Cook & Crank: The Cosmic Poetry Podcast

40 Episodes
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By: Simon Pole

The official podcast of Cosmic Poet Simon Pole.  Hear a different poem performed each week in the Cosmic Poet's own authentic, expressive voice, with a short commentary for added enjoyment.Simon Pole is the author of six volumes of poetry, including the seven-poem epic cycle The Saga of Terminal City.  Known for a distinctive brand of writing called Cosmic Poetry, which scales from the everyday to the spiritual heights beyond, Pole is a graduate of Harvard University, and a descendant of early Canadian poet Susie Drury.He lives in Kingsville, Ontario, on the north shore of Lake Erie.

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Angel Free
#73
Yesterday at 4:00 PM

Great distances both physical and spiritual test our lives.  A poem read by Cosmic Poet Simon Pole.  From the Poems For Ocean collection.

Website: https://simonpole.ca/ 

Audio Credits: https://simonpole.ca/pages/audio-credits


A Rover I
#72
07/08/2026

Explore the ancient spirit of the rambler and the rover in a poem read by Cosmic Poet Simon Pole.  From the Poems For Ocean collection.

Website: https://simonpole.ca/ 

Audio Credits: https://simonpole.ca/pages/audio-credits


The Touchdown
#71
07/01/2026

The rules and runners of football tell us much about ourselves, wrapped in glory and heartache.  A poem read by Cosmic Poet Simon Pole.  From the Poems For Ocean collection.

Website: https://simonpole.ca/ 

Audio Credits: https://simonpole.ca/pages/audio-credits


The Wonderness of Other
#70
06/24/2026

The encounter with others outside ourselves is magical…and mysterious.  A feeling captured in a poem from Cosmic Poet Simon Pole.  From the Poems For Ocean collection.

Website: https://simonpole.ca/ 

Audio Credits: https://simonpole.ca/pages/audio-credits


Chaos Delivered
#69
06/17/2026

Are cities simply delivering machines for chaos?  Perhaps they are.  Then again, perhaps they’re not. A poem read by Cosmic Poet Simon Pole.  From the Poems For Ocean collection.

Website: https://simonpole.ca/ 

Audio Credits: https://simonpole.ca/pages/audio-credits


Cossacks
#68
06/10/2026

Cossacks, Cossacks, Cossacks?  Is anything cooler?  Maybe just a poem about them. Read by Cosmic Poet Simon Pole. From the Poems For Ocean collection.

Website: https://simonpole.ca/ 

Audio Credits: https://simonpole.ca/pages/audio-credits


Dolphin's Lair
#65
06/03/2026

Come down with me, said the mermaid in the sea…A poem about mermaids and sailors, read by Cosmic Poet Simon Pole. From the Poems For Ocean collection.

Website: https://simonpole.ca/ 

Audio Credits: https://simonpole.ca/pages/audio-credits


The Last Binge of Youth
#67
05/27/2026

Going out with a bang is everyone’s ideal isn’t it? At least when you’re young. A poem read by Cosmic Poet Simon Pole. From the Poems For Ocean collection.

Website: https://simonpole.ca/ 

Audio Credits: https://simonpole.ca/pages/audio-credits


The Mist Remembers
#66
05/20/2026

The present relentlessly gentrifies the past, but on a misty night we can recapture the essence of what is gone.  A poem read by Cosmic Poet Simon Pole. From the Poems For Ocean collection.

Website: https://simonpole.ca/ 

Audio Credits: https://simonpole.ca/pages/audio-credits


The Moth and the Ladybug
#64
05/13/2026

The Moth, the Ladybug and the ground-dwelling Shrew, are much like us, aren’t they?  Learn the lessons they teach in a Walter de la Mare-ish poem read by Cosmic Poet Simon Pole, from the Poems For Ocean collection.

Website: https://simonpole.ca/ 

Audio Credits: https://simonpole.ca/pages/audio-credits


Fly Little Bird
#63
05/06/2026

Eventually our children have to leave home, and if we’re lucky they’ll remember us as the ones who loved them.  A sonnet read by Cosmic Poet Simon Pole. From the Poems For Ocean collection. 

