Episode 177: Chess Poetry: CheckMatey! In this episode we discuss the upcoming 2027 ROMP exhibit and art and poetry contests on the theme of chess. We also discuss the heat and the necessity for children to write poetry. A few jokes, some sweat, and pawns purveying poetry . . . it’s all here!

Episode 176: We celebrate July being National Picnic Month, as we turn it into National Poetry at the Picnic Month and have two picnics, one with traditional foods and one a Dollar Tree picnic. It’s hard to explain. Just listen. We kept eating, so it’s longer than usual.

Episode 175, Shedding Gemstones COMES OUT at the end of Pride Month. Bill and Shaun talk about the Equality Gala and read some poems by noted gay poets, such as Joseph Legaspi, who in his poem “Vows (for a Gay Wedding),” he writes: “So I vow to be brave. / Clear a path through jungles of shame and doubt and fear. / I’m done with silence. I proclaim.”

On June 12, 1942, Anne Frank got a diary for her 13th birthday. A few weeks later, she went into hiding with her family. Her diary changed the world. A diary can be serious and life-changing or fun and entertaining or both. A diary records in words the thoughts and feelings of our day. A diary holds poetry. We discuss these things and more with special guest, Bill’s niece Vada.

Episode 173: Talking in Cursive takes us down Route 66 with poems written impromptu at the Capital Cruise Expo in Tulsa on May 28-29, as Tulsa set a Guinness Book World Record for the longest parade of classic cars. We asked people to write about Route 66. We also talk about the act of handwriting and some other cool stuff. LISTEN and SHARE please!

Episode 172: White Board Snake Road gives you information about the history of the white board, which you didn’t know you needed, plus some poems left on the museum white board, which you definitely need.

Episode 171: Pocket Poems 2026 is about Poem in Your Pocket Day, where people are encouraged to carry a poem in their pocket all day and share it with others. Two folks shared their poems with us, and we talked about them and Shaun also had some bad jokes that Bill suffered through, and we discussed whether burn piles or poetry coroners would make a better topic for a book.