Ep7: Swans, Teeth and Time

In this episode of Chai & Chat, we reflect on ageing and hindsight through two very different poems.

We begin with W. B. Yeats’ The Wild Swans at Coole, a poem chosen by Sundari because it came from a book of poetry owned by her father, complete with his handwritten notes. Through Yeats’ autumnal melancholy, the passage of time, the swans that mate for life, and the poignant image of fifty-nine swans, we explore change and what it means to look back.

The conversation then moves from Yeats to Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake, and to Ranjit’s memories of watching ballet in Russia at the Bolshoi Theatre.

In the second half, we turn to something much more comic, Pam Ayres’ I Wish I’d Looked After Me Teeth. This leads us into a lively conversation about teeth, genetics, gum disease, “summer teeth”, and the uncomfortable truth that we often only appreciate our health once some of it has gone.

Together, these two poems, one reflective and one funny, help us think about ageing, hindsight, and the things we wish we had noticed, valued, or looked after sooner.