The Following poems were read at the RS Thomas Literary Festival as part of a competition and open reading on September 18, 2022:

The Learner’s Eisteddfod

Siarad Cymraeg?

Ydw, I say. But, it’s barely true

One clumsy American. 100,000 Celtic warriors…faces painted blue. Or so I imagined.

But it’s only Taid a Nain and snotty Johnny Bach crying in the rain.

Dewi lifts his cup. Baptize the night in Bitters. Rhiannon dons the holy national garb... Wellies and short–shorts. A squabble of pubescent poets whistle and squawk around Rhiannon as she floats on mud and plastic pavements.

Despite the chiming of her birds, no one living slept that night.

The rains came hard. Sanctified our canvas homes, and everything we owned

was dipped in wind and water. This is my immersion, a festival of song and strange

tongues, far from my home of sun and surf.

In the Pavilion, a domesticated rebellion, a dream of crowns and thrones. We clap

the sword of peace. Does Bakhtin observe bemused from heaven as we inaugurate

this formal carnival with robed and solemn clowns?

Back at the old Welsh capel, their prayers break upon me, not just for these few hours,

nor for the days, but for the years…for eternity.* This is my home now…my Jerusalem.

Yet I will wake tomorrow, still that other, a stranger in this land of song and hwyl

and soft sorrows framed in yr hen iaith hir.

Siarad Cymraeg?

Ydw, I say. Leaning in.

* paraphrased from RS Thomas ‘The Other’, t. 457

Sonnet #5

In response to R.S. Thomas ‘The Lesson': “Return migrant, so your listeners arising on some May morning of the spirit may hear you whistling again softly…” 

This God unseen, He hides beneath the robes


of cloud and sky and cracking thunderous nights


Behind the starry skies and sun’s stiff light


and winds that blow toward edge of curve of globe

He ever moving hides and then disrobes


a ghost who moves from in to out of sight


He hides I seek. I hide He seeks each night


and then upon hope’s door I pierce my lobe

I slave my ear to hear, my eye to see,


my mouth to cry in supplicating groans


I go to search, but stay to find my way


in paradox: in slavery I am free


to see, to hear, to cry these baleful moans


which celebrate the loss, the find, each day

In this episode entitled "The One Who Names Himself", I look at the frantic search for a meaning and fulfillment. Kanye West's declaration at Glastonbury that he was the greatest rock star on the planet and the Self-Help Movement are discussed as examples of this phenomenon.

You can support this podcast at https://Patreon.com/PhilWyman You can find the video version at https://youtu.be/oAZH34Zh4os 

Also connect with me at: https://Facebook.com/PhilWyman https://Twitter.com/PhilWyman https://BurningReligion.com

John W. Morehead from MultiFaith Matters and I talk about the my new book Love Big or Go Home. He asks me about the origin story to this book, and I rehearse tales from my own nomadic travels and lessons learned through my time with nomads and assorted travelers. You can support this podcast at https://Patreon.com/PhilWyman You can find the video version at https://youtu.be/ozAkhGyK37Y

Also connect with me at: https://Facebook.com/PhilWyman https://Twitter.com/PhilWyman https://BurningReligion.com You can donate to the ongoing mission (which as of 2022 will be based in Wales) at the following secure PayPal link: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=NM7DT9LMXLC2C

In this Wild Theology Podcast, I consider the Pre-Easter vigil of Good Friday and Holy Saturday. Christianity is framed by the idea that life comes from death, and suffering leads to growth and "glory". Also, in this podcast, I introduce a song pulled form the archives of my life. I write this a number of years ago. It's not a great recording, but I do a touch of Logic Pro mastering magic should make it sound reasonable (a bit like an old Nick Drake recording, I suppose). You can support this podcast at https://Patreon.com/PhilWyman You can find the video version at https://youtu.be/pRK8rC77Jsg

Also connect with me at: https://Facebook.com/PhilWyman https://Twitter.com/PhilWyman https://BurningReligion.com

This podcast looks back two years to the first podcasts I started doing. The audio is overdriven and scratchy, but the beginnings of my newly released book Love Big or Go Home were also being scratched out. So, here is a taster of my new book that outlines my Wild Theology about the gospel itself. This book was forged on the road with nomads, hippies, and the "motorhomeless", and in studies on ancient Christianity and the anthropology of developing American and UK homelessness and nomadism. You can purchase Love Big or Go Home on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09VRNB6MC You can support this podcast at https://Patreon.com/PhilWyman You can see the video version at https://youtu.be/h9DsSyBglfY

Also connect with me at: https://Facebook.com/PhilWyman https://Twitter.com/PhilWyman https://BurningReligion.com

May 4th, 2022 (God willing) I will be moving somewhere near Caernarfon Wales. This is a dream come true, and includes another one of my wild ideas. Join me on this podcast as I share about my dream to live in Wales, and to spend a year and a day walking around the country, staying with the locals, getting to know the land, and speaking no language but Welsh for the entire time.

You can support this podcast at https://Patreon.com/PhilWyman You can see the video version at https://youtu.be/Hzn1DlWPgec Also connect with me at: https://Facebook.com/PhilWyman https://Twitter.com/PhilWyman https://BurningReligion.com

In this Wild Theology Podcast Flashback, I look back to September 2019, and a recording I did with John Robinson. John is the founder and director of Lingua Christi, a non-profit in Wales, which focuses upon bringing the gospel to minority languages throughout Europe. John talks about the importance of sharing in the gospel in the language of a person's heart. This is at the center of my own upcoming mission to Wales. John's work among minority languages has been instrumental in influencing people to learn the languages of the places they go to hare their faith. If you have a heart for missions, his wisdom is worth your time.

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Connect with me at:

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Once again, looking back a few years to this first of my podcasts, and realizing that these issues seem even more applicable today than they were when I first posted them. This is part three of a Flashback to Wild Theology Podcasts.

In this third episode of the Obscene Hermeneut, I discuss the issues of confirmation bias and cognitive dissonance, and I ask whether calling confirmation bias on others is evidence of it in ourselves, and wether we will be able to continue peacefully as a nation if things continue the way they are going now.

You can support this podcast at: https://www.patreon.com/PhilWyman

Connect with me at:

https://www.facebook.com/philwyman https://twitter.com/PhilWyman https://www.philwyman.com https://www.BurningReligion.com https://www.SalemGathering.com