Poetry and the night are some of the last remaining domains of “unknowing”; places where it’s acceptable to digest the world slowly and without conclusion, and where one can linger in, and traverse, experiences like solitude, impermanence, and wonder. Poets Cecily Parks and Tom Harding are both drawn to explore the intersection between the quiet tender moments of night and the act of writing and reading poetry. It’s a space where one can capture fleeting wisps from the darkness, and then send them off for others to hold like fireflies in a jar. Poems from the night are like fragments of dreams forgotten upon waking, reminders of things lost to us in the day.
Quiet Transmission Credits
Nocturne is produced by Vanessa Lowe. Nick White is our senior editor.
Nocturne is distributed by KCRW, and receives support from KCRW’s Independent Producer Project, which provides resources to creative storytellers around the world.
Special thanks to Alex Espinoza, Jeremy Cherfas, Herrin Hopper, David Green, Mary Jo Eyler, Marta Pelrine-Bacon, Tara, Chris Glover, Ashley Cummings, Benjamin Yeamans, Maria Samuelsen, Misty Lytle, Sleep with Me Podcast, Tara, Tim Harincar
More information about the work of Cecily Parks, and her relationship with the moon, can be found here. Find information about the work of Tom Harding here. For more about Robert Macfarlane’s collection of words that should be saved read this .
Music
Nocturne theme music by Kent Sparling
Additional music:
Kent Sparling \\ Fieldlines \\ Jeffrey Foster \\ Kid Otter
Episode Artwork: Robin Galante