My Bad Poetry

My Bad Poetry

Aaron and Dave dive into an old private journal to read poems written in high school. Along the way the two have found themselves joined by some incredibly amazing people, all willing to share some of their own bad poetry. Experience a mix of self-reflection, humor, self-deprecation, great conversations and just maybe a half decent poem!

Episodes

December 8, 2025 39 mins

Is it enigmatic, melodramatic, or just plain problematic? Listen as Dave and Aaron try to navigate a treacherous imitation of a Joni Mitchell text provided by their guest Erick Garske. Then they all fall into a parallel universe that is either a utopia or dystopia and the lack of clarity may be the reason its on the show!

My Bad Poetry Episode 8.7: "Photo Stock & Parallel Poetry Universe (w/Erick Phillips Garske)"

Eric...

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The poems started out as one may expect...then Dave and Aaron found themselves faced with a poem of a very different nature. They kind of forgot the original goal was to record this episode on Halloween... but Kristin didn't! :)

My Bad Poetry Episode 6.8: "The Doves, Waterline, & Fall is the Best Season (w/Kristin LaTour)"

End Poem from a Real Poet: "Easter Sestina" by Kristin LaTour

Kristin LaTour is a tea...

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After an unplanned hiatus Dave and Aaron return with Rory Philstrom aka the Dungeon Master Pastor. But rather than lead the podcast through a campaign, Rory leads them through three poems spanning nearly 20 years. All in the 21st Century though.

My Bad Poetry Episode 8.5: Counter-Me, The 21st Century, and a Draft of a Eulogy (w/Rory Philstrom)

End Poem from a Real Poet: "I live my life in widening circles" by Rainer Maria Rilke

Rory...

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The show is visited this week by a host of another poetry reading show (A Hundred Pitchers of Honey), demonstrating a duality in poetry. Donna talks about good poems on her show, on this show... not so much. Donna brings three poems that fail in different ways, only to demonstrate how each one of those failures can be remedied with a final poem that legit made Dave cry.

My Bad Poetry Episode 8.4: "I Find Your Photo..., After Life, ...

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The show continues its streak of choral lyricists with Devondra Banks... but the works she brings to the show don't quite sing. To be honest, Dave and Aaron actually enjoy most of these contributions as good poems but it's also understandable why Devondra may find these... cringe.

End Poem From a Real Poet: "Sage" by Devondra Banks

My Bad Poetry Episode 8.3: "Sharin' Ain'T Carin', Libras Rule, &...

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September 22, 2025 26 mins

Aaron and Dave both bring somewhat macabre poems to the podcast this week. Dave wrote an "After" poem based on Tony Silvestri's old opening lines to a sonnet and Aaron is inspired by an unexpected web search. The name of the poem kind of describes itself... but the suggestions might surprise you.

My Bad Poetry Episode 8.2: "How to Euthanize a Butterfly"

End Poem from a Real Poet: "Wesley's Theory"...

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September 15, 2025 40 mins

Dave and Aaron return after a short hiatus for Season 8 of My Bad Poetry with a new guest! He brings to the show a long forgotten start to a sonnet and sings (!) a failed attempt at a fifth and final verse of the Star Spangled Banner.

My Bad Poetry Episode 8.1: "A Fifth Anthem Verse (w/ Tony Silvestri)"

End Poems from a Real Poet: "Sleep" and "For Such As Me" by Tony Silvestri

Charles A Silvestri (Tony) i...

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July 28, 2025 27 mins

Dave and Aaron find a Friday in the summer to record a season seven wrap up episode! We started this season with the Silence Saga poem but what we may have all forgotten is that Aaron wrote a second poem that same day. The hosts return to this text with... nostalgia? They also look back over another incredible season of guests!

My Bad Poetry Episode 7.20: "The Return of Pain"

End Poem from a Real Poet: "Childhood Mem...

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Mitchell Nobis makes his triumphal return on the week of his debut poetry collections publication! In honor of this momentous occasion, Mitch thought it would be nice to bring a few poems that didn't make the cut for this debut... It's hard not to see why.

My Bad Poetry Episode 7.19: "I Hear Trees Are Good Metaphors & Symbols & Such (w/ Mitchell Nobis)

End Poem from a Real Poet: "So You'd Better Pay Attention" by Mitchell No...

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Rachel Berg Scherer, Elizabeth Doerr, and Carla Du Pree,grace My Bad Poetry with their incredible presence.  The co-founders of Scribente Maternum talk about how they each “write like a mother” and have created a space for moms of all types to do the same.  Each bring poems of different styles and degrees of “bad” for Aaron and Dave to sift through.  From multiple children’s potty humor to an old journal entry of budding poet findi...

