Song 1: “You Can’t Do That” (composed and performed by John Modaff)

Poem 1: “Vegetable Medley” by Mikki Aronoff, a much-published Albuquerque poet, Pushcart nominee, and animal advocate. Poem first published in The Dribble Drabble Review.

Fiction: excerpt from Death of a Department Chair by Lynn C. Miller.Her fifth novel, The Surrogate, comes out in Spring, 2026 from the University of Wisconsin Press. https://uwpress.wisc.edu/Books/T/The-Surrogate

Feed the Cat Break: “Never Goodbye” (composed by John Modaff, performed by jvm and The Mystery Woman)

Poem 2: “Who Knew” by poet and artist Julie Williams, author of Escaping Tornado Season and Drama Queens in the House. A poetry collection is in process.

Song 2: “Original Sin” (composed and performed by John Modaff)

Episode artwork by Lynda Miller
Show theme and Incidental music by John V. Modaff
The Unruly Muse is Recorded in Albuquerque, NM and Morehead, KY.

NEXT UP: Jan 2026, Episode 55, “Ancestors”

Thank You to our listeners all over the world. Please tell your friends about the podcast.

Lynn & John

Song 1: “Homeless” (by Daniel P. Modaff with Good Enough)

Poem 1: “Burned” by Jack Cooper, author of Silly Lily’s Rhyming Adventures In Nature (2023) and Across My Silence (2007) World Audience, Inc. https://sillylilysadventures.com/

Fiction: “Displaced,” a short story by Lynn C. Miller. Her fifth novel, The Surrogate, comes out March 31, 2026 from the University of Wisconsin Press. To pre-order go to: https://uwpress.wisc.edu/Books/T/The-Surrogate Lynn’s website: www.lynncmiller.com

Feed the Cat Break: excerpt from “Lost Soul” (composed and performed b y David R. Merrill)

Poem 2: “Still Life with Extinctions,” by Lauren Camp who has been the Poet Laureate of New Mexico for the past three years. Author of eight collections of poetry, Lauren’s new book In Old Sky won the New Mexico Book Award.

Song 2: “Old Texas Town,” composed by Mark E. Collins, Dan and John Modaff. Performed by J. Modaff

Episode artwork by Lynda Miller
Theme & Incidental Music by John V. Modaff, BMI
Recorded in Albuquerque NM and Morehead KY Produced at The Creek Studio

NEXT UP on Episode 54: The Forbidden

Thank You to our listeners all over the world. Please tell your friends about the podcast.

Lynn & John

Song 1: “Is That Love” (John V. Modaff)

Poem 1: “Little Histories” by Scott Wiggerman whose new book of poems comes out in Spring of 2026 with Casa Urraca Press. Scott lives in Albuquerque and is a painter and a poet among other things. https://scottwiggerman.myportfolio.com/

Fiction: from the novel The Surrogate by Lynn C. Miller. Coming out March 31, 2026 from the University of Wisconsin Press. To pre-order go to: https://uwpress.wisc.edu/Books/T/The-Surrogate Lynn’s website: www.lynncmiller.com

Feed the Cat Break: a clip from “A Fine Romance,” Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire version.

Poem 2: “Persephone” by Sarah Kotchian. From her collection Light of Wings. University of New Mexico Press, 2024. https://www.unmpress.com/9780826365972/light-of-wings/

Song 2: “Victory” (Sasha Colette and The Magnolias)

Episode artwork by Lynda Miller

Theme & Incidental Music by John V. Modaff, BMI

Recorded in Albuquerque NM and Morehead KY

Produced at The Creek Studio

NEXT UP on Episode 53: Homeless

Thank You to our listeners all over the world. Please tell your friends about the podcast.

Lynn & John

Song 1: “Disappear” (Daniel P. Modaff with Good Enough on the CD Dakota Plains)

Poem 1: “For the Dark Girl” by Susan Aizenberg. Published in her first full-length collection, Muse. Susan lives in Iowa City, IA. Her most recent book is A Walk With Frank O’Hara (U of New Mexico Press, 2024.)

Fiction: “Shock Without Awe,” a short story by Lynn C. Miller. Her most recent book is The Lost Archive: Stories. www.lynncmiller.com

Feed the Cat Break: excerpt from “Moment of Time” (Dave Merrill)

Poem 2: “The Messiah Horse” by Mark Sanders. Mark lives in Nacogdoches, TX and teaches at Stephen F. Austin University. https://sandersme1.wixsite.com/mark-sanders/

Song 2: “Hold On” (John V. Modaff, cello by David R. Merrill)

Episode artwork by Lynda Miller
Theme & Incidental Music by John V. Modaff, BMI
Recorded in Albuquerque NM and Morehead KY
Produced at The Creek Studio

NEXT UP on Episode 52: Love?

