Jerome Ellis is a composer and musician. But this year, at an annual New Year's Day performance event, he got on stage with no instrument, or anything else, and broke a small rule in a monumental way.

Bim talks to poet Ross Gay, whose book inspired today’s show, about the discipline and rigor of seeking and holding onto delight.

Ira Glass reads a favorite passage from the writing of the recently deceased poet Donald Hall.

David Rakoff demonstrates—in rhyme—how to make a wedding toast for people you never wanted to see married in the first place. Rakoff is the author of several books, most recently Half Empty.

For some people, the fear of sleep is linked to the fear of death. We hear from some of them.

There's a famous William Carlos Williams poem called "This is Just to Say." It's about, among other things, causing a loved one inconvenience and offering a non-apologizing apology. It's only three lines long, you've probably read it...the one about eating the plums in the icebox.

A Christmas poem from David Rakoff, about holidays in The Big City. Rakoff's the author of, most recently, Half Empty.

Richard Klein of Cornell University explains that the way we view love really began with love poems in the 13th century — an illusion.

Ellery Eskelin never met his father but always heard he was a musical genius. Years after his father's death, Ellery started finding recordings of his musical output: he was the king of "song-poems." These are the songs that result when people answer those ads in the backs of magazines that say, "Send us your lyrics, and we'll write and record your song." Ellery's father's musical output was prodigious — and very odd.

An Allen Ginsberg poem and Ira Glass.

Scott Carrier's Haiku stories. Scott is the author of Running After Antelope.

Nora Moreno with tapes of her father, a pioneer in Spanish-language broadcasting in America. Her mother fell in love with her father because of his poetic character on the radio, but in real life, the very things that attracted her to him over the radio drove them apart.

Artist Julie Laffin talks about the inspiration for her "kissing projects." Jessica Yu's film Breathing Lessons is about Mark O'Brien, a man using an "iron lung." In this excerpt, Mark talks about the yearning he tries to quell through the use of sex surrogates. Poet Luis Rodriguez reads his poem "Waiting." Writer Dolores Wilbur tells a story of wanting love.

Dwight Okita reads the poem "Farewell Samba" from his book Crossing with the Light.Ira Glass reads Philip Larkin's poem "Poetry of Departures." (3 minutes)

A poultry-themed poem by Luis Rodriguez.

Poet Michael Warr talks with Ira and reads some of his poems inspired by his childhood. Warr grew up as a Jehovah's Witness and found that he had some problems with the religion's rules.