Reading Todd Davis’s gorgeous poems, you can’t help but feel that the capacities of human vision, and also our appetite for exactly this way of seeing and naming have been mysteriously, precisely increased.
– Jane Hirshfield
The poems of Todd Davis sharpen a reader’s spirit and focus, on the bloodstained teeth breaking apart the day-to-day doldrums and on the mythic imagination necessary to bear witness to this daunting moment in our species, on our planet.
Todd Davis and I spoke back in 2019 about his book Native Species and he has read his poems in the last two years on the Contemplify Backporch Advent Outpost series. Today we focus on Todd’s latest book of poems, Coffin Honey. We step into the rich imagery of characters, landscape, and emotion vibrating off the pages of his work. We also do not shy away from the thick smoke of trauma, poetry as a survival skill, the cost of risking participation in crafting such poems, and much more.
Visit Todd’s website at todddavispoet.com to slip through the doors of his poetry.
Episode Show Notes
Books by Todd Davis
Resources & People Mentioned
- High Water Mark by Dave Shumate
- Lorca
- Mercado
- Pablo Neruda
- Gary Snyder
- Outer Range (Josh Brolin show)
- New Seeds of Contemplation by Thomas Merton
- Lucien Stryk
- ‘Mother’ from Coffin Honey
- Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy
- “Hall of Death” by Superwolves
- William Stafford
- Mary Oliver
- Wendell Berry
- Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude by Ross Gay
- Hildegard of Bingen
- ‘Dream Elevator’ from Coffin Honey
- Donald Hall
- While We Still Have Feet by David Budbill
Drink Recommendation
- Hot Toddy (whiskey, lemon, honey)
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