Hey, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbong. For my money, the best way to read

poetry is to read it out loud yourself. The second best way to read poetry is to listen to someone

reading poetry, someone who really knows how to read poetry. To you, that might sound simple,

like, oh, just read the words on the page.

But as a producer of audio, let me tell you, reading poetry is a skill. An Irish poet Patrick Otuma

has it. He put together an anthology of poems titled 44 poems on being with each other,

and he spoke with Ed Pior's Mary Louise Kelly about what he's

looking for in a poem.

And yes, he does some great reading, too.

That's ahead.

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The Irish word phila, spelled F-I-L-E, means both poet and seer.

Well, for Irish poet, Padrig O'Tuma, seeing the world through poetry, is a calling,

whether that's his own poetry or someone else's.

Several times a week, O'Tuma walks listeners through poems on his podcast, Poetry Unbound.

Now, he is out with a new anthology focused on the pain and the pleasure of human connection.

It's called 44 poems on being with each other.

...