Jellyfish Donuts

The door pushes back with a soft groan,
and the air is sugared brine,
half bakery, half tidepool.

Glass lamps shaped like jellyfish hang above,

their glow steady, not quite natural.

The menu glints in chalk dust,

part joke, part warning,

a dare scrawled in sugar.

House Specialties — Today Only:

Seaweed & Salted Caramel Ripple -

kelp flakes tangled into sticky sweetness.

Beetroot & Black Garlic Glazed -

a purple-red bite with a shadow of earth.

Turmeric Pineapple Fire Ring -

golden heat meeting citrus sting.

Lavender Pickle Surprise -

floral calm ambushed by brine.

Sardine & Lemon Zest Cruller -

ocean breeze with a citrus slap.

Charcoal & Hibiscus Swirl -

ash-black dough bleeding crimson bloom.

Avocado & Wasabi Glazed Twist -

creamy green mellow, then the nose-burn.

Rosemary Grapefruit Crunch -

bitter pith under sharp pine needles.

Miso Maple Bar -

savory umami wrapped in tree sugar.

Dandelion Honey Puff -

a meadow fried into golden fluff.

Pumpkin Kimchi Knot -

spicy funk bound in autumn orange.

Cactus Pear & Chili Powder Jelly-Fill -

sweet desert sting at the heart.

And at the end of the counter,

a glass case with a handwritten sign:

Plain donuts — sold out.

Juneau, Alaska

September 15, 2025 – Favorite Songs Sung by Women Part 1

Dear Friends,

This Week’s Show brings you female voices that changed everything — Joni, Aretha, Rickie, Janis, Stevie, and more. Songs of power, tenderness, and soul, sung by women who left their mark on music history. This is the first of many shows featuring some of my favorite songs sung by female singers.

Playlist for the week of September 15, 2025:

00:00:00 Joni Mitchell – “Coyote”

00:07:44 Rickie Lee Jones – “We Belong Together”

00:12:45 Stone Poneys (feat. Linda Ronstadt) – “Different Drum”

00:15:22 Jefferson Airplane – “Somebody to Love”

00:18:16 Carole King – “It’s Too Late” 

00:22:08 Jim Kweskin & Maria Muldaur – “I’m a Woman”

00:25:59 Ronnie Spector – “Don’t Worry Baby”

00:29:38 Etta James – “I’d Rather Go Blind” (1967)

00:32:13 Linda Lewis – “Spring Song”

00:34:20 Stevie Nicks – “Edge of Seventeen”

00:41:58 Heart – “Crazy On You”

00:46:52 Tina Turner – “What’s Love Got to Do With It”

00:50:40 Martha Reeves & The Vandellas – “Dancing in the Street”

00:53:18 Carly Simon – “You’re So Vain”

00:57:34 Eurythmics (Annie Lennox & Dave Stewart) – “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” 

01:01:09 Peggy Lee – “Is That All There Is?”

01:06:47 Janis Joplin – “Mercedes Benz”

A Reminder:

Next To Silence streams live at:

1700AM and on the web at PeaksIslandRadio.com

On:

Mondays Fridays @7:00PM

Tuesdays @Noon

You can stream past shows at any time.

Go to PeaksIslandRadio.com

Click on Schedule. Open NEXT TO SILENCE

And you will find. Treasure trove of great music.

Blue Hand

Ghost glove of the cosmos
stuck on the window of eternity
like a lost kite tangled in its knotted tail,
lonely semaphore of the star-drunk night.

What are you doing here?

Signaling a mail truck from Mars?

Chasing rubber checks through Northern Lights?

Playing patty-cake with the void?

Maybe you’re a glove
lost in the subway of eternity,
or the handprint of a thief
caught passing counterfeit stars.

I want to wear you—

shake the galaxies awake,

slap Saturn across its rings,

tickle the black holes

until they spit out light.

But you just hang there,

blue and stubborn,

grinning like eternity’s fool,

saying nothing 
but still mouthing off:

Here I am. Where are you?

Peaks Island, Maine

August 11, 2025 – Bob Dylan Covers Part 1

This week’s NEXT TO SILENCE is all about transformation—when a Bob Dylan song takes on new life in someone else’s voice. From rock to folk, soul to Cajun, gospel to garage—these covers prove Dylan’s songwriting has no borders. Whether it’s Hendrix electrifying the apocalypse or Judy Collins spinning poetry into silk, we’re traveling across genres, generations, and states of mind. Let’s hear how other legends interpret the man who’s been called a poet, a prophet, and a mystery.

Playlist for the week of August 11, 2025:

00:00:00 Bruce Springsteen – “The Times They Are A-Changin’” 

00:06:56 The Byrds – “Mr. Tambourine Man” 

00:09:12 Jimi Hendrix – “All Along the Watchtower”

00:13:11 George Harrison – “If Not For You” (Remastered)

00:16:4 Leon Russell – “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall”

00:21:47 Manfred Mann – “The Mighty Quinn”

00:24:38 Richie Havens – “Just Like a Woman”

00:29:23 Wanda Jackson – “Thunder on the Mountain” 

00:34:37 Jimmy Buffett & Emmylou Harris – “Mozambique”

00:40:41 Judy Collins – “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues”

00:45:46 The Band – “This Wheel’s On Fire” (Remastered) 

00:48:53 Elvis Presley – “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right”

00:51:36 The Rolling Stones – “Like A Rolling Stone”

00:57:15 Etta James – “Gotta Serve Somebody”

01:03:51 Kuku – “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door (A Sight to Rejoice)”

01:07:59 Johnny Winter – “Highway 61 Revisited”

01:13:04 The Turtles – “It Ain’t Me Babe”

01:15:15 Odetta – “Masters of War”

01:21:29 Doug Kershaw – “Subterranean Homesick Blues”

01:26:35 Cat Power – “Ballad of a Thin Man” (Live at Royal Albert Hall)

A Reminder:

Next To Silence streams live at:

1700AM and on the web at PeaksIslandRadio.com

On:

Mondays Fridays @7:00PM

Tuesdays @Noon

Thanks for listening,

Dave

Safe

I like to think of them

finishing up their shift,

punching out of whatever clock

the sun keeps in the sky,

maybe gossiping a little

about the new patch of clover

down by the fence post.

