That’s Lord Byron! Passion! Scandal! Peacocks on the stairs! Commemorate the bicentenary of Byron’s death with poetry, stories, and a biography in ten letters. GIVE OH GIVE ME BACK MY HEART. Cover art by Flak Sabbath https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/03/04/byron-a-life-in-ten-letters-andrew-stauffer-book-review

Of course, we always roll the dice for poetry prompts here on Poetry Freaks! Now let’s take a look at the game that started it all: Poetry Freaks by Seann McAnally. After which, Pete Kelly (Poet in Residence for the Dracula Society) and I read selections from our collaborative volume of poetry, POETRY FREAKS: Poems by the Dice! Grab your d30’s and d100’s! LET’S GET NERDY. Poetry Freaks: Poems by the Dice https://a.co/d/0iBS4DTI Poetry Freaks: The Game by Seann McAnally (Nerd Glows On) https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/451053/poetry-freaks

Though NOT the idiot described in “Brief Lives of Idiots” by Ermanno Cavazzoni, Dino Campana became an subject of fascination when I read the segment, “The Poet Dino Campana”—wherein a university student coasts through every oral exam by mentioning that he comes from the same town as the poet—thereby distracting every professor into long discussions of the beloved Campana! And oh, what a cursed poet, our dear Campana! Let us dive into the mesmerizing visionary verse and tortured life of Italy’s treasured poet, Dino Campana! Poetry Prompt for 10-sided dice: Poetic Mood = Smoky Summer Evening Poetic Word(s) = Rotting Smell Go ahead! Write along! hipnessandoutrage@gmail.com Brief Lives of Idiots https://a.co/d/01GkAPY9 http://www.greeninteger.com/pipbios_detail.cfm?PIPAuthorID=319 https://www.google.com/gasearch?q=dino%20campana&tbm=&source=sh/x/gs/m2/5#ip=1 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dino_Campana Poetry Freaks: Poems by the Dice https://a.co/d/0elsaJmA Disembodied: Poems for Wandering Ghosts https://a.co/d/0bapEDck

Let’s get disembodied in our poetry! Shuck your constraints, poetry freaks, write freeee! In a colossal spurt of vainglory, I read from my new collection, Disembodied! Poems for Wandering Ghosts, available now–a found pile of verse blurted onto paper, nearly all in one night, if I recall. That is what happens in life’s wiggy, liminal moments when you’re not quite certain you belong anywhere. Plus! A brief look at the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics! Have you gone breathless at the very name? You are not alone. Disembodied: Poems for Wandering Ghosts https://a.co/d/0hB23Edn https://www.naropa.edu/academics/schools-centers/jack-kerouac-school-of-disembodied-poetics/

“And who is it rides by night, by night…?” Let’s explore the tingling lyrics of Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poetry! He packed a lot of writing into his 33 years! Plus, we draw from the Dream Whip box to add a line to this summer’s String-of-Pearls opus—and roll the dice for a new Poetry Prompt, Dunbar-style ~~ Mood = I’M SINGING HERE TO YOU, LOVE Poetic Word = LARK Write along! Send to hipnessandoutrage@gmail.com and I’ll read it on the show! Title graphic art by Flak Sabbath https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/paul-laurence-dunbar https://modernamericanpoetry.org/index.php/james-emanuel-haunted-oak#:~:text=%22The%20Haunted%20Oak%2C%22%20written,mob%20of%20whites%20after%20having

Alone on purpose! Bohemian-Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke tells us how to become the poet (if indeed we MUST). Let’s go on a little adventure with “Letters to a Young Poet”—solitude! Love is difficult! Beauty is everywhere! ALL is gestation and birthing! Got poetical doubts? Make those doubt prove it! Ok, I will…right after I whine a little! Rilke! A Poetry Freak of the dearest kind!

Grab your memento mori—we’re going to the Graveyard School! The graveyard poets absolutely PONDERED death and decay, graves and ghosts, reminding us that we, too, must die ~ as they wrote under the foggy shroud of night (possibly in graveyards). Plus: what the heck is mellification? A riveting medicinal history—human mummy confection, anyone? Shudder! Oh, it gets weird, never you worry! Let’s go! Poetry Prompt: Poetic Mood = ‘TIS PEACE / Morbid Word = LAMENTABLE. Write along with me! hipnessandoutrage@gmail.com The Graveyard School: An Anthology https://www.valancourtbooks.com/the-graveyard-school-an-anthology.html Mellification https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mellified_man www.allthatsinteresting.com/mellified-man POETRY FREAKS the Game: www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/451053/poetry-freaks

Poetry Freaks! What do you do when startled awake at 2:30 a.m.? Bounce right out of bed, cook up a decadent poem on the front porch, roll the dice, and explore MADSONG—the verses of madmen! But in a fun way, you know? PROMPT: Mood: Embalmed in Honey Decadent Word: Candle ALERT: Ezra Pound pushes the language envelope: 8:58-9:27 Cover art by Flak Sabbath Transfusion Poetica: Poems & Art Gallery https://a.co/d/9iakwYp Poetry Freaks: Poems by the Dice https://a.co/d/8IfTow7 Poetry Freaks the Game https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/451053/poetry-freaks #poetry #poetryfreaks #madsong #diceroll

Hey, poetry freaks! This is your podcast—poetry, dice rolls for poetry prompts, and always something intoxicating! This week, it’s “Three Poems Called ‘Spleen.’” Did you know your spleen is purple? Join the Decadent Poets of the 1890s for a spectacular bout of melancholia! Write along to the poetry prompt: Mood: The Dark Angel. Decadent Word: Glistening podcast graphic by Flak Sabbath send your poems to: hipnessandoutrage@gmail.com https://youtu.be/J0-cM6dgYW0?si=TfebrsfvECzmSjbc Baudelaire’s spleen refers to a concept popularized by the French poet Charles-Pierre Baudelaire. It encompasses a state of melancholy, boredom, and dissatisfaction with life that lacks a definite cause1. Baudelaire often grappled with profound depression throughout his life, and he used the term “spleen” to describe a debilitating mixture of undesirable feelings—such as anger, melancholy, frustration, and boredom—stemming from humanity’s inability to attain an ideal state of being2. http://firstknownwhenlost.blogspot.com/2012/02/spleen-times-three.html?m=1#:~:text=Suffering%20a%20bout%20of%20%22spleen,wrote%20poems%20with%20that%20title. The Flowers of Evil Spleen and Ideal, Part II Summary & Analysis | SparkNotes www.sparknotes.com/poetry/flowersofevil/section2/ “Spleen” by Paul Verlaine Spleen | Song Texts, Lyrics & Translations | Oxford Song www.oxfordsong.org/song/spleen-3 dandtnetwork.glasgow.ac.uk/spleen-spleen-spleen/ graphic art by Flak Sabbath #poetry #decadentpoets #spleen #paulverlaine #charlesbaudelaire #poetryprompt #poetryfreaks #podcast