I’d Never Been Outside At Night

Episode Notes

This week's poem and episode use a Villanelle, which is a French form of poetry alternating two repeating lines. This episode is inspired by the famous poem, “Do not go gentle into that good night”, by Dylan Thomas. It allows us to think about moments when we’ve been afraid to venture outside, especially at night (literally and of ourselves). More specifically, the poem explores how we hide inside—our home and internally—from what we’re afraid of, thinking that we’re protecting ourselves. Sometimes this is necessary! Fear can be useful fireproofing, but not always. Though it feels safer and warmer indoors, there is much we can only see and experience outside (of ourselves and the literal places we hide in), even after the sun goes down.

Here's an excerpt of the poem (the full written & visually formatted versions can now be found & read at mikbrew.substack.com!):

So hungry, I leave just a sliver of white and feed every memory of when I’d never been outside at night.

Listen to this week's episode to hear the full poem! If you’d like to share your moment or memory on the podcast, please head to tinyurl.com/bravingthewaves.