Poetry Unbound: 50 Poems to Open Your World

by Pádraig Ó. Tuama

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

To listen to Pádraig Ó. Tuama read a poem is to fall in love with the spoken word. We’ve been big fans of his Poetry Unbound podcast for many seasons. Each listen would cause us to ferret out the poem read and print out for a read and inspiration. Ó. Tuama has conveniently taken 50 poems and put them in a book. We predict many bookmarked and turned downed corners for this journey into the heart and soul of our human condition.

Expanding on the popular podcast of the same name from On Being Studios, Poetry Unbound offers immersive reflections on fifty powerful poems.

In the tumult of our contemporary moment, poetry has emerged as an inviting, consoling outlet with a unique power to move and connect us, to inspire fury, tears, joy, laughter, and surprise. This generous anthology pairs fifty illuminating poems with poet and podcast host Pádraig Ó Tuama’s appealing, unhurried reflections. With keen insight and warm personal anecdotes, Ó Tuama considers each poem’s artistry and explores how its meaning can reach into our own lives.

Focusing mainly on poets writing today, Ó Tuama engages with a diverse array of voices that includes Ada Limón, Ilya Kaminsky, Margaret Atwood, Ocean Vuong, Layli Long Soldier, and Reginald Dwayne Betts. Natasha Trethewey meditates on miscegenation and Mississippi; Raymond Antrobus makes poetry out of the questions shot at him by an immigration officer; Martín Espada mourns his father; Marie Howe remembers and blesses her mother’s body; Aimee Nezhukumatathil offers comfort to her child-self. Through these wide-ranging poems, Ó Tuama guides us on an inspiring journey to reckon with self-acceptance, history, independence, parenthood, identity, joy, and resilience.

For anyone who has wanted to try their hand at a conversation with poetry but doesn’t know where to start, Poetry Unbound presents a window through which to celebrate the art of being alive.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781324035473
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	12/06/2022
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	60,260
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Pádraig Ó Tuama is a poet and presenter of the Poetry Unbound podcast from On Being Studios. He is the author of Poetry Unbound: Fifty Poems to Open Your World, Kitchen Hymns, and six other books. He lives in Belfast and New York.

Table of Contents

Introduction Pádraig Ó Tuama 1

Wonder Woman Ada Limón 9

Book of Genesis Kei Miller 15

Phase One Dilruba Ahmed 21

A Portable Paradise Roger Robinson 29

Worm Gail McConnell 35

Wishing Well Gregory Pardlo 43

All My Friends Are Finding New Beliefs Christian Wiman 51

Don't Miss Out! Book Right Now for the Journey of a Lifetime! Imtiaz Dharker 57

A Blessing James Wright 63

The Word Zaffar Kunial 69

Bullshit Vahni (Anthony) Capildeo 75

Some Things I Like Lemn Sissay 81

Say My Name Meleika Gesa-Fatafehi 87

Miscegenation Natasha Trethewey 93

Reporting Back to Queen Isabella Lorna Goodison 99

When You Say 'Protestors' Instead of Protectors No'u Revilla 105

We Lived Happily during the War Ilya Kaminsky 111

Writing the camp Yousif M. Qasmiyeh 117

Battlegrounds Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo 123

[Whereas my eyes land on the shoreline] Layli Long Soldier 129

Miami Airport Raymond Antrobus 135

Kulila Ali Cobby Eckermann 143

Reconciliation Jónína Kirton 151

All Bread Margaret Atwood 157

Prayer Faisal Mohyuddin 165

From The Book of Hours Rainer Maria Rilke Trans. Mark S. Burrows 171

How Prayer Works Kaveh Akbar 177

Of Course She Looked Back Natalie Diaz 185

After the Goose that Rose like the God of Geese Martín Espada 193

My Mother's Body Marie Howe 199

Father Carlos Andrés Gómez 205

Man and Boy Patience Agbabi 213

On Receiving Father at JFK after his Long Flight from Kashmir Rafiq Kathwari 221

Essay on Reentry Reginald Dwayne Betts 227

Married Love Kathleen Flenniken 233

Exorcism / Freeport Richard Georges 241

22: La Bota Esteban Rodríguez 247

In Leticia's Kitchen Drawer Peggy Robles-Alvarado 253

When We Were 13, Jeff's Father Left the Needle Down on a Journey Record Before Leaving the House One Morning and Never Coming Back Hanif Abdurraqib 259

