The Ponca Poet's Podcast

Cliff Taylor
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The Ponca Poet’s Podcast is an Indigenous storytelling, poetry-reading, hanging-out-and-having-a-good-time podcast. If you wanna kick it by the fire with a long-winded Sundancer, crack up about crazy but true Bigfoot stories, get real in the face of what tried to kill us Native people but couldn’t, or just dive deep into so many beautiful human things that have the medicine power to heal, then this is the place for you.

  1. FEB 20

    The Akebono Tree

    What becomes of a person who deeply loves a certain tree? In this episode, I fist-bump a perfectly wonderful day, detail my opening procedures at the Co-op a bit, and then order my morning praise thoughts into a sonnet about the sweet akebono tree I visit with everyday.  For more episodes of The Ponca Poet’s Podcast please check out my Patreon and consider joining the poetry-and-story-loving community there.  Weblaho!!!

    12 min

  2. FEB 5

    Hold Steady, Changer

    As times intensify, we lean into what we must to help each other through them.  In this episode, I read a poem titled ‘The Changer’ and give love to the all the creative resources we have at hand to employ in the face of today’s most recent injustices and atrocities; I also give love to the indescribable flowing life-giving immensity that is Grandmother Columbia River, leaning into Her as I read, record, fly along.  So, grab a mug of your favorite beverage, settle in for an infusion of the Poetic Spirit, and enjoy! And as always, for more episodes of The Ponca Poet’s Podcast please check out my Patreon and consider joining the poetry-and-story-loving community there!

    17 min

  3. 12/31/2025

    Indigenous Visions

    Is your soul alive with the Original Instruction of always keeping the future generations in mind? In this episode, I delve into the concept/idea/teaching of considering the future generations in everything you do. This teaching is as alive in my people's culture as our awareness of the ancestors and love of our Mother the earth. It's foundational, a guiding force, the right kind of inspiration to have powering your heart. Half the secret of why we're here is embedded in its teaching and accompanying vision. This episode is also particularly special because it was recorded in the Anita Building, where the Indigenous Visions art show I curated was on display for the last two months, radiating its immeasurable medicine into the community/world. Indigenous Visions was a major highlight of my year and it happily bleeds into this episode in all sorts of sweet and lovely ways. So, grab a mug of your favorite beverage, call up the future generations in your heart, and enjoy!!! And as always, for more episodes of The Ponca Poet's Podcast please check out my Patreon and consider joining the story-and-poetry-loving community there!

    20 min

  4. 10/28/2025

    Zine Fest!!!

    This week I'm sharing the latest episode of The Ponca Poet's Podcast from over on my Patreon, to give listeners a taste of what's happening over there. Happy Fall, stay magical, and rock on!!! * Do you remember the first time you came across a zine? The most recent time you flipped one open? Maybe it was filled with hand drawn comics, vegan punk recipes, a tour of the best local bridges to write poetry under... This past Saturday I had the joy of participating in Astoria's First Annual Zine Fest. It was festive, colorful, diverse, well-attended, a unique happening with a ton of super creative zine-makers composing its heart. It was a blast. On this episode, I do a recap of the Zine Fest, a behind-the-scenes (behind-the-zines maybe?) day-after storyteller zinester's share, having some sincere fun and celebrating zine culture as I've known it. I also read a poem from local poet Logan Garner, from a zine of his I picked up at the fest that he created specifically for the fest. So, grab a mug of your favorite beverage, give yourself a big do-it-yourself hug, and enjoy!!!

    23 min

  5. 09/19/2025

    Taarva the Storyteller

    Stories guide, uplift, cut through the darkness, showing us the way forward. Stories are magically capable of a million things, can transform into a gift, a friendship, a warning, a doorway, an owl with mysteries in its eyes. Stories carry the voice of the Ancient, making the oldest wisdoms legible to our curious, yearning souls... On this episode, I tell the Mongolian story of Blind Taarva, the half-dead boy who journeyed to the Underworld and brought back...well, you'll have to give his story a listen to hear what exactly he returned from that shimmering spirit-realm with. Hint: they are wondrous and still blessing us today. So, grab a mug of your favorite beverage, spill a bit out for the Bigfoot outside your window, turn on your magical listener's ears, and enjoy!!! And as always, for more episodes of The Ponca Poet's Podcast, please check out my Patreon. All support is appreciated and all deep-hearted folks are most welcome in our ever-growing little community.

    19 min

  6. 08/31/2025

    Mouse Perfume

    Have you ever caught a smell from out of nowhere that was most certainly from a spirit? In this episode, I read a poem titled Mouse Perfume, that's about a time I was visited by such a scent, by such a visitor. When I was a little kid my mom talked about ghosts and spirits all the time and now that I'm older, I'm filled with gratitude over how much she normalized both the possibility of otherworldly encounters and the reality of otherworldy encounters. In this day and age, we need to make this conversation about the Other World healthy, present, and empowered again -our soul requires it, depends on it. So, grab a mug of your favorite beverage, prepare to hear a poem that's spirit world-positive, smile at all of your spirit-relatives, and enjoy! And as always, for more episodes of The Ponca Poet's Podcast, please check out my Patreon. All support is appreciated and all rad-hearted folks are most welcome in our ever-growing little community.

    23 min

  7. 08/15/2025

    A Poem from the Ponca Powwow

    This past weekend was the 31st Annual Ponca Powwow in Niobrara, Nebraska. Sadly, living out here in Oregon, I was not able to attend. Hopefully things will come together for me to make it there next year. On this episode, I read a poem from The Creator's Game, the poetry collection I wrote after attending my people's powwow last year. I'm so glad I wrote that little collection. It's a record of family, Ponca bliss, old friends, Indian humor, ceremony, little people knowledge, and just unforgettable good times. It really was a comfort to read from, feeling all that I was as I thought about this year's powwow from afar. Grab a mug of your favorite beverage, blow a kiss to powwows past, kick back, and enjoy!!! And as always, please check out the Ponca Poet's Podcast on Patreon to hear more episodes of the podcast. All listener support is appreciated and welcomed.

    24 min

  8. 07/06/2025

    '...I was blessed and could bless.'

    These are some hard, unbelievable, maddening, and dangerous times we're living in. Are we safe? How did such a heartless, only-in-it-for-himself person come to be the most powerful person in the land? I don't have all the answers, but I do know one of the answers is for all of us to keep showing up and contributing what we can to those whom love. In the spirit of that, on this episode, I share a poem by W.B. Yates, and then dive into the beauty of what's possible in a well-lived life; of what it means to be blessed; and then what it means to have the opportunity to bestow a blessing on someone else. Let's keep what gives us strength and joy close, keep our visions for a better world alive in our daily heart. Let's keep tending what we love and standing up for what we know is right. For more episodes of The Ponca Poet's Podcast, please check out out my Patreon. This show is supported by listeners like you and wouldn't be here without you. Weblaho!!!

    30 min
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About

The Ponca Poet’s Podcast is an Indigenous storytelling, poetry-reading, hanging-out-and-having-a-good-time podcast. If you wanna kick it by the fire with a long-winded Sundancer, crack up about crazy but true Bigfoot stories, get real in the face of what tried to kill us Native people but couldn’t, or just dive deep into so many beautiful human things that have the medicine power to heal, then this is the place for you.

Information

  • Creator
    Cliff Taylor
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    25
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Cliff Taylor
  • Show Website
    The Ponca Poet's Podcast