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Elissa Ball reads "The But is Silent" by Talicha Johnson

Elissa Ball is a poet, humorist, and journalist, originally from Yakima, WA. She contributes to The Inlander, has an astrology column called Space Witch, and reads tarot cards (as Hit the Deck Tarot). Her latest book, More or Less (on Cold Cube Press), is an illustrated collection of jokes.

About the Poems:
 
For this week's Poetry Moment, I selected poems about passion—an abundance of passion. The poems (all written by women) that I chose explore desire, power, and the invisible electric forces that draw us toward certain directions. Whether expressing the competitive desire to win at tetherball (Kim-An Lieberman's "In Tetherball Time") or the desire to openly, safely love another person (Elizabeth Bradfield's "Now You See Me"), these poets' voices exude an urgent, potent lust for life. Speaking of lust, Kim Addonizio's "For Desire" is one of my favorite poems of all time; its final line contains one radio-unfriendly word which I omitted for this broadcast. Thanks to Spokane Public Radio for allowing me to share these passionate poems with you. 

Chris Maccini previously worked at SPR as Morning Edition host and producing arts and special programming such as The Bookshelf, Poetry Moment, Northwest Arts Review, special features and more.