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Updated by Paul Hugh O'Mahony on Jul 13, 2023
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Round the World in 1,080 Days Poems

A List of poems being read to support AJ Leon - his journey which began on his 30th birthday.

Anyone can read a poem in support of this guy... You can add your poem here - anytime that suits you.

Go to:
http://aj-leon.com/pursuitofeverything/about/about-poe/

Audioboo / Gifts for AJ - No 1 (Fleur Adcock) - gift for @ajleon

A man is travelling round the world in 1,080 days.

AJ Leon is a nomad who does things his way. His way aims to encourage others - us - to carve out our course changing the world for the better.

@ajleon is my hero - whatever he does will make the world better for my children's children...

I feel duty bound to go round the world with him - be with him every step of 1,080 days.

But I can't do it physically. So I thought I could volunteer to be one of his Passepartouts... the one who reads him a poem every day...

Mad crazy commitment to read AJ Leon 1,080 poems that have been "intentionally" selected to spur us all on to living better.

When AJ gets this he'll be shocked or surprised. He may even yell "stop" - but this is a "Don't wait for permission" moment - and his advice is "Don't listen to anyone".

Http://www.pursuitofeverything.com

Google "Fleur Adcock" - (1934-) New Zealand

#pursuitofeverythinggift

Audioboo / Gifts for AJ No 2 (Brendan Kennelly) - for @ajleon

#pursuitofeverythinggift

The second gift chosen to journey with @ajleon AJ Leon: this time an Irish living poet: "Begin"

The last two lines :
"something that will not acknowledge conclusion /
insists that we forever begin."

#brendanKennelly #poetry #poet #nomad #intentionalliving #Utah #pursuitofeverything

Audioboo / To AJ (Mary Oliver) No 3 - gift for @ajleon

No 3 #pursuitofeverythinggift

Poem "The Journey" by Mary Oliver (Ohio 1935-) for AJ Leon @ajleon as he sets out to go Round the World in 1,080 Days".
http://aj-leon.com/pursuitofeverything/about/about-poe/

Nomad, Misfit, Hero... May these poems make something happen...

If they mean nothing else, they express my solidarity with #PursuitofEverything

#poem #poet #poetry #maryoliver

A butterfly may flap it's wings... #pursuitofeverything

Audioboo / With AJ (Denise Levertov) No 4/1080

#DeniseLevertov poem "Living"

No 4 of 1,080. Recorded at 07:22 Saturday 25 August 2012 in kitchen over tea while going on a journey with AJ Leon...

Around the World purposefully... intentionally... alert... making stuff happen for others...

Living as if "each minute the last minute" (Denise Levertov)

#pursuitofeverythinggift #ajleon #utah

Audioboo / Saturday Gift for AJ - No 5/1080 (Emily Dickinson)

No 5 of 1,080 poems gifted to the cause of AJ Leon @ajleon

Emily Dickinson (The Complete Poems 396/1775) read in honour of & for AJ Leon.
First line:
"There is a Languor of the Life"

Continuing the series... You hear a reading from the website
Http://www.pursuitofeverything.com as introduction
#pursuitofeverythinggift #emilydickinson #american #poem

We are vital beings.

This the Wikipedia entry for Emily Dickinson:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Dickinson

The reading was from the Faber & Faber edition edited by Thomas H Johnson, paperback edition 1975

Audioboo / Gift to AJ - (Yevgeny Yevtushenko) Poem "Talk" No 6/1080

You first hear words from the most recent blogpost written by AJ Leon from a bathtub in Utah USA... In thanks for the great inspiration that AJ's offered me - I've picked a short poem (17 lines) that includes the phrase "common integrity".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yevgeny_Yevtushenko

Audioboo / To the nomad a gift - (Bryan Merryman) Poem "The Midnight Court" No 7/1080

The poem for which Bryan Merryman is remembered - the ending recorded as a gift for AJ Leon - as he travels on the way to Round the World in 1,080 Days.
From "The Midnight Court" translated from Irish by Frank O'Connor.

The last line goes
"Opened my eyes, and was wide awake." - as you have to be if you are living "intentionally".
#pursuitofeverything
Http://www.pursuitofeverything.com

Audioboo / To AJ a gift (Patrick Kavanagh) Poem "Lough Derg" No 8/1080

No 8 of 1,080

This gift for AJ Leon (and anyone else who choses to listen to it) starts with AJ Leon - his writing read in the kitchen in Glanmire today.

