"Frederick and Anna Murray Douglass": Though Frederick Douglass grew up not knowing his exact birthdate and even uncertain just how old he was, historians presume he was born in February 1818. Douglass wrote, "I do not remember to have ever met a slave who could tell of his birthday." His master "deemed all such inquiries on the part of a slave improper and impertinent, and evidence of a restless spirit." The first poem sampled on this episode, Paul Dunbar's 1896 "Frederick Douglass," depicts the former slave turned writer, orator, and powerful force for a wide range of civil rights in a heroic light. The following two poems lower the pedestal on which Dunbar had placed him and offer insights into the private lives of Frederick and his first wife Anna Murray Douglass. What would it have been like to be the overlooked wife to a man so frequently absent from home and so immersed in the historical moment? Both are persona poems, the first in the voice of Anna: M. Nzadi Keita, "Stirring," from Brief Evidence of Heaven: Poems from the life of Anna Murray Douglass (Whirlwind Press, 2014), available at spdbooks.org and used with kind permission of the author. The second poem is in the voice of Frederick Douglass himself: Evie Shockley, "from The Lost Letters of Frederick Douglass," from the new black (Wesleyan UP, 2011), and used with kind permission of the author. (The show's theme music is Philip Aaberg's "Going-to-the Sun," from his CD Live from Montana, available at sweetgrassmusic.com, and used with kind permission of Philip Aaberg.)

"Some Horses, Some Oxen": Four poems are featured on this show, three about horses and one about oxen. All of the horse poems tell us as much about the speaker as they do about the horses, and the final poem details a most curious Christmas folk belief. What are all these animals thinking? The poems are read in this order: Walt Whitman, from Song of Myself, section 32 (first published in 1855). Maxine Kumin, "Jack," from Jack and Other Poems (W. W. Norton and Company, 2005), used by kind permission of the Maxine Kumin Literary Trust. Robert Wrigley, "Horse Heaven," from The True Account of Myself as a Bird (Penguin, 2022), used by kind permission of the author. Thomas Hardy, "The Oxen" (first published in 1915). The show's theme music is Philip Aaberg's "Going-to-the-Sun," from his CD Live from Montana (available at Sweetgrassmusic.com) and used with kind permission of Philip Aaberg.

"Responding to Loss": All three poems in this episode reflect on the loss of a person, when loss is final. Perhaps one or more of these poems speak to feelings you have experienced but could not define quite like these poets do. Are poems and songs useful for facing one's own demise or for dealing with the loss of one close to us? You might think about that while listening to these poems. Tony Hoagland, "In the Waiting Room with Leonard Cohen," from Priest Turned Therapist Treats Fear of God (Graywolf Press, 2018). Maxine Kumin, "Oblivion," from Where I Live: New and Selected Poems, 1990-2010 (W. W. Norton and Company), used by permission of the Maxine Kumin Literary Trust. Kevin Young, "Charity," from Book of Hours (Knopf, 2014). The show's theme music is Philip Aaberg's "Going-to-the-Sun," from his CD Live from Montana (available at Sweetgrassmusic.com) and used with kind permission of Philip Aaberg.