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For proof that this show is not on permanent hiatus, Aaron shares some fun poems written by him and his daughter on Father's Day. How do you think we all did?

This mini episode was inspired by "Dino Poet: A Graphic Novel" by Tom Angleberger.

My Bad Poetry Episode 7.17.5: "Four Hastily Written Poems (A Mini Episode)"

Podcast Email: mybadpoetry.thepodcast@gmail.com Bluesky: @mybadpoetrythepod.bsky.social Instagram & Threads: @MyBadP...

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June 2, 2025 31 mins

Dave brings his first ever "poem" from youth/yesteryear to the show and it's kind of clear how Aaron and Dave became such good friends. A pop parody of Plato's Apology? ...priceless

My Bad Poetry Episode 7.17: "You Can Throw Me a Huge Party"

End Poem by a Real Poet: "The Hour of Departure..." -Apology by Plato. Line 42 Translation: Jowett

Podcast Email: mybadpoetry.thepodcast@gmail.com Bluesky: @mybadpoetrythepod.bsky.social Instagram...

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May 26, 2025 29 mins

If one can get past the blasphemous title... you are met with a pretty blanned poem. Dave and Aaron are back to the old swing of things with a dug up poem from Aaron's past. And of all the ones found... this probably should have remained lost. An epic fail of an epic poem for a freshman college class. Enjoy!

My Bad Poetry Episode 7.16: "The Word of God (written by Aaron)"End Poem from a Real Poet: "Jesus in the WIlderness" by Malik...

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Dave and Aaron learn that good sonnets do not always make for great poems. While these poems may be technical to a tee, Taylor cringes at missed opportunities, as one may flinch at their own distorted reflection in the Bean. You know that famous art work in Chicago?

My Bad Poetry Episode 7.15 "What You Wanted, In the Winter, God Shows Off, & Double Barrier (w/ Taylor Byas)"

End Poem from a Real Poet: "After the Mo...

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Katie brings some really fun poems to the show that frankly aren't bad at all! Embarrassing...maybe... but even that is up for debate. What isn't up for debate is the phallic shape... found in both?? Katie also teaches Aaron and Dave the word "majusculation," which is a very fancy word for a pretty common thing!

My Bad Poetry Episode 7.14 "A Prayer & Coupling with Big Ben (w/ Katie Manning)

End Poem from...

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Though Dave had to duck out early Matthew brought enough nerdiness for the both of them. MEH makes a triumphant return with poems from the cutting room floor. They are random, they are obscure, they are just the right kind of quirky for Aaron's taste. Do you think they should be revived?

My Bad Poetry Episode 7.13: "life is bigger than you, if we're being honest (w/ Matthew E. Henry)"

End Poem from a Real Poet: &q...

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April 14, 2025 32 mins

The two titles combined kind of of speak for themselves, when describing the topics of these poems. Dave and Aaron are graced with the presence of a friend who (having listened to the show before it was a show) finally took a turn in the hot seat with some of her works from college. Though Emily claims she has never been a poet, these poems... beg to differ?? Hey, at least they're better than 99% of what Aaron wrote in high sch...

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If ever you need to find bad poetry Ariel suggests long ago posts on the old social media sites. Even if you have deleted Live Journal and Myspace, don't worry you may have left something on the good old notes pages on Facebook. Dave and Aaron discuss with Ariel the deep lyricism of Dashboard Confessional and the cliches of chick flicks.

My Bad Poetry Episode 7.11: "It's Surreal to be Hit Gently with a Rose (w/ Ariel T...

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Shaawan brings three interesting poems to the podcast. With no real titles to work with, the hosts and guest sort through words from Shaawan's high school journals. Maybe he could have wrote a song... but he most definitely wrote these!!!

End Poem from a Real Poet: "There will always be another horror..." by Shaawan Francis Keahna published on pg. 8 of Mayday.

Shaawan Francis Keahna is an artist, archivist, filmmaker, writer, compose...

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Alina Ștefănescu, brings three very different examples of "bad" poetry. One struggling with voice, another structure, and one context. Without Dave, Aaron and Alina work through these varying verses to see how ideas sometimes rightly remain in the drafts folders for a later day or a note to something new.

My Bad Poetry Episode 7.9: "Asterisk, Etiologies, & Octave with Line from a Lullaby (w/Alina Ștefănescu)"

...

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