You hear a reading from the PDF you can download - free - from
Http://www.pursuitofeverything.com.
This is followed by the gift: a poem by Patrick Kavanagh (Irish) "Lough Derg" - a place in Donegal (north west of Ireland) where my father used to go on pilgrimage.
You hear a reading from the start & end of the poem.
May this gift help the journey

#patrickkavanagh #pursuitofeverything ##pursuitofeverythinggift
#irish #poet #pilgrimage #loughderg #lifeandtimes #misfits #nomad #pacific #southerncalifornia #creating #consuming #curating

Audioboo / For AJ - (Elizabeth Bishop) "Chemin de Fer" Poem No 9/1,080

No 9 of 1,080
On the evening the Paralympics opened in London - "Chemin de Fer" by #ElizabethBishop (American 1911-79) is the chosen gift for AJ Leon - the misfit nomad who's showing it can be done.
You hear the poem read twice - you hear me make a crazy error & show how distracted a reader I can be.
The poem may appeal to AJ @ajleon because he recently crossed America in a train by #Amtrak:

"Love should be put into action" - what a shout eh!
#poem #intentionalliving #pursuitofeverything #paraolympics
Http://www.pursuitofeverything.com

Audioboo / "The Waking" by Theodore Roethke 10/1080

No 10 of 1,080
Read for AJ Leon - to keep him company on his long journey.
One thousand and eighty days going round this world living intentionally ... A bit of verse, poetry might not be a bad thing.
#pursuitofeverything #pursuitofeverythinggift
AJ Leon is in Southern California now.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Roethke

Audioboo / Santa Barbara twinned with Dingle - for @ajleon "Do You Remember That Night" by Eugene O'Curry 11/1080

This is No 11 of 1,080 - a series of poetry readings designed to accompany the "intentional living" journey of nomading @ajleon
This is an Irish poet Eugene O'Curry (1796-1862) - "Do you remember that night".
The last line "I am ready to go with you" gave me an angle to connect the choice with AJ's latest blogpost.
Dingle is special...

Audioboo / Reading "Leaves of Grass" by Walt Whitman 12/1080

Beginning a reading of Walt Whitman's life work "Leaves of Grass"
No 12 of 1,080 in series #pursuitofeverythinggift #pursuitofeverything #WaltWhitman #leavesofgrassomani #poem #intentionalliving #santabarbara

Audioboo / "What about Me" - Walt Whitman (Song of Myself)

No 13 of 1,080
Poems chosen to go along with the Remarkable Misfit AJ Leon - as he travels the world.
This consists of (1) a reading from AJ's latest blogpost on
Http://www.pursuitofevertthing.com - in which he declares something about himself & his work with & for others
(2) a reading from Walt Whitman #songofmyself (part3) 1855 edition of #leavesofgrass
#pursuitofeverything #intentionalliving #poem #misfit #nomad #santabarbara #american

Audioboo / "The Gods Favour the Bold" - Walt Whitman (Song of Myself) 14/1080

No 14 of 1,080 poems chosen specially in honour of a risk-taking nomading artist working guy AJ Leon.
(1) This audio begins with a quote AJ used from #Ovid.
(2) Next you hear a reading from #WaltWhitman - a bold poet. #leavesofgrass 1855 edition (part 4)
(3) Finally, you hear a reading from @ajleon latest blogpost
#pursuitofeverything #livingwithintention
(4) For more go to
Http://www.pursuitofeverything.com

Audioboo / "I believe in you my soul..." by Walt Whitman (Song of Myself) No 15/1080

No 15 of 1,080 poems read to keep @ajleon company on the "Around the World in 1,080 Days".

This is also Part 5 of #SongofMyself by #WaltWhitman from the 1855 first edition of #LeavesofGrass.

"I believe in you my soul..." recorded alongside a warm cup of tea on a Sunday afternoon in Glanmire Cork Ireland.

Better select a few more poems and catch up with AJ who's on about Day 21 or 22 now - in California USA.
#pursuitofeverything #gift #american #poem #poetry

Audioboo / A personal message to @ajleon : Walt Whitman carries it

No 16 of 1,080 poems
This time I felt like delivering this gift to AJ Leon as if he was barely out of reach - tried out a more intimate style because that was the mood of the moment.
This is Part 5 of #SongofMyself by #WaltWhitman (1855 edition) - published as a Penguin Classic - 150th Anniversary Edition.

