Waterskiing on Poetry - Waving hello to poems and poets with Neil Elder cover art

Waterskiing on Poetry - Waving hello to poems and poets with Neil Elder

Waterskiing on Poetry - Waving hello to poems and poets with Neil Elder

By: Neil Elder
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About this listen

 A light-touch exploration of poems and poetry with Neil Elder, long-time English teacher and prize-winning poet. Taking inspiration from the Billy Collins poem, 'An Introduction To Poetry', Neil puts poems alongside each other to see how life looks when seen through the lenses of different poets. There will be poems everyone knows, and plenty that are new to listeners. Not heavy, but certainly illuminating.Neil Elder Art Literary History & Criticism
Episodes
  • Ep 11. Dog Lovers Beware!

    Ep 11. Dog Lovers Beware!
    Feb 15 2026

    Love dogs or hate dogs? Either way, this one is for you. Here we wave hello to Billy Collins and Jack Underwood with their poems Another Reason Why I Don't Keep a Gun in the House and A man is dragging a dead dog, respectively.


    But these poems take us further than just having a nice time reading about dogs; they raise questions about the role of the reader, and highlight the way imagination underpins our reading.


    There's humour and darkness in equal measure. We bounce from barking dogs to Beethoven to a bizarre street scene where the reader takes over the role of the main character.

    Listen and enjoy!


    Instagram = @WaterskiingOn Poetry https://www.instagram.com/waterskiingonpoetry/

    To read the poems use these links -

    Billy Collins -

    https://allpoetry.com/Another-Reason-Why-I-Don't-Keep-A-Gun-In-The-House

    Jack Underwood -

    https://poetryarchive.org/poem/man-dragging-dead-dog/

    Essay by Jack Underwood -

    https://poetrysociety.org.uk/underwood-uncertain-subjects/
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    23 mins
  • Ep 10. War And Pancakes

    Ep 10. War And Pancakes
    Jan 24 2026

    How do we get through the day when war is on our televisions, and who cares about that stuff when we've got cartoons to watch and pubs to go to? Carol Ann Duffy and George Bilgere help explore the matter in War Photographer and Pancake Dilemma. War is serious - so is it okay if one of these poems is actually funny?


    Find the poems here - https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/war-photographer/

    https://rattle.com/pancake-dilemma-by-george-bilgere/


    George Bilgere is here https://www.georgebilgere.com/


    See Don McCullin photographs here https://donmccullin.com/
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    25 mins
  • Ep 9. Trains, Stars & Disappearing Cities. Exploring the Paul Farley poem 'Liverpool Disappears For A Billionth of A Second' and 'Star-Gazer' by Louis MacNeice.

    Ep 9. Trains, Stars & Disappearing Cities. Exploring the Paul Farley poem 'Liverpool Disappears For A Billionth of A Second' and 'Star-Gazer' by Louis MacNeice.
    Dec 15 2025

    Two stellar poems are being held up to the light for our exploration. In the Paul Farley poem a whole city disappears, but only for a moment. Whilst in the Louis MacNeice poem the concept of time is stretched out to an astronomical scale.


    Find the poems here

    https://allpoetry.com/poem/8495809-Star-Gazer-by-Louis-MacNeice


    https://www.poetryinternational.com/en/poets-poems/poems/poem/103-17537_LIVERPOOL-DISAPPEARS-FOR-A-BILLIONTH-OF-A-SECOND

    Let me know what you think of the poems on here or on Instagram - at WaterskiingOnPoetry
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    23 mins
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