Website: https://simonpole.ca/ 

Audio Credits: https://simonpole.ca/pages/audio-credits


O Cat
#62
04/29/2026

O Cat on my lap on the couch, what are you thinking? Explore the cat’s imagination in a poem read by Cosmic Poet Simon Pole. From the Poems For Ocean collection.

Website: https://simonpole.ca/ 

Audio Credits: https://simonpole.ca/pages/audio-credits


The Married Life
#61
04/22/2026

Every family is unhappy in its own way, and the same could be said about marriages. A poem about The Married Life read by Cosmic Poet Simon Pole. From the Poems For Ocean collection.

Website: https://simonpole.ca/ 

Audio Credits: https://simonpole.ca/pages/audio-credits


Space Dome
#60
04/15/2026

Isn’t it everyone’s fantasy to live in a Space Dome, and hear a sonnet about it? A poem read by Cosmic Poet Simon Pole from the Poems For Ocean collection. 

Website: https://simonpole.ca/ 

Audio Credits: https://simonpole.ca/pages/audio-credits


Rags of Time
#59
04/08/2026

All things succumb, in the end.  And on this we meditate. A poem read by Cosmic Poet Simon Pole from the Poems For Ocean collection.

Website: https://simonpole.ca/ 

Audio Credits: https://simonpole.ca/pages/audio-credits


The King
#58
04/01/2026

King of the bathtub. King of the world. An ode to getting clean read by Cosmic Poet Simon Pole from the Poems For Ocean collection.

Website: https://simonpole.ca/ 

Audio Credits: https://simonpole.ca/pages/audio-credits


Astro Zombies (1968)
#57
03/25/2026

A classic movie. A classic sonnet. Read by Cosmic Poet Simon Pole. From the Poems For Ocean collection.

Website: https://simonpole.ca/ 

Audio Credits: https://simonpole.ca/pages/audio-credits


Scenes From A War
#56
03/18/2026

Images from a war that hit where it hurts.  Read by Cosmic Poet Simon Pole, from the Poems For Ocean collection.

Website: https://simonpole.ca/ 

Audio Credits: https://simonpole.ca/pages/audio-credits


Hymn to Prose
#55
03/11/2026

A hymn to the literature of our time, for better or worse. Read by Cosmic Poet Simon Pole, from the Poems For Ocean collection.



Website: https://simonpole.ca/ 

Audio Credits: https://simonpole.ca/pages/audio-credits


Moral Clarity
#54
03/04/2026

A pseudo-sonnet meditation on time’s decay, and love’s possible opposition.  From the Poems For Ocean collection, read by Cosmic Poet Simon Pole.

Website: https://simonpole.ca/ 

Audio Credits: https://simonpole.ca/pages/audio-credits


My Boys
#53
02/25/2026

A longer poem about an unconventional squid-like family, originating in the South Seas.  Read by Cosmic Poet Simon Pole. From the Poems For Ocean collection.

Website: https://simonpole.ca/ 

Audio Credits: https://simonpole.ca/pages/audio-credits


The Wicked Tory
#52
02/18/2026

Do old Tories ever die? Maybe they just fade away. A poem read by Cosmic Poet Simon Pole. From the Poems For Ocean collection.

Website: https://simonpole.ca/ 

Audio Credits: https://simonpole.ca/pages/audio-credits


One Among Many
#51
02/11/2026

Exclusion is a type of alienation. A poem addressing this terrible state and its origin. From Cosmic Poet Simon Pole and the Poems For Ocean collection.

Website: https://simonpole.ca/ 

Audio Credits: https://simonpole.ca/pages/audio-credits


Grave Goods
#50
02/04/2026

To the grave all things come, but what is good about it?  A poem read by Cosmic Poet Simon Pole. From the Poems For Ocean collection.

Website: https://simonpole.ca/ 

Audio Credits: https://simonpole.ca/pages/audio-credits


The Cartographer's Poem
#49
01/28/2026

The poet can and should be a map-maker for forgotten realms. A poem read by Cosmic Poet Simon Pole. From the Poems For Ocean collection.

Website: https://simonpole.ca/ 

Audio Credits: https://simonpole.ca/pages/audio-credits


Empty Time
#48
01/21/2026

No a depressing poem, but a poem about depression. Read by Cosmic Poet Simon Pole. From the Poems For Ocean collection.

