podcast

Poetry Soup – Ep. 17: “Desire for Spring” by Kenneth Koch

https://stonesoup.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Poetry-Soup-Episode-17.MP3.mp3   Hello, and welcome to Poetry Soup! I’m your host, Emma Catherine Hoff. Today, I’ll be talking about “Desire for Spring,” by Kenneth Koch. Kenneth Koch was born on February 27, 1925, in Cincinnati, Ohio. He went to school at Harvard University and became close with the poet John Ashbery (who was featured in the very first episode of Poetry Soup!). He became a member of the New York School of Poets, a group of poets (some of whom lived in New York) that Ashbery was also a part of. Koch taught poetry at Columbia, but in addition to poetry, he wrote books on how to write poetry, as well as many plays. Many of his poems are humorous and slightly absurd (he also has plays in verse that are very similar). As you will see in “Desire for Spring,” Koch often uses exclamation points in his poems as well, to create a high spirited, energetic tone that is common in much of his work. Koch was a recipient of the Glasscock Prize. He also won the Bollingen Prize for his collection of poetry, “One Train.” Kenneth Koch died in 2002. Here in New York, spring is swiftly blossoming, so I think this poem echoes the sentiments of many people, including myself. Winter has been here for so long that we feel we need to push it out of the way to make space for the gentle flowering and warmth of spring. A very lyrical poem, “Desire For Spring,” as shown by the title, is very fitting for this time. Calcium days, days when we feed our bones! Iron days, which enrich our blood! Saltwater days, which give us valuable iodine! When will there be a perfectly ordinary spring day? For my heart needs to be fed, not my urine Or my brain, and I wish to leap to Pittsburgh From Tuskegee, Indiana, if necessary, spreading like a flower In the spring light, and growing like a silver stair. Nothing else will satisfy me, not even death! Not even broken life insurance policies, cancer, loss of health, Ruined furniture, prostate disease, headaches, melancholia, No, not even a ravaging wolf eating up my flesh! I want spring, I want to turn like a mobile, In a new fresh air! I don’t want to hibernate Between walls, between halls! I want to bear My share of anguish of being succinctly here! Not even moths in the spell of a flame Can want it to be warmer as much as I do! Not even the pilot slipping into the great green sea In flames can want less to be turned to an icicle! Though admiring the icicle’s cunning, how shall I be satisfied With artificial daisies and roses, and wax pears? O breeze, my lovely, come in, that I mayn’t be stultified! Dear coolness of heaven, come swiftly and sit in my chairs! In the first three lines of his poem, Koch mentions days that feed people with nutrients. You could interpret these days as three seasons (winter, fall, and summer). But none of these seasons or nutrients are enough for Koch. He wants something that will feed his heart, not just his health. Spring can give him this, so he spends the entire poem hoping that it will come. Nothing, not even the most terrible things that could cause anyone to give up (like the diseases Koch mentions) can quell his hope for spring. He cannot be satisfied by simple human things – only by nature, by the irresistible curve of the seasons into spring. With his flowing lines, Koch creates a sort of song for spring, while still showing his enthusiasm through a plethora of exclamation points. He also creates this excited feeling by using very specific, enticing similes – for example, he wants warmth more than even a moth (proving how powerfully he is drawn to the sun and the heat of spring, like a moth is drawn to a flame).  Koch demonstrates a fear of cold, a want for the warm weather of spring. He understands the other seasons, even admires them, but he needs the real spring rather than the fake fruits he talks about at the end of the poem. He needs fresh air, needs to have space to grow and stretch. In a way, he wants to go through the rejuvenation that the world experiences when spring comes. He wants to start anew, and to be gifted this ability by the cool, heavenly breezes of spring (“spreading like a flower/In the spring light, and growing like a silver stair”). Though the theme of the poem itself is pretty straightforward, it’s also important to look at the lines and the way the poem reads. As one long stanza, everything feels very connected. Because Koch uses them so often, the exclamation points don’t feel too sudden – they’re just part of the tone. Multiple lines use commas at the ends and in the middle to maintain a flow, just like a light wind or a flowing river. However, there are also multiple enjambed lines, echoing the feeling of the slow, kind of broken up progress of budding and sprouting. Overall, Koch’s poem is a playful ode to spring, a version of which seems to be in everyone’s minds this season. I hope you enjoyed this episode of Poetry Soup, and I’ll see you soon with the next one!

Sistories Ep. 4: Let’s Go To Italy!