Leaving Early Leanne O'Sullivan 265

Seventh Circle of Earth Ocean Vuong 271

Song Tracy K. Smith 277

Coconut Oil Roshni Goyate 283

The Place Where We Are Right Yehuda Amichai Trans. Stephen Mitchell 289

What You Missed that Day You Were Absent from Fourth Grade Brad Aaron Modlin 297

Life Drawing R. A. Villanueva 305

Consider the Hands that Write this Letter Aracelis Girmay 311

Living in the Past Joy Ladin 317

On Listening to Your Teacher Take Attendance Aimee Nezhukumatathil 325

Bioluminescence Paul Tran 331

Notes on the Poets 339

Acknowledgements 355

Permission Credits 359

About On Being 367

Editorial Reviews

01/23/2023

“The poems collected in this anthology ask essential questions about how to thrive in a complicated world, about how to love when life hasn’t been easy,” Ó Tuama writes in his preface to this sensitive anthology that builds on his podcast of the same name. Offering keen reflections on poems by Margaret Atwood, Ilya Kaminsky, Ada Limón, and Ocean Vuong, Ó Tuama juxtaposes critical insights with appealing personal anecdotes (“There are poems I repeat to myself, almost like a hum, or a prayer, or a spell,” he writes, elsewhere noting, “The first poem I wrote was an idiotic one about a ten-foot dog. I was twelve.”). The book’s epigraph borrows lines from “Consider the Hands that Write This Letter” by Aracelis Girmay, a poem also included in the collection: “I pray for this to be my way: sweet/ work alluded to in the body’s position to its paper:/ left hand, right hand/ like an open eye, an eye closed:/ one hand flat against the trapdoor,/ the other hand knocking, knocking.” Ó Tuama has succeeded in organizing a valuable introduction to poetry for those just familiarizing themselves with the form, and a timely way to renew and deepen that appreciation for seasoned readers. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

"Pádraig Ó Tuama has been called to bring his illuminating insights into what some might consider encroaching darkness, and we are all the fortunate beneficiaries of his response. This book is a testament to the rare fineness of feeling and understanding that mark his brilliant work for the On Being Project."

Lorna Goodison

"Mesmerizing, magical, deeply moving.… If you are looking for a read that will warm your heart, inspire your creative mind, and renew your faith in the resilience of the human race, look no further."

Elif Shafak

"Pádraig Ó Tuama’s close reading of my ‘Wonder Woman’ poem was a gift. I was and am deeply moved."

Ada Limón

"Magnificent.… Pádraig Ó Tuama’s abilities as a curator of poems, combined with his remarkable gift for unpacking poems in such illuminating and generous ways, make this ground-breaking publication one of the most engrossing books I have read in recent years."

Stephen Fry

"Poetry Unbound is fifty poems and 300 pages of commentary revealing and confessing why a line of verse might make you weep. But more than that, it is a collection of moments and meditations and a turning toward the ways that some memories, of sorrow and joy, might make us hold on a little while longer, long enough in fact."

Reginald Dwayne Betts

★ 12/01/2022

This fascinating collection began life as a podcast on Krista Tippett's On Being public-radio program; hence its intimate feeling, as if you were listening to a friend recall an interesting experience or a memory shared as a gift. With only 50 poems in 384 pages, the text focuses on Ó Tuama's personal reflections intermingled with personal memories or meditations evoked by something in the poem. With grace and insight, he demonstrates how a poem can become a part of your life, something to feed your soul, bind your wounds, and add as one more tool for your life-support utility belt. The poets are mainly contemporary, including Ada Limón, Marie Howe, and Christian Wiman, but they range back to the likes of James Wright and Rainier Rilke. Some will be familiar, but a great number of these poets will be new to most readers. Ó Tuama does the important work of introducing them to a broader audience as he gives us an opening into their wonderful words. VERDICT With his intimate tone, Ó Tuama takes poetry out of the classroom and puts it back into the hands of the reader. He thereby makes the world a better place. Recommended for poetry collections everywhere.—Herman Sutter

Library Journal

"A very good introduction to how to think about poetry. Even old poetry hands will enjoy and appreciate Pádraig Ó Tuama’s brief and insightful essays accompanying each poem, as well as the poems themselves."

Literary Hub

"A wonderful anthology of poetry filled with fascinating and thought-provoking commentary from one of the best voices in contemporary poetry today."

William Sieghart

"[A] uniquely intimate anthology.… Ó Tuama’s unassuming prose welcomes readers into an unfettered enjoyment of poetry for the sake of introducing new ideas, new lands, and new ways of being in the world."

Booklist

"A poem to Pádraig is like a child to Mary Poppins. It sits, alert, in wonder that he should know it so well. I would go out at night to hear Pádraig talk of the poems. The next best thing, maybe even better, is Poetry Unbound.… There should be a copy of Poetry Unbound in every bar, every cafe, every train station, every bus station, every airport, every workplace, every school, every university, everywhere!"

Lemn Sissay

"A tender collection of [Ó Tuama’s] informal personal essays written in response to works of contemporary poetry.… [These] poems are playful, humble, and human."

The New Yorker - Eliza Griswold

"Ridiculously good.… [Poetry Unbound] covers a wide range of topics, forms, and writing styles, making it a fantastic read for poetry-lovers and reluctant poetry-readers alike.… Maybe the best part of the book is Ó Tuama’s unparalleled ability to understand, interpret, and write about poetry."

Rumpus - Kateri Kramer

"The Poetry Unbound podcast, and Pádraig’s way of finding language to describe the details and intricacies and the shades of gray of the human experience have made me a better person, a better songwriter, and a better artist.… I would urge everyone to dive into this deeply rewarding book."

Camila Cabello

"Irresistible.… Ó Tuama and the eclectic range of international poets he shares make an irrefutable case for poetry’s power to enrich and enlarge our lives, while at the same time focusing our overtaxed attentions on key questions and profound truths."

Seattle Times - David Wright