Dave and Aaron are joined this week by the prolific nat raum! nat brings journal poems from highschool that are broad and vague at times, yet deeply ernest in the cringiest ways. Laugh along with us as nat shares their poems and stories as well as their incredible insights and knowledge (as well as some hot takes on obituaries?).

My Bad Poetry Episode 6.14: "Unfinished Business, Bittersweet, Death. (w/nat raum)"

nat raum is the founder and editor-in-chief of fifth wheel press , "an independent community-focused publisher of art and writing by queer, trans, and gender variant creatives." To keep up with nat's own works you can follow them through their website here: https://www.natraum.com/. For more information on the book random access memory they were discussing near the end of the show (past works revamped, collected, and edited) you can find that book here.

Podcast Email: mybadpoetry.thepodcast@gmail.com Bluesky: @mybadpoetrythepod.bsky.social Instagram & Threads: @MyBadPoetry_ThePod Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.mybadpoetry.com

Hello Silence our old friend. If we thought Aaron's dramatic takes started in the Wolf Journal, prepare to be surprised/disappointed. Turns out a 5th grade assignment produced around the same level of emo energy and gave us a proto-Silence saga poem. Dave is begging you all to go write your own bad poetry, so he doesn't have to hear any more of Aaron's old stuff. ;)

My Bad Poetry Episode 6.13: "Silence & Pain"

End Poem from a Real Poet: "If You're Not From the Prairie" by David Bouchard

Podcast Email: mybadpoetry.thepodcast@gmail.com Bluesky: @mybadpoetrythepod.bsky.social Instagram & Threads: @MyBadPoetry_ThePod Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.mybadpoetry.com

Megan makes her triumphant return to the podcast with not 1, not 2,... but 4 "bad" poems from journals in the past. Each poem brings a different kind of bad, from the structural to the theological. Dave and Aaron struggle to find a real critique for two of them but the other two make up for it.

My Bad Poetry Episode 6.12: "Orchids and Roses, Work of Art, ... (w/Megan McDermott)"

End Poem from a Real Poet: "O, Lover of Souls" by Megan McDermott

Megan is a writer and Episcopal priest with her book ⁠Jesus Merch: A Catalog in Poem⁠ is available through Fernwood Press. Megan also has a chapbook ⁠Woman as Communion⁠ through Game Over Books. You can follow her work through her website ⁠https://meganmcdermottpoet.com/⁠.

Podcast Email: mybadpoetry.thepodcast@gmail.com Bluesky: @mybadpoetrythepod.bsky.social Instagram & Threads: @MyBadPoetry_ThePod Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.mybadpoetry.com

With a rescheduled guest, Dave and Aaron return to Aaron's own bad poems. Having been gifted an old box of stuff from home, Aaron has found poems that predate the Wolf Journal. Dave is slightly more sympathetic to a third grade Aaron's writing, but only slightly. Enjoy a quartet of poems from a single loose leaf lined paper. This episode was fun, but now it's done!

My Bad Poetry Episode 6.11: "The Quartet"

End Poem from a Real Poet: "Homework Machine" by Shel Silverstein

Podcast Email: mybadpoetry.thepodcast@gmail.com Bluesky: @mybadpoetrythepod.bsky.social Instagram & Threads: @MyBadPoetry_ThePod Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.mybadpoetry.com

This week co-host's Dave and Aaron find themselves talking to a person working in the Twin Cities, who has never been to the Twin Cities. And if that isn't a riddle enough, they have to try and figure out his old poems! Adam Shaw brings poems from an old duct taped journal and when these three nerds aren't discussing LOTR's sword names, they are trying to make heads or tales of some moody rhymes that could use some work.

My Bad Poetry Episode 6.10: "Windowless Room, Taos Court, & Algebraic Hymn (w/Adam Shaw)"

End Poem from a Real Poet: "You're Not Even the Dirtbag" by Adam Shaw found in Rejection Letters.

Adam Shaw is the MFA director of Concordia University in St. Paul, living in Louisville, KY. He is the author of the novel The Jackels and has had works appear in Taco Bell Quarterly, The Daily Drunk, and beyond. One can also submit their works to Identity Theory where Adam is an assistance editor. Follow him @adamshaw502.

Podcast Email: mybadpoetry.thepodcast@gmail.com Bluesky: @mybadpoetrythepod.bsky.social Instagram & Threads: @MyBadPoetry_ThePod Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.mybadpoetry.com

After nearly two years of DMs to work out a time, the co-hosts of My Bad Poetry get to chat with Jenny Qi... and it was worth the wait! Jenny brings three poems from three distinct times in her life so one can see the progress of a writer from middle school to after college, and all the pit falls along the way. From personified cats to personified herons with a bull beast in between, this episode is a creature feature for the ages.

My Bad Poetry Episode 6.9 "The Seaman's Stray, Minotaur, & Almost (w/Jenny Qi)"

End Poem From A Real Poet: "⁠On the Anniversary of Death⁠" by Jenny Qi

Jenny Qi is a freelance writer and the author of ⁠Focal Point ⁠published through Steel Toe Books. She has a Ph.D. in Biomedical Science and writes about biotech, arts and crafts, and everything in between. You can follow her work through her ⁠website⁠.

Podcast Email: mybadpoetry.thepodcast@gmail.com Bluesky: @mybadpoetrythepod.bsky.social Instagram & Threads: @MyBadPoetry_ThePod Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.mybadpoetry.com

Jay Parr brings their tinkerings with poetry to the show, demonstrating the fun of self referencial poems. While none of them would be considered high art... they really aren't trying to be. A string of bad haiku's bring it home in this exploration in a proser playing with poetry. Also, Dave may have found his favorite poet... CW: The end poem deals with suicidal ideation.

My Bad Poetry Episode 6.8: "SONNET DCLXVII & Obfuscatory Exegesis (w Jay Parr)"

End Poem from a Real Poet: "Flat Spots" by Jay Parr found in Five Minutes Aug '23

Jay Parr is a teacher, writer, and has been almost everything under the sun. You can keep up with their work through ⁠their website⁠. Or follow them on the socials @crankypacifist.

Podcast Email: mybadpoetry.thepodcast@gmail.com Bluesky: @mybadpoetrythepod.bsky.social Instagram & Threads: @MyBadPoetry_ThePod Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.mybadpoetry.com

Lasara Firefox Allen brings work from their April 30 in 30 project (30 poems written in 30 days). These hastily written poems may blow most of the stuff Aaron and Dave brings to the show out of the water in quality, nevertheless the saccharin and specificity within prevents the poems from their true potential. Aaron and Dave learn a lot about the art of writing consistently and looking for one's flow.

My Bad Poetry Episode 6.7: "HftRR & Dimestore Shaman (w/ Lasara Firefox Allen)"

End Poem from a Real Poet: "Shark Smile" by Lasara Firefox Allen

Lasara Firefox Allen is a writer and academic with a prolific amount of eclectic work! Their are a poet, Witch, social justice advocate, the genderqueer menopause coach and co-conspirator for our collective liberation. You can follow their work through their ⁠substack⁠ or on their socials @ LasaraFirefoxAllen and ⁠buy their books through Amazon⁠. Podcast Email: mybadpoetry.thepodcast@gmail.com Bluesky: @mybadpoetrythepod.bsky.social Instagram & Threads: @MyBadPoetry_ThePod Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.mybadpoetry.com