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I am so lucky to get the chance to do this. Some of the poets I've been talking with are artists I'm honored to be meeting for the first time. But today, I get to read poems with a BFF who I've known for almost thirty years. Please enjoy this poetry chat with my dear friend Joel Showalter.

Poem 1

“In the Nursing Home,” by Joel Showalter, read by David, as published in December magazine, Volume 31, spring/summer, 2020.

Poem 2

“Steam,” by Joel Showalter, read by Joel, as published in Mud Season Review, Volume 3, 2017

Poem 3

“Monet Refuses the Operation,” by poet Lisel Mueller. From the collection, Second Language: Poems, published Louisiana State University Press, 1986 and used with permission of the publisher.

Joel's Bio:

Joel Showalter received his bachelor’s degree in English and writing from Indiana Wesleyan University. His work has been published in The Carolina Quarterly, December, Delmarva Review, Mud Season Review, and The Christian Century. He works as editorial director at a marketing agency in Columbus, Ohio.

David has a delightful conversation with Jehanne Dubrow about her latest books, a poetry collection entitled Civilians and a craft resource called The Wounded Line: A Guide to Writing Poems of Trauma.

Poem One: “My Husband’s Father” From Civilians Louisiana State University Press, 2025, read by David

Poem Two: “Civilians,” a villanelle, one of the title poems of the book, read by Jehanne

Poem Three: “Self Portrait as a Psychopomp,” read here by Jehanne. Written by Lindsay Lusby as it appears in The Wounded Line: A guide to Writing Poems of Trauma (University of Mexico Press, 2025), used by permission of the author and the poet.

Links:

The poem “Civillian.”

Lindsay Lusby's website.

To order Jehanne’s books click here.

Jehanne's Bio:

Jehanne Dubrow is the author of ten books of poems, including most recently, Civilians (Louisiana State University Press, 2025), and three books of creative nonfiction, throughsmoke: an essay in notes (New Rivers Press, 2019), Taste: A Book of Small Bites (Columbia University Press, 2022), and Exhibitions: Essays on Art & Atrocity (University of New Mexico Press, 2023). Her previous poetry collections are Wild Kingdom, Simple Machines, American Samizdat, Dots & Dashes, The Arranged Marriage, Red Army Red, Stateside, From the Fever-World, and The Hardship Post. She has co-edited two anthologies, The Book of Scented Things: 100 Contemporary Poems about Perfume and Still Life with Poem: Contemporary Natures Mortes in Verse. Her craft book, The Wounded Line: A Guide to Writing Poems of Trauma, was published by the University of New Mexico Press in 2025. Jehanne’s fourth book of creative nonfiction, Frivolity: A Defense, is forthcoming from Columbia University Press.

Jehanne’s poems have appeared in POETRY, Ploughshares, Prairie Schooner, Southern Review, Alaska Quarterly Review, American Life in Poetry, The New York Times Magazine, The Slowdown, The Academy of American Poets, as well as on Poetry Daily, Verse Daily, and in numerous other venues. Recent essays have appeared in The New England Review, Colorado Review, Lilith, The Writer’s Chronicle, Poets & Writers, and Literary Hub. She is the founding editor of the national literary journal, Cherry Tree.

For more about Jehanne and her work, click here.

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Poet, educator and editor Jerry Wemple is David's featured guest on this episode of In Three Poems.

Poem 1: "A Flower Rests," read by David.

Poem 2: "Colored," read by Jerry.

Poem 3: "The Day Lady Died," by Frank O’Hara, also read by Jerry.

"The Day Lady Died" by Frank O'Hara was published in Lunch Poems (City Lights, 1964). Red by permission, thanks to Frederick T. Courtright

Jerry's Bio:

Jerry Wemple is an award-winning poet and prose writer who has published four poetry collections, most recently We Always Wondered What Became of You from Broadstone Books. His collection Artemas and Ark: the Ridge and Valley Poems chronicles the lives of two generations living in a small town in the central Susquehanna Valley. He is co-editor, with Marjorie Maddox, of the recently published anthology Keystone Poetry: Contemporary Poets on Pennsylvania, and its predecessor, Common Wealth. Both published by Penn State Press. He also co-edited the anthology Rivers, Ridges, and Valleys: Essays on Rural Pennsylvania., released earlier this year by Catamount Press.

Links:

https://www.jerrywemple.com/

We Always Wondered What Became of You, from Broadstone Books

Artemas & Ark: The Ridge and Valley Poems, Finishing Line Press

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David's youngest son, Micah James Bauman joins us to talk about his own poems as well as collaborations with his father. Some of Micah's favorite tools are metaphor and wordplay.

The Poems:

1. "My House," originally published in Word Fountain, read by David
2. "Tools," from the chapbook, Mapping the Valley: Hospital Poems (2021, Seven Kitchens Press). Read by Micah
3. "Fire and Ice" by Robert Frost from New Hampshire: A Poem with Notes and Grace Notes (New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1923): Public domain.

Links:

"My House:" https://wordfountain.net/2016/07/14/micah-bauman-2016/

"Tools:" https://sevenkitchenspress.com/editors-series-1/volume-four/david-micah-bauman-mapping-the-valley/

"Fire and Ice:" https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44263/fire-and-ice

Micah's Blog: https://micahbauman.wordpress.com/

Micah's Bio:

Micah James Bauman’s poems have been published in South 85 Journal, Whale Road Review, Anti-heroin Chic, and Sage Cigarettes and has poems forthcoming in the Keystone Anthology. His chapbook Mapping the Valley: Hospital Poems (Seven Kitchens Press, 2021) is a collaboration with his father, David J. Bauman.