Thank You to our listeners all over the world. Please tell your friends about the podcast.

Lynn & John

Song 1: “Twenty Wishes” (John V. Modaff, w/ lead guitar and mandolin by Dan Modaff)

Poem 1: “You Weary Listening To Their First World Complaints” by Mikki Aronoff. Published in Gooseberry Pie. Mikki is featured this year in Best Microfiction 2025 and Best Small Fictions 2025.

Fiction excerpt: Scene from the novel The Unmasking by Lynn C. Miller, published by UNM Press, 2020. www.lynncmiller.com

Feed the Cat Break: “Bittersweet” (JVM.)

Poem 2: “Fat Boy Poems” by Kelly Yenser, whose most recent collection is Walking Uphill at Noon. Kelly publishes fiction and poetry.

Song 2: “Jesus & Satan Take a Nap,” (John V. Modaff.)

Episode artwork by Lynda Miller

Theme & Incidental Music by John V. Modaff, BMI

Recorded in Albuquerque NM and Morehead KY.

Produced at The Creek Studio

NEXT UP on Episode 51: Stop the World, I Want to Get Off.

Thank You to our listeners all over the world. Please tell your friends about the podcast.

Lynn & John

Song 1: “Speak Up,” (composed and performed by John V. Modaff, with guitars by Dan Modaff and Dave Merrill)

Poem 1: “Sound Barrier” by Scott Wiggerman from the “Fire” chapter of Presence (San Antonio TX: Pecan Grove Press, 2011), a book arranged around the elements.

Fiction excerpt: from the novel Death of a Department Chair by Lynn C. Miller. University of Wisconsin Press, 2006. https://uwpress.wisc.edu/Books/D/Death-of-a-Department-Chair

Feed the cat break: “Cats, Cats, Cats” (Andrew Preston and AP Harbor)

Poem 2: from ee cummings, poem #22 from XAIPE, 1950. This innovative modern poet (1894-1962) revitalized language from the familiar. He was also a painter, essayist, author, and playwright.

Song 2: “Tell Me,” composed and performed by John V. Modaff.

Episode artwork by Lynda Miller
Theme & Incidental Music by John V. Modaff, BMI
Recorded in Albuquerque NM and Morehead KY. Produced at The Creek Studio

NEXT UP on Episode 50: “Levity and Gravity”

Thank You to our listeners all over the world. Please tell your friends about the podcast.

Lynn & John

Song 1: “The Eyes Have It,” composed and performed by John V. Modaff

Poem 1: “In Hurricane With Horses” by Mark Sanders. Mark lives in Nacogdoches, TX and teaches at Stephen F. Austin University. https://sandersme1.wixsite.com/mark-sanders/

Fiction excerpt: from the novel Death of a Department Chair by Lynn C. Miller. University of Wisconsin Press, 2006. https://uwpress.wisc.edu/Books/D/Death-of-a-Department-Chair

Feed the cat break: “Beastly Beauty” by John V. Modaff

Poem 2: “My Hipster” by Barbara Rockman, author of the poetry collections To Cleave and Sting and Nest. Barbara is a poet and teacher whose homebase is Santa Fe.

Song 2: “Sonnet 130” by William Shakespeare. Set to music by Phil Schmidt and performed by John V. Modaff

Episode artwork by Lynda Miller

Theme & Incidental Music by John V. Modaff, BMI

Recorded in Albuquerque NM and Morehead KY. Produced at The Creek Studio

NEXT UP on Episode 49: “Speaking Up”

Thank You to our listeners all over the world. Please tell your friends about the podcast.

Lynn & John

Song 1: “Day Never Comes,” composed and performed by David R. Merrill.

Poem 1: “Leda and the Swan” by Nobel prize-winning poet W. B. Yeats, composed in 1923 and first printed in 1924.

Fiction: “The Secret Pool,” by Lynn C. Miller, excerpted from her first novel The Fool’s Journey, 2002 (Winedale Press). In press is the novel The Surrogate for 2026. www.lynncmiller.com

Feed the Cat Break: “The Legend of the Myth” by John V. Modaff

Poem 2: “Another Story” by poet Hilda Raz, from a story that inspired Yeats and many others about the beautiful Leda and the god-turned-swan Zeus. In New and Collected Poems, Letter from a Place I’ve Never Been, from University of Nebraska Press, 2022.

Song 2: “The Old Monsters Rest Home,” by John V. Modaff.

Episode artwork by Lynda Miller

Show theme and incidental music by John V. Modaff , BMI

The Unruly Muse is Recorded in Albuquerque, NM and Morehead, KY and produced at The Creek Studio

NEXT UP: Episode 48, “Beauty and the Beast”

Thank You to our listeners all over the world. Please tell your friends about the podcast.

Lynn & John