In the final episode of Words That Burn for 2025, we turn our attention to the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year, and the American poet who captured its delicate balance of darkness and light: W.S. Merwin.

This episode's poem "The Solstice," a work of minimalist verse that explores the intersection of nature, personal vulnerability, and the cyclical nature of time. This episode traces Merwin’s evolution from a rigid formalist to an experimental voice for environmental activism. It looks at how the poet was heavily influenced by the Vietnam War and the ecological fragility of his adopted home in Hawaii.

As we close out a difficult year marked by global conflict and uncertainty, this episode asks: How do we find hope when the days seem at their darkest? Merwin’s work reminds us that even when the sun goes away, it always comes back.

Topics Explored:

• W.S. Merwin’s Evolution: From the classical influence of W.H. Auden to the stark, grounded style of The Lice.
• Ecopoetry & Activism: How the Vietnam War and the destruction of Hawaiian flora (like the ʻōhiʻas and honeycreepers) radicalised Merwin’s work.
• Poetic Analysis: Deconstructing the structure of "The Solstice" and how its shrinking stanzas mimic the dwindling daylight of December 21st.

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The Music In This Week's Episode:

'Penumbra' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au

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In this episode of Words That Burn, I'm joined by Irish poet Clíodhna Bhreatnach to discuss her debut pamphlet, Pink Roses and Green. Together, we chat about a collection that sits at the intersection of the "nine-to-five grind," Millennial burnout, and a deep, tactile longing for the natural world.

Clíodhna breaks down her unique approach to the "Millennial Lyric"; moving away from the pastoral and into the office kitchenette. We discuss how she navigates the Post-Celtic Tiger landscape, using poetry to document the deformation of human time under late-stage capitalism.

We cover other topics like:

• The Romantic Office: Applying the philosophy of Keats and Wordsworth to photocopiers and Excel spreadsheets.
• Digital Intimacy: Finding beauty in the "randomised screensavers" of Windows desktops.
• The "Sick Addiction to Soft Things": Why tactile textures (paper, nature) are vital in a digital world.
• Writers Groups: The importance of community (specifically the Frustrated Writers Group) in banishing impostor syndrome.

• Bandit Country by James Conor Patterson
• Unstoppable Utopia by Cassandra Moss
• The Perfect Season by Sean Pearson
• The Lover's Discourse by Anahid Nersessian (Criticism on Keats)

About the poet:

Clíodhna Bhreatnach is from Waterford and lives in Dublin. Her poems have appeared in Poetry Ireland Review, The Stinging Fly, and The Forward Book of Poetry 2023. She has recently been awarded a Dublin City Council Arts Bursary for 2025. She is the former poetry editor of Frustrated Writers Group.

Find the book and the poet:

https://cliodhnabhreatnach.com

https://greenbottlepress.com/product/pink-roses-green-by-cliodhna-bhreatnach/

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For Halloween 2025, Words That Burn resurrects one of the most chilling poems in English literature: "This Living Hand" by John Keats. This short, macabre poem wasn't published until 77 years after Keats's death, making it feel like a genuine message from beyond the grave.

In this special episode, we explore the poem's dark, gothic imagery and the terrifying "strange bargain" it offers the reader. We dissect its uncanny duality, its sense of dread, and the horrifying biographical context of Keats's final days; a "posthumous existence" of body horror that forged this masterpiece.

I look at the poem's vampiric mechanism and Keats's desperate plea, not only for a transfusion of life, but for the artistic immortality he feared he'd never achieve.

This episode covers:

• The dark history of Keats's "This Living Hand."
• How Keats's embrace of darkness ("the burden of mystery") set him apart from other Romantic poets.
• A close reading of the poem's body horror, from "earnest grasping" to the "icy silence of the tomb."
• The link between Keats's final, agonising days and the poem's "vampiric" plea for life.
• Why this poem is a perfect, terrifying read for the Halloween season.

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The Music In This Week's Episode:

'Soul Searcher' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au

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