:58
  SPEAKER_00: Cool.
• 2:00:59
  SPEAKER_00: Cool.
• 2:01:00
  SPEAKER_01: Anyone who's in the chat,
• 2:01:02
  SPEAKER_01: we're going to do this in about one month,
• 2:01:03
  SPEAKER_01: sometime in the middle of the next month-ish.
• 2:01:05
  SPEAKER_01: So if you want to write us a poem and send it to one of us,
• 2:01:09
  SPEAKER_01: we would love to hear from you, especially Chell.
• 2:01:13
  SPEAKER_01: She is a lovely Substacker.
• 2:01:17
  SPEAKER_01: And Mike, we would love it if you would resubmit another one.
• 2:01:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 2:01:22
  SPEAKER_00: More poetry from Mike.
• 2:01:23
  SPEAKER_00: Definitely would love to read one of the shows on next month.
• 2:01:27
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah,
• 2:01:28
  SPEAKER_00: Stefan and I will announce the exact date,
• 2:01:30
  SPEAKER_00: but it'll probably be like, you know, around this time or mid November.
• 2:01:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 2:01:34
  SPEAKER_00: This was another winner.
• 2:01:35
  SPEAKER_00: I love these.
• 2:01:36
  SPEAKER_00: I love them.
• 2:01:36
  SPEAKER_00: They are a lot of fun.
• 2:01:37
  SPEAKER_00: We have a lot of fun doing this.
• 2:01:59
  SPEAKER_00: Although I'm sad that the lack of
• 2:02:01
  SPEAKER_01: Bible references.
• 2:02:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, gotta pump up those Bible references.
• 2:02:06
  SPEAKER_01: And you only mentioned the ending twice.
• 2:02:09
  SPEAKER_00: I know.
• 2:02:10
  SPEAKER_00: This is wild.
• 2:02:10
  SPEAKER_01: We gotta get back on track next month.
• 2:02:15
  SPEAKER_01: We're not living up to a reputation.
• 2:02:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we have to meet the expectations of the audience.
• 2:02:24
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 2:02:25
  SPEAKER_01: I think that is 100% true.
• 2:02:28
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Thank you.
• 2:02:30
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Chell, for the compliment there.
• 2:02:31
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks, Mike, for being here all the way through.
• 2:02:33
  SPEAKER_00: Really appreciate you.
• 2:02:35
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, I'll get the recording up tomorrow along with links to everything we read tonight.
• 2:02:40
  SPEAKER_01: So if there's anyone in here who didn't get to your poem, I'm sorry.
• 2:02:46
  SPEAKER_01: We had a lot of them this week and now I plan on going through the rest
• 2:02:53
  SPEAKER_01: of my submissions and doing them just myself,
• 2:02:56
  SPEAKER_01: but I agreed on them and restacking myself.
• 2:03:01
  SPEAKER_01: If you submit it to me at least, you'll still get something out of it.
• 2:03:07
  SPEAKER_00: Definitely.
• 2:03:08
  SPEAKER_01: Not to guilt trip badly into doing the same thing.
• 2:03:11
  SPEAKER_00: I was going to say,
• 2:03:12
  SPEAKER_00: I will certainly try to restack all of the ones that I got as well,
• 2:03:17
  SPEAKER_00: even if they weren't read on the stream.
• 2:03:19
  SPEAKER_00: And then I'll see if I can work anything into the podcast too,
• 2:03:21
  SPEAKER_00: since I do shoutouts on the podcast every week.
• 2:03:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 2:03:24
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah.
• 2:03:25
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 2:03:25
  SPEAKER_00: That's all we've got for you tonight, folks.
• 2:03:27
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks again for joining.
• 2:03:28
  SPEAKER_00: Really appreciate all of you.
• 2:03:30
  SPEAKER_00: And thank you again for submitting such awesome work.
• 2:03:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's really, honestly, every month.
• 2:03:33
  SPEAKER_00: It's just amazing.
• 2:03:34
  SPEAKER_00: Really, really good.
• 2:03:36
  SPEAKER_00: And thank you, Stefan, for starting this idea earlier this year.
• 2:03:39
  SPEAKER_00: I really appreciate you calling me out the way you did.
• 2:03:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah,
• 2:03:43
  SPEAKER_01: it was a good idea at the time.
• 2:03:44
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't know it, but it was a good idea.
• 2:03:46
  SPEAKER_00: It was a beautiful idea.
• 2:03:47
  SPEAKER_00: It was a beautiful idea.
• 2:03:48
  SPEAKER_01: So something special.
• 2:03:51
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you Bradley for having me and I'll see you in four weeks whenever I hear
• 2:03:57
  SPEAKER_01: from you because this time you took your sweet ass time coming up with a date.
• 2:04:03
  SPEAKER_00: I will try to be better about reaching out earlier for the next one.
• 2:04:07
  SPEAKER_00: Don't worry.
• 2:04:07
  SPEAKER_01: Two days before and it's finally a post about it.
• 2:04:11
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, I'll do better.
• 2:04:12
  SPEAKER_00: I'll do better.
• 2:04:13
  SPEAKER_00: I'll do better.
• 2:04:15
  SPEAKER_00: I need more calendar reminders, more alarms.
• 2:04:18
  SPEAKER_00: Everything's chaos.
• 2:04:19
  SPEAKER_01: I'll passive-aggressively tag you with a countdown.
• 2:04:22
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 2:04:23
  SPEAKER_00: Every day.
• 2:04:24
  SPEAKER_01: It'll be it.
• 2:04:27
  SPEAKER_00: Keeping me honest.
• 2:04:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I gotta keep you honest.
• 2:04:30
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you, everybody, for coming.
• 2:04:32
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks, everybody.
• 2:04:34
  SPEAKER_00: Have a good night.
• 2:04:35
  SPEAKER_01: Bye-bye.