The River Is Wide

Series produced by Susan J. Cook

Caption: It is so hard to write you this sonnet/because I long for you in another way/ I want to make it like ''Shall I compare thee to a summer day?:"But then there was that summer day..., Credit: Susan Cook "Prologue to "Breathing: American Sonnets"
Image by: Susan Cook "Prologue to "Breathing: American Sonnets" 
It is so hard to write you this sonnet/because I long for you in another way/ I want to make it like ''Shall I compare thee to a summer day?:"But then there was that summer day... 

The River Is Wide is one listener's complement to public radio as media that has always made room for thoughtful discourse about human decency and prevention of harm. Written by a psychologist and political activist, The River Is Wide presents Citizen's Guides, The Dept of Poetic Justice (with lyrics for the Great American Wrongbook", The Indifference Diaries, sonnets when no other format seems appropriate, an ode here and there In the Department of Poetic Justice, Sixty-second Moral Inquiries and brief commentaries. Public radio can be a muse and PRX has become the pen and paper, yes, for many letter-to-the-editor writers, including this one.The series began after a local editor refused to publish a letter he called "uncivil" which criticized a political candidate for a failure to acknowledge human rights violations by the Chinese in his appeal to bring Chinese business to Maine. At a public forum, the Candidate for Governor was asked why he ignored this Chinese indifference to human rights. He replied, "What? Bring it on," he sneered. The censorship of "The humble Farmer" by Maine Public broadcasting for speaking against the Iraq War also influenced the creation of this series. We hope there will never come a day when the public conscience (and mine) ignore a flagrant omission of concern for human rights. Speaking truth to power about those omissions is the task of The River Is Wide series.

The series began rowing when a local editor refused to publish a letter criticizing a political candidate for a failure to acknowledge human rights violations by the Chinese government calling it "uncivil". When the former Candidate for Governor (who in 2022 was convicted as a child pornographer) at a public forum was asked why he ignored the human rights violations, he replied, "What? Bring it on," he sneered. Another inspiration has been the censorship of "The humble Farmer" by Maine Public broadcasting for speaking against the Iraq War. Citizen's Guides, The Indifference Diaries, sonnets and odes In the Department of Poetic Justice, and Sixty Second Moral Inquiries speak to issues that the public conscience (and mine) won't let us ignore and speak truth to power (everyone else's) especially surrounding freedom of speech in the media, injustice and harm. Hide full description

The series began rowing when a local editor refused to publish a letter criticizing a political candidate for a failure to acknowledge human rights violations by the Chinese government calling it "uncivil". When the former Candidate for Governor (who in 2022 was convicted as a child pornographer) at a public forum was asked why he ignored the human rights violations, he replied, "What? Bring it on," he sneered. Another inspiration has been the censorship of "The humble Farmer" by Maine Public broadcasting for speaking against the Iraq War. Citizen's Guides, The Indifference Diaries, sonnets and odes In the Department of Poetic Justice, and Sixty Second Moral Inquiries speak to issues that the public conscience (and mine) won't let us ignore and speak truth to power (everyone else's)... Show full description


323 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Caption: Why now?, Credit: Susan Cook
The Bardo is the Transitional state according to Buddhist teachings where radical transformation of consciousness takes place. With revelation aft...

  • Added: Nov 21, 2017
  • Length: 05:12
Caption: By ignoring Moore, Alabama's GOP now gives others a  license to sexually accost ..., Credit: Susan Cook
In the Department of Poetic Justice, and the Great American Wrongbook, "If You Had a License Like Alabama's Natives Give.." sung to the tune from "...

  • Added: Nov 18, 2017
  • Length: 02:46

  • Added: Nov 04, 2017
  • Length: 04:27
Caption: Even the subtle exhalations of rabbits heard.., Credit: Susan Cook
Turning once again to the extensive value of nursery rhyme to bring us deep understanding, which brilliant skilled public servants did Donald Tr...

  • Added: Oct 07, 2017
  • Length: 03:05
Caption: After watching "The Vietnam War" we all know more about conscience...
Freud never quite cornered the market on Conscience. After two weeks spent with the Burns/Novick film ‘The Vietnam War”, the complexity of conscie...

  • Added: Oct 01, 2017
  • Length: 05:56
Caption: It is so hard to write you this sonnet/because I long for you in another way/ I want to make it like ''Shall I compare thee to a summer day?:"But then there was that summer day..., Credit: Susan Cook "Prologue to "Breathing: American Sonnets"
The Senate Republicans have introduced a bill to send all Affordable Care Act funding back to the states so states can deny coverage to citizens an...

  • Added: Sep 21, 2017
  • Length: 02:01
Caption: It is so hard to write you this sonnet/because I long for you in another way/ I want to make it like ''Shall I compare thee to a summer day?:"But then there was that summer day..., Credit: Susan Cook "Prologue to "Breathing: American Sonnets"
In Rockland, Maine celebrants of the 129th birthday of Edna St. Vincent Millay gathered zoomlike to honor her poetry. A woman's genius valued for i...

