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Poetry in America

You and I Are Disappearing, by Yusef Komunyakaa

Season 2 Episode 6

Yusef Komunyakaa went to Vietnam as a journalist but he came home a poet. This episode explores what burns in memory and on the page, even decades later. Former Secretary of State John Kerry, film and theatre director Julie Taymor, composer Elliot Goldenthal, Komunyakaa himself and a chorus of veterans discuss the mingled beauty and horror of war-- and the challenge of making art of it.

Available Until
4/4/2026
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25:22
Cassandra Wilson, Elisa New & more read Evie Shockley’s “you can say that again, billie.”
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25:21
DJ Spooky, Joshua Bennett, & more discuss A.R. Ammon’s “Cascadilla Falls” with Elisa New.
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Gloria Estefan & more read Richard Blanco’s "Looking for The Gulf Motel" with Elisa New.
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Tony Kushner, David Strathairn & more read Whitman’s “The Wound-Dresser” with Elisa New.
Leaves of Grass, by Walt Whitman
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26:46
Join host Elisa New to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Walt Whitman’s birth.
This Is Just to Say, by William Carlos Williams
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26:49
Williams' poem “This is Just to Say” is only 28 words and ireads like a refrigerator note.
Finishing the Hat, by Stephen Sondheim
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26:46
Stephen Sondheim blends lyrics and music in his poem "Finishing the Hat".
This Your Home Now, by Mark Doty
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26:46
In Doty's poem “This Your Home Now,” a barber shops sparks a meditation on love and more.
The Fish, by Marianne Moore
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Explore Moore’s great poem of marine life, with Al Gore, Jorie Graham, and others.
One Art, by Elizabeth Bishop
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Katie Couric, Mary Chapin Carpenter and others explore Elizabeth Bishop's poem "One Art".
Urban Love Poem, by Marilyn Chin
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26:46
Maxine Hong Kingston, Randy Komisar and others explore Marilyn Chin's "Urban Love Poem".
The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus
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25:27
Contemplate the physical—and figurative—journeys charted by all immigrants.
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