Website: https://simonpole.ca/ 

Audio Credits: https://simonpole.ca/pages/audio-credits


The Wrong-Way Driver
#47
01/14/2026

Don't some people always seem to be going the wrong way in life? This sonnet is about them.  Read by Cosmic Poet Simon Pole. From the Poems For Ocean collection.

Website: https://simonpole.ca/ 

Audio Credits: https://simonpole.ca/pages/audio-credits


To The Tetrapod
#46
01/07/2026

An ode to that crazy, four-lobbed, evolutionary uncle, The Tetrapod. Read by Cosmic Poet Simon Pole. From the Poems For Ocean collection.

Website: https://simonpole.ca/ 

Audio Credits: https://simonpole.ca/pages/audio-credits


Do It Yourself
#45
12/31/2025

Some advice to the young: Do It Yourself!  A poem read by Cosmic Poet Simon Pole. From the Poems For Ocean collection.

Website: https://simonpole.ca/ 

Audio Credits: https://simonpole.ca/pages/audio-credits


Who Are You?
#44
12/24/2025

A sonnet commemorating the return to one's hometown, and the ambivalence thereof. From Cosmic Poet Simon Pole, and the Poems For Ocean collection.

Website: https://simonpole.ca/ 

Audio Credits: https://simonpole.ca/pages/audio-credits


Magic Sun
#43
12/17/2025

Another longer poem about that mysterious force which warms us all, the Magic Sun. What is it?  Cosmic Poet Simon Pole reads from the Poems For Ocean collection.

Website: https://simonpole.ca/ 

Audio Credits: https://simonpole.ca/pages/audio-credits


Dawn of the Dead
#42
12/10/2025

An homage to the good old zombie movie, which teaches us many lessons. Read by Cosmic Poet Simon Pole. From the Poems For Ocean collection.

Website: https://simonpole.ca/ 

Audio Credits: https://simonpole.ca/pages/audio-credits


Safety Vest
#41
12/03/2025

An ode to the ubiquitous silver and gold safety vest, in sonnet form. Read by Cosmic Poet Simon Pole. From the Poems For Ocean collection. 

Website: https://simonpole.ca/ 

Audio Credits: https://simonpole.ca/pages/audio-credits


Harald the Hard-Ruler
#40
11/26/2025

A viking poem, in the manner of old, about the great king Harald Hardrada. Read by Cosmic Poet Simon Pole. From the Poems For Ocean collection.

Website: https://simonpole.ca/ 

Audio Credits: https://simonpole.ca/pages/audio-credits


The Pouch
#39
11/19/2025

What we ultimately receive from others can be a mystery grab-bag, like a pouch.  Poetry read by Cosmic Poet Simon Pole, from the Poems Ocean collection.

Website: https://simonpole.ca/ 

Audio Credits: https://simonpole.ca/pages/audio-credits


In The Vanguard
#38
11/12/2025

Everyone should have a serial killer poem, and we have one today.  From the Poems For Ocean collection, read by Cosmic Poet Simon Pole.

Website: https://simonpole.ca/ 

Audio Credits: https://simonpole.ca/pages/audio-credits


Witch of the Watershed
#37
11/05/2025

This longer poem is a study of the witch of old, and the wisdom of the past she conveys.  Read by Cosmic Poet Simon Pole, from the Poems For Ocean collection.

Website: https://simonpole.ca/ 

Audio Credits: https://simonpole.ca/pages/audio-credits


Virus P.O.V.
#36
10/29/2025

A unique sonnet addressing life from the virus' point of view. Read by Cosmic Poet Simon Pole, from the Poems For Ocean collection.

Website: https://simonpole.ca/ 

Audio Credits: https://simonpole.ca/pages/audio-credits


Progress
#35
10/22/2025

Progress. A great concept. But what does it mean in regards to War? Cosmic Poet Simon Pole addresses this concern in his latest reading from the Poems For Ocean collection.

Website: https://simonpole.ca/ 

Audio Credits: https://simonpole.ca/pages/audio-credits


The Big Empty
#34
10/15/2025

The Big Empty beckons, a state which Cosmic Poet Simon Pole explores in his latest verses. From the Poems For Ocean collection.

Website: https://simonpole.ca/ 

Audio Credits: https://simonpole.ca/pages/audio-credits