I asked Todd Davis if he could read some of his poems from his latest collection called Coffin Honey. And he generously said yes. Take a beath, find a comfortable seat, preferably out of doors and let the poetry of Todd Davis seep in through your pores and raise forth the best of you.
**Before we get started, I want to note that in this episode of poems from Todd Davis include content about sexual assault and self mutilation. If that sounds like poetry you are not comfortable listening to, we sure understand. Take care of yourself.**
All of the poems included here are from Todd’s latest book of poems, Coffin Honey.
Visit Todd’s website at todddavispoet.com to comb through and order all of his work of poetry.
Enjoy the work of Todd Davis.
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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.
**Before we get started, I want to note that in this episode with Todd Davis we converse about sexual assault and self mutilation, in both personal and mythic stories. If that sounds like a conversation you are not comfortable listening to, we sure understand. Take care of yourself.**
Visit Todd’s website at todddavispoet.com to slip through the doors of his poetry.
Visit contemplify.com
Paula Huston has written a book, The Hermits of the Big Sur, that charts the history of the New Camaldoli Hermitage. A history born amidst Vatican II and World War II with even deeper contemplatives roots back to the 11th century in the mountains of Italy. Paula follows the ragtag set of novices who become the elders of the community, those who wandered to follow other calls, and those hermits who it their life’s work to be enfolded by Mystery. Paula Huston is more than author, but oblate of New Camaldoli Hermitage aka a non-monastic member of the community. She shares with us the gifts her contemplative rhythm has brought to her days, the virtues of working an olive press and writer’s pen, and gleanings from being in friendship with the monks over these decades.
Visit paulahuston.com to keep tabs on her works of beauty.
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(My audio starts shaky, but gets better after 8 minutes)
Bill Porter, aka Red Pine, calls the hermit life, "graduate school for the spiritually inclined." Bill Porter is a translator of Buddhist and Taoist mountain poets that uncross your third eye and waft the scent of a fine scotch.
What can I say about Bill Porter that he won’t say better about himself? I first stumbled on his book Road to Heaven: Encounters with Chinese Hermits while on retreat. His adventures and chitchats with hermits beckoned me to discover more about this hermit tradition and the man captivated by trekking into the mountains in search of monks living off the map. Bill is credited with an uptick of interest in the hermit life in China.
Stateside Bill Porter is best known under his translator name of Red Pine, translating the work of Cold Mountain, Stonehouse, Lao Tzu and others over at the granddaddy of beautiful publishing Copper Canyon. We talk about this and more.
To visit Bill Porter, well if you bump into him in his hometown. To find his work online go his publisher Copper Canyon at coppercanyonpress.org.