Then, without ceremony,

they curl themselves into the purple

like a guest slipping under

a heavy quilt in an unfamiliar house,

the air full of quiet

and whatever dream bees dream.

Meanwhile, I’m here at the window,

pretending to work,

watching the day close shop—

and the bees are safe sleeping in the thistle.

Peaks Island, Maine

August 4, 2025 – Contemporary Indian Virtuoso Violinists

This week’s show features Contemporary Indian Virtuoso Violinists. We’ll trace the resonant strings of the Indian violin through East-West fusions, rhythmic dialogues, and meditative fire. These are virtuosos who don’t just play — they translate tradition into new language.

 Playlist for the week of August 4, 2025:

00:00:00 L. Shankar – “Song For Everyone”

00:09:05 L. Subramaniam – “Blue Lotus”

00:20:24 Shakti – “Joy”

00:41:36 Ganesh & Kumaresh – “Gambhira”

00:45:15 L. Shankar; Jan Garbarek; Palle Mikkelborg – “All For You”

00:51:48 Bickram Ghosh – “Gangotri”

01:02:07 Ganesh & Kumaresh – “Greeshma”

01:08:22 L. Subramaniam – “Dance of Siva”

The Sign at the End of the Street

It was a peaceful neighborhood

until the signs started speaking—

first they warned us,

then they laughed.

Now a child runs forever—

a small joke from the underworld.

But even the joke feels holy

when the light hits right—

when the mind forgets itself

and floats like clouds

through the blue dome

of a sticker someone placed

with quiet mischief.

The sign says SLOW.

The sign says CHILDREN.

But it’s the skull that knows.

Knows the world slows down

only after.

Knows how warning

is a privilege

disguised as concern.

Is it still running—

that figure on the sign,

some version of us,

once wind-stung,

barefoot, unafraid?

We wave,

as if it matters.

I saw him once—

third-grade me, maybe,

invisible cape, skinned knees,

halfway to Mars

and all the way lost in joy.

He’s still out there,

dodging traffic

and dreaming about outer space,

or cotton candy,

or something better.

The sign still holds

the shape of a child

leaning into the forever

no one meant to promise.

We keep walking.

We obey.

We forget.

But the child,

skull full of clouds,

keeps running
into the deep,

unspoken now.

Peaks Island, Maine

July 14, 2025 – Bang on a Can

This week’s show is a celebration of sonic invention, genre-defiance, and creative collaboration. We’re diving deep into the world of Bang on a Can, a musical collective that’s been reshaping the sound of contemporary classical and experimental music since the late 1980s.
Bang on a Can was founded in 1987 by composers Julia Wolfe, David Lang, and Michael Gordon. Frustrated by the boundaries of academic classical music and inspired by punk, minimalism, noise, world music, and jazz, they envisioned a space where new music could thrive—wild, visceral, and unbound by category.
What started as a marathon concert in a SoHo art gallery became a movement: a group, a label, a festival, a touring ensemble—the Bang on a Can All-Stars—and an ecosystem supporting boundary-pushing music around the world. Today’s playlist features founding composers, All-Star performers, guest artists, and offshoot collaborations.

Playlist for the week of July 14, 2025:

00:00:00 Michael Gordon; Bang On A Can All-Stars – “Gene Takes a Drink”

00:09:55 Conlon Nancarrow (arr. Ziporyn) – “Studies for Player Piano No. 3c: Boogie-Woogie Suite”
00:13:16 Julia Wolfe; Choir of Trinity Wall Street – Anthracite Fields: IV. Flowers
00:19:53 van Ziporyn – Music from Shadowbang: No. 1 Angkat

00:22:53 Jeffrey Brooks – After the Treewatcher

00:30:43 Meredith Monk – The Games: Spaceship

00:35:02 Julia Wolfe – “Reeling”

00:43:02 Don Byron – “Fyodorovich”

00:45:25 Michael Gordon; Icebreaker – “Yo Shakespeare”

00:56:09 Terry Riley – “See Them Out There”

00:59:00  David Lang – “Cheating, Lying, Stealing”

01:09:30 Lao Luo & 龔琳娜 – “Tan Te”

01:12:54 Brian Eno; Robert Wyatt; Rhett Davies – “1/2”

01:21:46 Kyaw Kyaw Naing – “Seik Kyu Ahla (Version 2)”

01:26:15 Julia Wolfe – “Big Beautiful Dark and Scary”

A Reminder:

Next To Silence streams live at:

1700AM and on the web at PeaksIslandRadio.com

On:

Mondays Fridays @7:00PM

Tuesdays @Noon

Thanks for listening.

Dave

This Forest Is Not Yours

Show me your original face before you were born.

                     			—Zen Koan

I walked in

because I thought I could leave

myself behind.

The trees didn’t care.

The leaves kept falling—

with or without me.

I stood by the water

and saw a face.

Not mine.

Just shape and light—

no owner.

We want to believe

in something that stays.

But even stillness

moves

if you sit long enough.

Belief, doubt—

they’re just names.

What’s real doesn’t speak.

It doesn’t need to.

I turned back

and left nothing behind.

Nothing was ever mine

to begin with.

Peaks Island, Maine