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On Being with Krista Tippett

From Poetry Unbound: Ada Limón — “Wonder Woman”

On Being with Krista Tippett

On Being Studios

Sociology, Spirituality, Religion & Spirituality, Krista Tippett, Arts, Culture, On Being, Society, Society & Culture, Science, Social Sciences

4.710.2K Ratings

🗓️ 28 September 2020

⏱️ 16 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

We’re happy to share the first episode of the new season of Poetry Unbound with host Pádraig Ó Tuama. This poem by Ada Limón tells the story of a person living with invisible chronic pain who finds unexpected fortitude from a girl dressed as a superhero. Their encounter, “at the swell of the muddy Mississippi,” doesn’t have a fantasy ending, but instead finds strength and glory in bodies and myth. Subscribe to Poetry Unbound on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Overcast, or wherever you listen.

Transcript

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0:00.0

My name is Podrigo Tumor and one of the reasons I've turned to poetry is because poetry

0:09.0

isn't necessarily interested in telling the whole story.

0:12.1

Poetry is really interested in stopping in small moments and telling the story of that moment.

0:18.0

And that can be really helpful when you're stuck in a story where you can't see the outcome,

0:22.0

where you're stuck in a story of pain and you're not sure how it's going to work out.

0:26.0

To turn to poetry that isn't trying to say, or it'll all be fine, but it is helping you

0:31.0

to cast your eye on small moments that can give you some fortitude and that can help you through.

0:43.0

Wonder Woman by Adeli Mone

0:48.0

Standing at the swell of the muddy Mississippi after the urgent care doctor had just said,

0:54.0

well, sometimes shit happens, I fell fast and hard for New Orleans all over again.

1:01.0

Pain pills swirled in the purse along with a spell for later.

1:06.0

It's taken a while for me to admit, I am in a raging battle with my body, a spinal column,

1:13.0

35 degrees bent, vertigo that comes and goes like a DC Comics villain nobody can kill.

1:21.0

Invisible pain is both a blessing and a curse.

1:25.0

You always look so happy, said a stranger once as I shifted to my good side grinning.

1:31.0

But that day, alone on the riverbank, brass blaring from the steamboat natures out of the corner of my eye,

1:40.0

I saw a girl, maybe half my age, dressed for no apparent reason as Wonder Woman.

1:48.0

She strutted by an all her strength and glory, invincible, eternal,

1:54.0

and when I stood to clap because who wouldn't have, she bowed and posed like she knew I needed a myth,

2:03.0

a woman by a river indestructible.

2:19.0

Elimon is quite a cinematic poet in the sense that you can often see what's happening.

2:26.0

I mean, the story of the poem is that she's in New Orleans and an urgent care doctor has just given her a message

...

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