What of our anger
Toward our fathers
When the world now
Is given to the young
Still unaware of
Our trespasses
Forgive us our debts
We plead as we were taught
To all our judges
Especially our sons
Heartsick in twenty years
At our defenses
Of ignorance, poverty, pain
June 2021
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit davidreese.substack.com (https://davidreese.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)
18 Jul 2025
Song: Carry Me
Carry me, carry me over black water
In a flat-bottomed boat
Through the reeds
My silver, my silver
Is good as it could be
Don't wait, sir, please ferry me
Don't you wait, sir, please ferry me
Here at the landing
She comes with her lantern
Weeping and calling my name
Still lovely as ever
But such pain when I see her
Won't you, sir, please carry me
Don't you wait, sir, please carry me
Carry me, carry me over black water
The hour is coming too soon
Her feet cold and bare on the leaves
As she searches
And follows the moon through the trees
I didn't come from a war
Or from saving another
I was only the victim of
The paper-mill fire
My body washed up
Half a mile from the landing
Won't you please ferry me
Don't wait, sir, please ferry me
Carry me, carry me over black water
In a flat-bottomed boat
Through the reeds
My silver, my silver
Is good as it could be
Don't wait, sir, please ferry me
Don't you wait, sir, please ferry me
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit davidreese.substack.com (https://davidreese.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)
16 Jul 2025
Reading: Counterparty Risk
I should
Look up terms
Like counterparty risk
Before using them
In poems about love
Be responsible
With the language
To which
We share a
Vast unreciprocated duty
(Which itself is love)
But it is a thrill
In writing poems about love
To risk looking foolish and
Outmatched by words and
Attempt surgery
With no training and
Wrap ligaments of experience
Around bodiless
Contract law idioms and
Suggest the
Septic dread of all
That can go wrong in love the
Unpaperable terror and thrill
When always in love we
Risk looking foolish and
Outmatched by words and
Attempt surgery
With no training
May 2021
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit davidreese.substack.com (https://davidreese.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)
12 Jul 2025
Song: Are You Trying to Break My Heart
Oh, my love, it would be a sin,
After all this time,
To give in, give in.
Six months in the bottle won’t touch the pain.
You leave your note, but
The questions remain.
Are you trying to break my heart?
Would you even go out if your way? Or
Would you let it just happen
As you come and go?
Ain’t there nothing that you want to say?
Oh, hold me again.
Oh, hold me again.
Oh, my love, what set you on fire?
You give nothing for free;
Gave me nothing for hire.
You drank gasoline cause you like how it feels.
Now I lay in the road and watch you burn up the hills.
Chorus
Oh, my love, it would be a sin,
After all this time, to not come home again.
You say that for love you’d walk straight into hell.
But the things you do now you just do for yourself.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit davidreese.substack.com (https://davidreese.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)
7 Jul 2025
Reading: Noise Machines
The episode explores themes of imagination and defense through a poetic reading about a nation asleep and protected by signal-burying machines.
6 Jul 2025
Reading: H-Day
The episode explores themes of race and religion through the author's personal experiences as a young preacher, highlighting the challenges faced by African preachers in the American South.
5 Jul 2025
Oh Seven Oh Four Twenty-Five
This episode of Absence Podcast explores themes of defeat, isolation, and the fleeting nature of solace through a reading of W.H. Auden's poem "Spain 1937."
3 Jul 2025
Reading: When This is Over
The episode explores themes of state power, personal responsibility, and the desire for peace through a reading of a poem.
2 Jul 2025
Reading: Widow's Walk
The episode features a reading of "Widow's Walk," exploring themes of loss, unlearning hope, and the passage of time through evocative imagery and metaphorical language.
28 Jun 2025
Reading: Finding a Shoe
David Reese shares a reflective reading about searching for a lost shoe as a metaphor for grappling with the complexities and inevitability of death.
27 Jun 2025
Song: The Middle
The episode "Song: The Middle" on Absence Podcast explores the complexities and nuances of relationships by focusing on the pivotal moments found in the middle.
26 Jun 2025
Reading: Waves
The episode explores themes of acceptance and change through the metaphor of waves interacting with the shore, urging listeners to embrace the constant flow of life.
25 Jun 2025
Reading: Unspent Shells
David Reese explores themes of love, fear, and conflict through a reading of his poem "Unspent Shells," offering listeners a moment of reflection on emotional warfare.
24 Jun 2025
Reading: Renewal
David Reese reads his poem "Renewal," exploring themes of transformation and the overwhelming force of love in shaping one's spirit.
Podcast Authority Score: 6 / 100
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YouTube
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