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In this special episode of anti-fascist poetry, David talks with Hannah Levy about her poem and the current democracy crisis in the United States. They discuss the value of art as a mode to process, as well as art as a vehicle for protest and exploration of truth.

Poems:

1. "Apolitical Intellectuals" by Otto Rene Castillo, translated by Margaret Randall. Used with the translator's permission, read by David
2. "The Day a Poet Is Murdered by ICE," written and recited by Hannah Levy
3. "On Learning to Dissect Fetal Pigs," by Renee Nicole Good. Read by David

Links:

Otto Rene Castillo, Apolitical Intellectuals/ Intelectuales apolíticos

Writer and Translator Margaret Randall's Poetry Foundation Page

https://margaretrandall.org/

Hannah Levy's poem, "The Day a Poet Is Murdered by ICE"

https://hannaheve.substack.com/

"Learning to Dissect Fetal Pigs," by Renee Nicole Good

Andre Henry's Instagram Post

"Beaumont to Detroit: 1943" by Langston Hughes

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David talks with poet Grant Clauser about his recent book, Temporary Shelters (Cornerstone Press, 2025). We talk about poetry grounded in place, and particularly in nature, but also the taking of shelter, however temporary those things that fascinate you, whatever they may be.

Poems:

1. "Fireline Trail" from (2025, Cornerstone Press), read by David
2. "Talking with Birds" from (2025, Cornerstone Press), read by Grant
3. "From a Country Overlooked” by Tom Hennen, read by Grant, as published in Hennen’s book Darkness Sticks to Everything, published by Copper Canyon, 2013. Used on the podcast with permission.

Grant's Bio:

Grant Clauser is the author of several books, including Muddy Dragon on the Road to Heaven (2020) and Reckless Constellations (2018). His poems have appeared in the American Poetry Review, Kenyon Review, Greensboro Review, and Tar River Poetry. He teaches in Rosemont College’s MFA program and works for the New York Times.

Links:

GrantClauser.com

Temporary Shelters

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David talks with Mitchell Nobis about his first book of poetry, The Size of the Horizon, or I Explained Everything to the Trees. The poetry discussion spans the topics nature and politics to gun violence and publishing, all wrapped in a discussion centered on three poems.

Poems:

1. "A Jackass Offers and Apology" from The Size of the Horizon, or I Explained Everything to the Trees (2025, Matchbox Editions)
2. "Monumental" from The Size of the Horizon, or I Explained Everything to the Trees (2025, Matchbox Editions)
3. "For All” by Gary Snyder was presented as published in The Gary Snyder Reader: Prose, Poetry, and Translations, 1952-1998 (Volume I, 1999 Counterpoint). Used with Permission.

Mitchell's Bio:

Mitchell Nobis is a writer and K-12 public school teacher in Metro Detroit where he lives with his family and dog. He facilitates the Teachers as Poets group for the National Writing Project, hosts the Wednesday Night Sessions reading series for KickstART Farmington, and co-founded the Not at AWP (NAWP) reading series. He is a past president of the Michigan Council of Teachers of English and former co-director of Red Cedar Writing Project, and he co-authored Real Writing: Modernizing the Old School Essay, a pedagogical text for writing teachers. For more, see mitchnobis.com or find him falling apart on a basketball court.

Links:

mitchnobis.com

The Size of the Horizon, or I Explained Everything to the Trees

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Meet poet and Memoirist Judith Sornberger as we read three poems and chat about her writing inspirations and projects, as well as examine how these poems work on the page and how they communicate with each other and with other art, particularly how "Weaving," an ekphrastic poem by Judith draws on and expands from the mural by Diego Rivera.

Poems:

1. "Prayer Flags" by Judith Sornberger, read by David J. Bauman as it appears in the new anthology, Keystone Poetry: Contemporary Poets on Pennsylvania, edited by Marjorie Maddox & Jerry Wemple, published by Penn State University Press, 2025.
2. "Weaving" by Judith Sornberger, read by Judith, published in her collection Sorority of Stillness: A Gallery of Women in Art, published by Shanti Arts, 2025.
3. "Throwing Like a Girl," by Marjorie Maddox, read by Judith Sornberger from Keystone Poetry: Contemporary Poets on Pennsylvania, edited by Marjorie Maddox & Jerry Wemple, published by Penn State University Press, 2025.

Judith's Bio:

Poet, memoirist, and essayist Judith Sornberger earned her B.A. in University Studies at the age of 30 from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln while a single mother raising twin sons. Sornberger is the author of five full-length books of poetry (most recently Sorority of Stillness: A Gallery of Women in Art from Shanti Arts, 2025K), six chapbooks, and a prose memoir. She first taught creative writing and literature in Nebraska prisons and since then has taught in many venues, including the University of Colorado-Boulder where she taught in the Women's Studies Program. She is professor emerita of Mansfield University of Pennsylvania where she created and taught in the Women's Studies Program, as well as teaching creative writing. She lives on the side of a mountain outside Wellsboro, Pennsylvania.

Links:

InThreePoems.com

https://www.judithsornberger.net/

Sorority of Stillness

Keystone Poetry

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