  • Added: Sep 17, 2017
  • Length: 05:32
Caption: ...yoga is liberal..., Credit: Susan Cook
In the Department of Poetic Justice, to the tune from 'I'll Be Seeing You', an Ohm for Mr. Bannon, updated now that he refuses an Insurrection Day ...

  • Added: Aug 19, 2017
  • Length: 02:18
Caption: Breathing:American Sonnets on Bookshop.org + at Gulf Maine Books, Credit: Susan Cook
On September 28, 1905 Einstein's paper on the special theory of relativity was published in Annalen der Physik. A Poetic version, "Einstein's So...

  • Added: Dec 09, 2023
  • Length: 01:23
Caption: His profession was listed as  "farmer's son". They never saw their family again., Credit: Susan Cook
The US Senate bill to limit immigration by educational status ignores that opportunity is exactly what oppressive regimes deny. Opportunity -as ev...

  • Added: Aug 04, 2017
  • Length: 05:59
Caption: It is so hard to write you this sonnet/because I long for you in another way/ I want to make it like ''Shall I compare thee to a summer day?:"But then there was that summer day..., Credit: Susan Cook "Prologue to "Breathing: American Sonnets"
The highest production of greenhouse gases in the US comes from the West Jefferson, Alabama Miller Electric Plant. The parent company- The Southern...

  • Added: Jul 21, 2017
  • Length: 02:55
Caption: It is so hard to write you this sonnet/because I long for you in another way/ I want to make it like ''Shall I compare thee to a summer day?:"But then there was that summer day..., Credit: Susan Cook "Prologue to "Breathing: American Sonnets"
"What Do We Owe You?" This poetic tribute to the failure of the Republican sponsored bill to end healthcare for millions of Americans- could be sun...

  • Added: Jul 18, 2017
  • Length: 02:47
Caption: His last words...Love as intense as ice..., Credit: Susan Cook
Liu Xiaobo died in 2017. His 11 year imprisonment by the Chinese government for posting subversive articles on the Internet had not ended. "No Ene...

  • Added: Jul 14, 2017
  • Length: 05:24
Caption: It is so hard to write you this sonnet/because I long for you in another way/ I want to make it like ''Shall I compare thee to a summer day?:"But then there was that summer day..., Credit: Susan Cook "Prologue to "Breathing: American Sonnets"
Maine has witnessed many domestic violence tragedies. In 2017, a woman, her son and a neighbor killed by her out of control partner were one of t...

  • Added: Jul 08, 2017
  • Length: 04:10
Caption: It is so hard to write you this sonnet/because I long for you in another way/ I want to make it like ''Shall I compare thee to a summer day?:"But then there was that summer day..., Credit: Susan Cook "Prologue to "Breathing: American Sonnets"
Why haven't pharmaceutical companies and oil corporations been asked to make health insurance lower by reducing drug costs or refusing federal subs...

  • Added: Jun 29, 2017
  • Length: 02:43
Caption: It is so hard to write you this sonnet/because I long for you in another way/ I want to make it like ''Shall I compare thee to a summer day?:"But then there was that summer day..., Credit: Susan Cook "Prologue to "Breathing: American Sonnets"
The Senate and House Healthcare bills will replace Obamacare subsidies with tax breaks for the wealthy. Meanwhile oil and gas companies continue to...

  • Added: Jun 27, 2017
  • Length: 02:54
Caption: It is so hard to write you this sonnet/because I long for you in another way/ I want to make it like ''Shall I compare thee to a summer day?:"But then there was that summer day..., Credit: Susan Cook "Prologue to "Breathing: American Sonnets"
The US Senate and House Healthcare Bills hold no intention for the government to feed the whole crowd, like those in the song "Froggy Went A'Courti...

  • Added: Jun 26, 2017
  • Length: 07:40
Caption: It is so hard to write you this sonnet/because I long for you in another way/ I want to make it like ''Shall I compare thee to a summer day?:"But then there was that summer day..., Credit: Susan Cook "Prologue to "Breathing: American Sonnets"
Now that the Republicans have rolled out the Senate version of Healthcare, a poetic tribute which could be sung to the tune of 'Getting to Know Yo...

  • Added: Jun 23, 2017
  • Length: 03:47
Caption: It is so hard to write you this sonnet/because I long for you in another way/ I want to make it like ''Shall I compare thee to a summer day?:"But then there was that summer day..., Credit: Susan Cook "Prologue to "Breathing: American Sonnets"
Some places, for example, the Intelligence Committee of the United States Senate serve as our country's moral proving ground. But this week‘s testi...

  • Added: Jun 18, 2017
  • Length: 02:57
Caption: It is so hard to write you this sonnet/because I long for you in another way/ I want to make it like ''Shall I compare thee to a summer day?:"But then there was that summer day..., Credit: Susan Cook "Prologue to "Breathing: American Sonnets"
The Senate Intelligence Committee hearings about Russian meddling in the 2016 election are Scurrilous one especially important testifier said.

  • Added: Jun 16, 2017
  • Length: 02:00