Cook & Crank: The Cosmic Poetry Podcast

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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Cook & Crank: The Cosmic Poetry Podcast

The Wonderness of Other

June 24, 2026 • Simon Pole • Season 1 • Episode 70

0:00 | 3:00

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

SPEAKER_00 0:08

Hello and welcome to Cook and Crank, the Cosmic Poetry Podcast. I'm your host, Simon Pohl, the Cosmic Poet. Our encounter with others over the course of our lives is one of the great aspects of existence, isn't it? It's certainly not a curse, though sometimes it might feel like it. This magical property of being human is the topic of today's poem called The Wonderness of Other, and this we will explore after the break. The Wonderness of Other The Wonderness of Other it is the chief delight to recognize another and all of it in spite of selfishness our mother Yet if between we erase and render indistinct, what encounters face to face and what of it may think how bland then our tasteless race far extends our quizzing look across the wealth of years, and the choices different took, and those ignored by fears, how with insight then we shook Time itself division makes, where someone's final pot is another's starting stakes, though separate their lot, to what riches newness wakes Small we are without measure, each with his tiny pile, and modicum of leisure to ruminate a while. Who blessed us with such treasure? You have just heard The Wonderness of Other from the Poetry Collection Poems for Ocean. I'm your cosmic poet and host, Simon Pohl. Visit the website SimonPole.ca for more cosmic poetry, including the book we've just read from. We'll be back soon on the Cook and Crank Podcast with more readings from the Poems for Ocean Collection. Until then, remember, poetry is the water of life, though whiskey might be too. Goodbye.