Featured Guest Episodes Episodes

When a poet reaches out to the show with the phrase "I am willing to dive into the old, Sad Boi notebooks and unleash all the Cringe" one cannot say no. Court does not disappoint with her selections. Warning, some pot brownies may have been consumed in the writing of these poems... need we say more? Huge shout out to "Arts Callings Podcast" w/ Jaime Alejandro for being the connection point that made this episode possible. Listen to Court's episode on Arts Calling here! My Bad Poetry 5.15 "Misce...

From dark tendrils to spotted slugs and briars of prongs, L.M. Cole's draft folder is full of some strange images. Aaron and Dave dive into the draft folder with L.M. to find the less than subtle cries for help in the glassy ocean that is... Iowa? My Bad Poetry Episode 5.13: "Pumpkin King ... Decreasing Functionality (w/ L.M. Cole)" End Poem from a Real Poet: "No Portents On This Path" by L.M. Cole recently published in Feral. L.M. is an artist and poet residing in North Carolina with two publ...

Dave and Aaron find themselves in the presence of the 2023 Omnidawn 1st/2nd Book Prize winner, jason b. crawford! That being said the poems they share on the show aren't ones that made the cut for Yeet! or Year of the Unicorn Kidz, or really anything... and that is probably a good thing. Hear jason's undergrad and recent grad work that were found in an old folder on an old email that they were gracious enough to dig out for all to hear. My Bad Poetry Episode 5.12 "Playground & Have you ever see...

While Dave is unable to make it, Aaron and Madeleine carry on a cosmic journey over a silk road to a ocean of plastic. From 2017 and 2018 archived documents Madeleine finds evidence of unrequited love and odd artistic choices. Feel free to use any of these lines for your Valentines. She even brings a short song to kick things off. Also, no dolphins were harmed in the recording of this episode. My Bad Poetry Episode 5.11: "Confinement, Silk Road, & Adynaton (w/ Madeleine Corley)" End Poem From ...

Nicole returns to My Bad Poetry with a high school poem and a college assignment (that earned an A). The only thing these two poems share? Nicole thinks they are bad. Since Dave and Aaron have no clue how to speak or read French they will just have to take her word for it. My Bad Poetry Episode 5.10: "Ode to My Pal, John & La Reine du Déguisement (w/ Nicole Tallman)" End Poem from a Real Poet: "The Velvet Room" by Nicole Tallman found in her latest poetry book Fersace Poems from ELJ Editions. ...

Shiksha wants to make it clear that these are the poems of a 16 year old so listeners beware. From "school is a prison," to a personified Death, Shiksha takes Dave and Aaron through the ringer of cliche high school poems. They all find a little solace in the fact that we all tend to need the same things, and in the end isn't that a sweet piece of cake to consider? My Bad Poetry Episode 5.9: "The Jail I Enrolled Into, The Fallen god, & Chocolate Cake (w/Shiksha Dheda)" End Poem from a Real Poet...

Dave and Aaron welcome back the Gorgan writer herself, Raegen Pietrucha. Raegen has done her due diligence and dug up two old poems from her own high school journal (covered with suns and moons no less). Along with one hold over poem from her last appearance, the the co-hosts work through the emo angst, rhymes, and stream of consciousness to conclude... high school is a weird time. My Bad Poetry Episode 5.8: "Untitled & Desperation (w/ Raegen Pietrucha) End Poem from a Real Poet: "This is Not ...

Dave and Aaron return from their holiday breaks with new guest on the show Trapper Markelz. From questionable interpretations of salt formations to interesting fisher slang, this conversation takes many unexpected turns, much like Trapper's poem on babies. Trapper Markelz is a cyclist, music producer, startup CEO, angler, father, and poet, whose newest poetry book Childproof Sky is available through Cherry Dress Chapbooks. My Bad Poetry Episode 5.7: "Hello, Babies & Slaying It (w/ Trapper Markel...

Though originally cut for time, this boardgame conversation seemed to interesting to leave on the cutting room floor. So during this extended winter break My Bad Poetry decided to drop this special bonus mini Boardgame episode that has nothing to do with poetry whatsoever. Enjoy! Luke Wortley used to be a featured guest/co-host on the Game of Thrones Card Game podcast The White Book (named for the log that chronicles the history and roster of the Kingsguard in A Song of Ice and Fire series). He ...

CW: Some references to abuse made throughout the episode. Lannie Stabile makes her triumphant return to the podcast as its "secret third co-host" with more rabbit holes as well as physical proof of future material (seven journals worth in fact!). Dave and Aaron are regaled with tales of theatre camp, pig fests, and spelling bees, that somehow are tangentially related to the bad poem she brought to the show. Since her last appearance, Lannie has had the poetry book The Inconvenience of Grief pu...

Content Warning: The final "bad" poem does deal with a death by suicide. Covering 34'-40'. _____ Luke Wortley tries a bold strategy coming on the show, which is exploring tangents long enough to never actually get to any of his "bad" poetry. Even his first poem distracts the co-hosts with the painting the ekphrastic is describing! Nevertheless, poems are discussed, from garbage to mitigated garbage, ending with a beautiful prose poem that is very good. * Luke Wortley is a poet in Indianapolis, ...

"Look at Old Photographs/ Everytime we do it makes us laugh." Megan brings so many gems to the show, yet the crew only had time to discuss two of them. Partly because they kept getting off topic with clergy stuff, and mainly because these works from a 17 year old Megan have layers. From romantic idealism to jaded pessimism all within the span of a stanza, Dave and Aaron find the rollercoaster of near rhymes and moonlit miracles well worth the ride. My Bad Poetry Episode 4.19: "The Prince & Old...