Sistories is a podcast about travel hosted by two sisters–Maryam and Nour! https://stonesoup.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Vassar-St.m4a NOUR and MARYAM: Hi, everyone!! Welcome to our podcast Sistories!  MARYAM: Hi! I’m Maryam, the Magnificent, and it’s incredible but this is our FOURTH podcast of Sistories! My sister and I LOVE to travel, and we want to inspire YOU to travel, too! So, get ready for a COOL trip to  ITALY! Amore Mia! NOUR: Last month’s episode was about COOL PLACES to VISIT. We talked about GRENADA.  Today, we are going to tell you all about Italy. I’ll start with some fun facts: The official name of Italy is the Italian Republic. That sounds a little formal, so I’m not surprised they just call it Italy. The name Italy comes from a GREEK word “Italos,” which is the name of a legendary king. There are a lot of Greek words used in Italy. The capital of Italy is Rome, which is also the biggest city in Italy and where my dad found his favorite gelato flavor, which is rice gelato (be sure to add cinnamon!!) Rome is nicknamed “the eternal city” and has many historic landmarks like the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain. It was so crowded at the Spanish Steps. Everywhere you looked there was a mob of people coming towards you! Italy has a population of a little over 59 million people. It is about the same area as New Mexico! Italy’s official language is Italian. I learned a bunch of phrases in Italian like grazie and buongiorno. The money they use there is called Euros. It is very colorful. Italy’s major mountain ranges are the Alps and Apennines. Someday maybe I will get to ski on them! One of my favorite places I visited in Italy was the Colosseum. It is the world’s largest amphitheater. It is 157 feet tall and over 600 feet by 500 feet. It was built on an artificial lake and was destroyed by natural disasters. It is a symbol of Christianity. The Colosseum has 80 entrances and is in pretty good shape for its age. It is over 2,000 years old. It can hold up to 80,000 people.  Maryam: Hi, everyone it’s Maryam the Magnificent. My sister told you some facts about Italy, and I want to tell you some other facts and STORIES! First, do you know that Italy was established in 1861? That’s a long time ago. Another very important fact is that Italy invented PIZZA! I ordered that almost every single time I went to a restaurant!  Sadly, I had to try out some other foods like pasta and seafood and other fancy dishes.   Another interesting fact is that Italians invented glasses! If the Italians hadn’t invented them, we would all be walking around with blurry eyes! Another super super cool fact is that there are still active volcanoes in Italy. I didn’t know that when I was there but now I do. The first time I went to Italy I remember it was for a wedding. I was little. We visited many cities like Florence and Venice. We got to ride on little boats in Venice because the city is in between lots of rivers and water! The second time I went to Italy we went with another family. We rented a house in Florence. That’s the time that we lost our bags, and we had to buy lots of clothes from there. I still have Italian clothes in my drawers! The last few days, we finally got our luggage back, but it was no  use! Both times I went to Italy I ate lots and lots and LOTS of gelato. My dad likes rice gelato, and I like mango.   You know how my sister was talking about the Colosseum? I am going to be talking about the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Now, the leaning tower of Pisa is obviously leaning, but the surprise is how is it still standing? No one knows exactly. You can take lots of cool pictures there. Do you know that the Leaning Tower of Pisa is over 800 years old?! A pretty cool fact is that Pisa survived four earthquakes! Like isn’t that crazy?! NOUR and MARYAM: Thank you for listening to our podcast Sistories today!  MARYAM: Next time we are going to talk about another cool place to visit: Mexico! NOUR and MARYAM: Have a great trip! Ciao!

A Collector’s Armory Ep. 3: Pre-Tween Collecting by Ayaan Pirani, 12

https://stonesoup.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Podcast-3.m4a Welcome to A Collector’s Armory! This is a podcast about collecting different things throughout the stages of life. The name of this episode is Pre-Tween Collecting. I’ll be your host, Ayaan Pirani, and in this episode we will be covering what 6-9 year olds collect. I’ll be talking about what is commonly collected at this age and what my friends and I collected at that age. I will also talk about why kids collect these items plus a few bonus things. When I was a 6-9 year old kid I collected Pokemon cards, fidget spinners, and beyblades. A lot of kids get ideas to collect items from other kids. This can occur because they become inspired by what other kids are using. This can lead to children connecting with other people and developing new friendships. On the other hand, kids may collect things because they are jealous of what others are collecting. This may lead to arguments between kids and result in breaking of friendships. Thankfully, this never happened to me. Children who collect out of jealousy should reach out to others and collaborate and bond over collecting rather than making collecting a competition. As a child, I lived in a fantasy world over Pokemon cards. These cards demonstrated high value to me as they showed amazing, powerful creatures that never existed before. During my time as a kid, everyone traded and battled with Pokemon cards–if it was after school, during bus rides, or even during class. They were so valuable to me that every time I received an allowance I begged my parents to take me to Target or Walmart. Kids would go out of their way to get new cards even if it was scamming another kid in a trade or just straight up stealing another kid’s cards. Pokemon cards had a big effect on people’s childhood. Many children at this age also collected fidget spinners. Even though all the hype has now died out, they are still collected by 6-9 year olds. This toy became a craze in 2017 due to kids spreading the word by mouth and others becoming jealous of others. These toys were eventually utilized for kids with ADHD and Autism but originated as toys for children to entertain themselves. Fidget cubes also became popular with children because it fascinated kids that they could flip switches and turn gears. All fidget toys were originally made to keep kids busy but quickly became a worldwide fad with adults participating too. Another toy that I was obsessed with and gazed over for hours was Beyblades. These spinning tops were a big part of what I did during and after school. It was very satisfying to watch the Beyblades battle. These tops were launched out of a plastic launcher that spun them into the arena. The game functioned when two competitors launched their Beyblades at the same time into the arena chanting… 3.. 2… 1… Let It Rip! They would then launch the tops into the arena waiting to see if their top would stop spinning first or burst into three pieces. Collecting these tops was based on the types of attack, defense, stamina, and balance. One type was not better than the other; however, some editions of the Beyblade were so powerful they could conquer the other types. This is your host Ayaan Pirani signing off for today. Next month we’ll be talking about collectibles for ages 9-13. Until next time then! See ya!