In March, Todd Boss launched his podcast THERE'S A POEM IN THAT. Unlike Cheryl Strayed’s "Dear Sugar" advice column on The Rumpus, or Rick Moody’s “Life Coach” column on Literary Hub, Boss’s podcast does not so much offer counsel or enlightenment but rather an honest conversation with a total stranger that results in a poem. Listeners wanting a poem are invited to call a hotline and leave a message about their lives. If chosen, Boss will get in touch with them for a series of there hour-long interviews, which the podcast condenses. Boss, of sweet temperament and deep intelligence, is a listener. He listens for image, idiosyncrasy, metaphor, any thread from which he can write his poem. The podcast made me think of how lucky we poets are—chronicling our lives, seeing patterns in the chaos, having our say. Boss provides that gift to nonpoets, often to effect personal transformation, revelation, and tears. His poems in each episode go beyond the occasional poem, which traditionally honors a specific event. Instead he draws upon his 15-year practice of writing on private commission to get to know the people with whom he talks. The first episode features Joan, a singer who’s lost her voice but not her laugh. When she describes her vocal chords as in a state of “atrophy,” Boss reframes the experience and writes a poem called “A Trophy.”
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