PoemTalk #165: Stephen Collis Wants to Punch Fascists

Today we release episode #165 in the PoemTalk Podcast series, which focuses on Stephen Collis' poem “Yes I Do Want to Punch” from A History of the Theories of Rain (Talonbooks 2021), though as host Al Filreis points out, "perhaps [it] should be called “Yes I Do Want to Punch / fascists in the face,” proceeding to its key first line." Joining Filreis for this show are panelists Pattie McCarthy, Kate Colby, and Lily Applebaum.

After sorting out details of provenance, Filreis' Jacket2 blog post announcing the new episode turns to the poem itself: "The ecopoetic turn — an urgent one, although it can also be read as casual, even patient — from the power of a counter-violent radical reaction to a sweet comic catalogue of warblers occurs right at the beginning of the poem. One has no time to get one’s readerly bearings." "Typically," he continues, "we have time to ask, What kind of poem is this? What is its tone? What is the subject matter? 'But first' signals a rapid, mind-clearing, nearly immediate volta."

You can listen to this latest program and read more about the show here. PoemTalk is a joint production of PennSound and the Poetry Foundation, aided by the generous support of Nathan and Elizabeth Leight. You can browse the full PoemTalk archives, spanning more than a decade, by clicking here.