James Arthur’s poems have appeared in The New Yorker, The New Republic, Poetry, Ploughshares, The Southern Review, New England Review, and Narrative. He has received the Amy Lowell Traveling Poetry Scholarship, a Wallace Stegner Fellowship in Poetry, and a Discovery/The Nation Prize. Charms Against Lightning, his debut poetry collection, is forthcoming from Copper Canyon Press. During 2012 he will be in residence at the Amy Clampitt House in Lenox, Massachusetts.

Photo by: Sean Hill

When I was a kid I had this clown doll that would laugh when you pushed a button in its chest. It was terrifying. It's more the cackle of a chain-smoking maniac than the laughter of a clown but then again some clowns are heavy smokers.

I recorded this fiery sermon that I heard on the radio in West Virginia.

After a successful meal Captain Tom has no trouble patting himself on the back for a job well done.

I spent an afternoon in the parking lot of the grocery store asking people to read me their grocery lists and these are a few of the responses i got.

Bill Keaggy responded to postings by musicians on fiverr.com who offered to write and record a song for five dollars. He sent each of them a found grocery list and asked them to record a song inspired by the list. This is my favorite track from Let's All Go to the Grocery Store, an album of songs inspired by found grocery lists which you can download for absolutely free here:

http://www.grocerylists.org/

This is the sound of hundreds of electronic slot machines on the floor of Lumiere Casino in downtown St. Louis.

If you ever did any late night channel surfing between 1993 and 2001 you probably came across the legendary pitchman Don West hollering about sports cards and Beanie Babies on the Shop at Home network. A friend of mine made a CD of some of the best Don West television moments and this is but a taste.