Though Dave had to bow out to be a good parent to sick kids, Aaron and Emily take a break from parenting to talk about poetry! Emily brings not only old poems but pictures from an eighth-grade project. Ekphrastic might be one way to describe these works but..."bad"...may be more accurate? My Bad Poetry Episode 4.17 "Popularity, Two Similar? & When a tree is chopped...? (w/Emily Dillon) End Poem from a Real Poet: "Pink Prose" by Emily Dillon published through Twin Pies Literary. Emily is a writ...

The co-hosts are honored to have a two time "Wakefield Prize" winning poet on this week's show. Aside from made up awards, John Yamrus brings decades of wisdom to the podcast in writing and being published. Of course, he also brings what he calls "embarrassingly" bad poems. My Bad Poetry Episode 4.15 Poem & I have (w/ John Yamrus) End Poem from a Real Poet: Two works from Selected Poems: The Director's Cut by John Yamrus. You can find and purchase Yamrus' most recent book Twenty Four Poems here ...

Ken, the self described blue collar poet and poet laureate of the Cleveland sewer system, joins Dave and Aaron for some needed discussions around beard balm ingredients, who really was at the manger, and how someone stumbles into poetry. My Bad Poetry Episode 4.14 "A Party at the Manger, The Beard Balm Conundrum, & Judging the Dead (w/ Ken Tomaro)" End Poem from a Real Poet: "All Planned Out" by Ken Tomaro which is found in his most recently published collection Potholes and Perogies. His othe...

My Bad Poetry returns from its midseason hiatus with a teacher ready to teach. Jessica Cuello brings her rejects to the table and still manages to encourage and educate the two co-hosts in the best possible way. Hear discussions on purposeful misspellings, missing the mark with narrative over lyrical lines, and how punctuation can be a great friend or foe. My Bad Poetry Episode 4.12 "Conchence, Achers, & Smite (w/ Jessica Cuello) End Poem from a Real Poet: "Dear Mother, [I wanted to crawl]" by...

Even with somewhat garbled moments Tate Lewis-Carroll's humor and wisdom comes through clearly and they share some pretty good "bad" poems with Aaron and Dave. Common splices, run on sentences, and a third thing, keep the party going with these poems, and a early poet experiments with styles and subjects ranging from passion, sticking it to tradition, and genuine grief. So join us as we all open up a little after kissing the fire eater. My Bad Poetry Episode 4.10 "Kissing the Fire Eater, Beach ...

This week Nolcha Fox brings three poems that range in their... quality? Listen to Dave make the most random connection between Nolcha's poem "Gently Used" and the Greek myth of Pandora. Aaron talks about snot and dead caterpillars. Nolcha brings rhyming poems when she normally writes in free verse. This one goes places. Good thing we had Directions! My Bad Poetry Episode 4.9 "Married and Buried, Thought is a Caterpillar, & Gently Used (w/ Nolcha Fox)" End Poem from a Real Poet: "Directions" by...

This week's episode features three very different types of "bad" poems. Robert brings to the show: a poem he wants to change to flash fiction, a published poem that he considers "his worst", and a typical angsty poem that carries all the attitude and cringe we have grown to love (or love to groan at). My Bad Poetry Episode 4.8 "PDA, Ugolano...& Masochist (w/ Robert Allen)" End Poem from a Real Poet: "Ache" by Robert Allen. Robert Allen is a teacher of poetry who lives in Oakland, California. W...

Laurence brings to the show two rough drafts of works that they are still chipping at to find the statue within the stone... but don't think the poems sink on arrival! Follow Dave, Aaron, and Laurence through the murky current stream of consciousness that is three nerds reflecting on language, structure, lovelorn angst, and all those awkward 20 something moments that may be better as tears lost in the rain. My Bad Poetry Episode 4.7 "A Hillbilly’s Desiderium in Colombia & Reverse Rain (w/ Laure...

Adrian dug through a box of loose leaf works to find poems that span a decade. From middle schooler to NYC apartment dweller, Adrian's previous contexts help pull back the curtain on poems full of mixed metaphors, Greek myths dropped in, and chewy lines to say. Dave and Aaron had a lot to ruminate on and that was before they even got to the chapbook on Teeth! My Bad Poetry Episode 4.6 "Untitled Works & Ganymede in Waiting (w/Adrian Dallas Frandle)" End Poem from a Real Poet: "Ode to My Husband...

Aaron is late to recording and Dave is early to leave but Paul Lutter puts up with the both of them. While the hosts have had English teachers and college professors on the show, this is the first time they have had a college prof who was one of their teachers. Paul taught Dave and now Dave gets to taunt Paul...if only Paul chose poems that weren't so darn sentimental ;) The three discuss the wonders if fatherhood and children's imagination and how all that might be harder to capture in words th...

What do Dave and Aaron do when a fellow Les Misérables enthusiast and Luther Seminary alumn comes on the show? Talk about basically everything else. From the complex rhyme structures of limericks to the nuanced, highly sophisticated, and informed opinions of high school boys, Matt's typewritten poems from 93' do not disappoint. My Bad Poetry Episode 4.3 "Elegy & A Limerick (w/Matt Schur)" End Poem from a Real Poet: "Disguised in Plain Sight" by Matt Schur found in his newest published book Imp...

Aaron and Dave find themselves trying to solve the mystery of Candice Kelsey's Murdered worms and what else She Wrote about. From a red pocket folder emerge poems much like how worms appear on a sidewalk after a spring rain, and much like the worms they may have been better left uncovered... Candice brings a perfect self deprecating humor and wit to the show that hopefully translates well to your ears! My Bad Poetry Episode 4.2 "Worms and I Sense the Presence of a True Believer (w/Candice M. Ke...