"A child said, what is the grass? ..."

I hope the adventure in search of a "chariot" has ended.

You can find very free inspiring writing ready for you to download now here:
http://aj-leon.com/pursuitofeverything/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/The-Life-and-Times-of-A-Remarkable-Misfit.pdf

Audioboo / From a writer to a writer : 'Banjo' Patterson "Song of the Pen"

No 17 of 1,080 poems read for the writer, artist, nomad, misfit guy who's on the inspiring "Around the World in 1,080 Days".
#banjopatterson Australian (1864-1941)
Wrote "Song of the Pen" - the last line of the poem seems relevant.
#pursuitofeverything #gift #writer #reading #australian

Audioboo / Paul Muldoon "Duffy's Circus"

After meeting poet #paulmuldoon last week at a wedding party, it was lovely to find & select this poem for @ajleon. "Duffy's Circus" is included in "The Penguin Book of Irish Verse" edited by Brendan Kennelly.
#pursuitofeverything #gift #irish #childhood #intentionalliving #circus #limerick #father #swankiest

Audioboo / Walt Whitman again - from "Song of Myself"

After hoping to watch a livestreamed performance by @compdecolombari of Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself" from @thegreenspace theatre in New York - and been disappointed I couldn't get thru...
This Part 7 of #songofmyself was great to read for AJ Leon the remarkable misfit...
It begins : "Has any one supposed it lucky to be born?"
It ends : "tenacious, acquisitive, tireless .... and can never be shaken away."
- the qualities an artist-revolutionary must possess in trumps?
The more I read Whitman with Nomads Misfit-inc in mind - the more I feel they are perfect bedfellows.
Maybe you too will be provoked by AJ & Walt?
#pursuitofeverything #waltwhitman #intentionalliving

Audioboo / The artist as revolutionary - from "Irish Epic Poem in 33 Cantos" by Paul O'Mahony

AJ Leon got to me. He took a powerful stance pro-creatively making your own art. He proclaimed the message - go make your own - don't just appreciate what others make, don't just share the work of others - go do your own thing.
Here's one I baked earlier : a poem by me - part of #irishepicppoemin33cantos

Audioboo / Poem No 21

#pursuitofeverything
#intentionalliving

Audioboo / Water Aid - unbelievable Malawi story + William Carlos Williams "My heart rouses"

16 September 2012
No 22 of 1,080 poems read in solidarity with nomad, misfit AJ Leon - who's in Los Angeles making ready to continue "Around the World in 1,080 Days".

This audio starts with a remarkable story of help given to people in villages in Malawi Africa. I don't expect you'll find it easy to swallow the story without checking it out. ( Go to http://www.thebigdig.org/ )
The poem here is by William Carlos Williams (1883-1963) - American, from Rutherford New Jersey.
WCW came from English, Puerto Rican, French, Basque & Jewish "stock" - it says in Wikipedia.
"My heart rouses..." - from "Journey to Love" (1955).
This piece of poetry is quoted by David Whyte in his 1993 book "The Heart Aroused" ( do check him out)
#pursuitofeverything #poem #poetry #american #LosAngeles #nomad #Africa #wateraid #fundraising #digitalstorytelling

Audioboo / Setting out - a gift of Pablo Neruda "La Poesia"

No 23 of 1,080 poems selected & read in support of AJ Leon, remarkable misfit - believed to be in LA...
The early stage of a journey "Around the World in 1,080 Days" compared to the experience of starting a poem.
Pablo Neruda (No 1 of the Top 500 poets on http://www.poemhunter.com/ ) Chilean poet, diplomat & politician - wrote in green ink. 1904-73 described by GG Marquez as "the greatest poet of the 20th century" - David Whyte translated this version from "La Poesia" - I found it on a chapter "Fire in the Earth" of ISBN 0385484186
#pursuitofeverything #pabloneruda #Chilean #gift #poetry #losangeles

Audioboo / Walt Whitman again "The little one sleeps in its cradle..."

Part 8 of #songofmyself from #leavesofgrass begins
"The little one sleeps in its cradle..." - ends "I come again and again."
#pursuitofeverything #waltwhitman
No 24 of 1,080 poems...
#livingwithintention

Audioboo / Walt Whitman Part 9 of "Song of Myself" from "Leaves of Grass"

Part 9 of #songofmyself from #leavesofgrass by #Waltwhitman - a short piece mainly read for AJ Leon as he designed his bus in Los Angeles California USA