Poet on Song

Maryama Antoine

Join poet and literature teacher Maryama Antoine for immersive journeys through the work of Baldwin, Morrison, Rumi, Neruda, Tagore, Baudelaire and other great writers—exploring beauty, truth, love, and the good through literature and music. Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

  1. Jul 17

    Rabindranath Tagore on ethics and being whole

    If Tagore’s song is capable of great reverence for his beloved country, whose skies and people are the music of his soul, and of the surrender shown in the Gitanjali, his critical lens is much more grounded in the protest politics of his time. As a social reformer, Tagore held a clear vision for his rapidly changing colonial India, and it was modern, open towards the world—yet rooted in the humanistic values of his spiritual background. It is his focused lens—when turned on our Western culture—that illuminates its ability to organize and order the world  while revealing the ways in which its materialism has made so desolate the life upon it. Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

    Rabindranath Tagore on ethics and being whole

  2. 05/21/2025

    James Baldwin on affirming the light

    Baldwin’s lessons are so relevant that his message seems to collapse time. From Go Tell It on the Mountain, to Sonny's Blues, to Another Country, or The Price of the Ticket—from his essays to his plays—there is so much to say, so much to revere, that it feels like it would take a lifetime to articulate the complexities of that utterance. But I’ll take a smaller bit and share with you what he most wanted for us—those who would come after him—that we could at last be governed by the benevolence of love. And he shows us what is required to live from that space. I’ll give you a taste of his lulling blues, his idealism, his act of faith… Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

    James Baldwin on affirming the light

  3. 10/01/2024

    Mary Oliver on stewardship of the planet

    Poet of the ordinary, the common, the very drab, Mary Oliver was willing to listen, to hear. From that willingness emerges a body of work that is as humble as it is wise. She sang with open throat the prayers of the grass, the waggle of honey bees, the flowing river, the waiting sun, and asked on behalf of the earth crumbling under our carbon footprint that we get to know this haven we have called mother.  Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

    Mary Oliver on stewardship of the planet

  4. 12/15/2023

    Pablo Neruda on living with passion

    “Neruda’s poetry touches the depth of things. One feels its interdimensional layers in the way fragrance or taste can harbor time. But with him, it seems to go further than that; down, down, and into the fabric of what is being played out in the landscape of the lived moment. Neruda’s song marvels at appearance, investigates texture, inhabits cells, and sings with particles that uni.verse--song that unites us all--Love." Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

    Pablo Neruda on living with passion

  5. 05/06/2023

    Matsuo Basho on cultivating focus and humility

    Basho’s poetry delves into the present moment and leaves us with flashes, echoes of ordinary things made extraordinary because he took the time to look at them. Short and seemingly simple, it is the very spaciousness of the Haiku that allows him to open the doors of contemplation for us -- and that is what he does, when we let him.  Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

    Matsuo Basho on cultivating focus and humility

  6. 11/30/2022

    Walt Whitman on love of self and country

    Whitman's song catalogs a profound empathy for the other, whom he in many ways identified as himself. That sense of oneness pervades his poetry, and in my mind stands as his most important message--that we are one and must therefore include the other. These ideas are conveyed with forward intimacy, a closeness that engages and reflects with you, a voice that speaks directly to you. It is almost shocking how Whitman gets to us, how well he seems to understand what is most vibrant about the American character:  it’s diversity.  Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

    Walt Whitman on love of self and country

  7. 07/08/2022

    Rumi on wisdom: knowledge seasoned by love

    Rumi's poetry speaks to us from a state of deep inspiration. The luminescence of his verse carries hope, delivers method and the emotional depth needed to find our way to the knowledge seasoned by love—wisdom. From reading Rumi, one learns that there is a rigor to love. That it reaches beyond attachment to something closer to what we do. “Let the beauty we love be what we do.” Love is action, love is devotion, love is a willingness to make sacred the demands of our higher self, cater to its need for beauty, for gentleness, for light. Such practices push us towards the incredible energy, the dynamism that is human happiness. Having acquired it, we naturally share it, deliver it with abundance. It seems that in such a state we no longer ask what can be done? Rather, what is beloved in my life? What do I cherish? What have I rendered sacred? Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

    Rumi on wisdom: knowledge seasoned by love

  8. 03/07/2022

    Toni Morrison on the pursuit of goodness

    “Out of the gospel of the middle passage, the blues of slavery, the jazz of big city ghetto nights,” the Nobel Prize winning Toni Morrison whose generative depth and sounding of interiority produces a lyricism that is radiant in its generosity and in my mind can only be described as song. Morrisson rivets because she has an ear tuned to the complexities of the American saga in all of its beauty and travesties. Her dives into her characters' inner lives read like ballads, like rhapsodies, like adagios-- its all music.  Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

    Toni Morrison on the pursuit of goodness
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
5 Ratings

About

Join poet and literature teacher Maryama Antoine for immersive journeys through the work of Baldwin, Morrison, Rumi, Neruda, Tagore, Baudelaire and other great writers—exploring beauty, truth, love, and the good through literature and music. Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Information

  • Creator
    Maryama Antoine
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    14
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Poet on Song · Copyright 2021 · All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Poet on Song