Wonder what children think about hell, careers and catastrophes? Sit back and listen to three poems with some insights into their private worries.

How To Be Old

How children think: 3 poems

After 2020, we may need help to achieve a happy new year. Sit back and listen to 3 poems about happiness that might help you to find it or notice it squatting in your life.

Happiness poems: 3 poems for a happy new year

My mother's elaborate plan for end of life choice: asking me to take her to a glacier in the Southern Alps. (I didn't.) A poem.

The Burden: poem about end of life choice

Today, I’m reading some tiny poems that I call fortune cookies. They are feather light. Maybe one of them is about your own life. You’ll know it when you hear it.

Fortune cookies: tiny poems about your life

Listen to two poems about decluttering and letting go of stuff. They’re about the kind of transformation that needs to happen as old age approaches. It’s not just material things that clutter up your life. There’s a sort of psychic clutter that has also got to go.

Letting go of stuff

Hello again. I’m Rachel McAlpine bringing you a Friday night poetry reading. Tonight I’ve got a special treat: two poems about murder. Don’t worry, they’re not too scary. The main poem is about the Parker-Hulme murder of 1954.

Poems about murder and personality types—a poetry reading

We’ve just emerged from lockdown in New Zealand after stamping out COVID-19, at least for now. So we’ve spent a lot of time inside our homes. These 3 poems are about some of the 25+ homes I've occupied over 80 years.

Poetry reading: 3 poems about homes

Tonight we have three poems about three generations of strong women: my grandmother Mim, my mother Celia, and my big sister Jill.

Poetry reading: 3 strong women

I'm reading three poems now especially for Grant, the father of my children, who died a few days ago. He was 84. It’s forty years since we separated and these are not gloomy poems. Lust, A Family Secret, and My Dear Ghosts are in my new book, How To Be Old.

Poetry reading for my ex-husband Grant

This is your Friday night poetry reading. It's short and sweet, just 3 introductory poems from my new book. Live events cancelled: enjoy podcast readings!

Poetry reading: 3 poems from How To Be Old

Find out why poets choose a particular poetic style, fancy or plain. And why the lines of a poem don't reach the margins, and why it's OK for your mind to wander while you're reading poetry, and what's the point of poetry anyway.

Foreword: an urgent poem about poetic style

Two soothing poems and some practices that I use to maintain my happiness in lockdown, first adopted when I was facing up to my ageing body.

Happiness in lockdown

Meditation in the coronavirus crisis calms our minds, reduces anxiety, and changes our perspective. Social distancing gives us a chance to start new habits. Tips, a poem, and a message: you cannot fail.

Meditation in the coronavirus crisis

At 75, I wondered what would keep my old brain healthy. My cognitive skills improved in my 70s because dancing exercises the aging brain.

Dancing exercises the aging brain

At 75 I wondered whether my social life was future-proofed, if that’s possible. Research shows that loneliness is literally a killer, so I wanted to be proactive and prevent loneliness in old age. It's hard to make friends when you're very old, which I would be one day. So I audited my social life and took two small steps to improve it.

Prevent loneliness in old age

Life is long and you're getting older. It's weird, and not just in a bad way. An old poet talks about the ups and downs of life so far, and wonders about well-being in old age. You too may find that old age is unexpected, ever-changing, and in some ways strangely satisfying.

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How To Be Old

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