One Poem Only
A daily reading. A quiet moment. One poem, center stage: just for now, just for you. A one-night-only show, in verse. Come back tomorrow. The curtain rises again.
Rash by Viviana Abnur | One Poem Only
One Poem Only is a daily poetry podcast offering a quiet moment with a single poemâread aloud, without analysis or noise.
Rash
Viviana Abnur
Everything I know about deathI learned the hard waywhen I saw you go by on the stretcherto intensive therapyI was an atheist like you and I only sawa slight and strange bodypass at the speed of lightis it that perhaps we live confusedor we are just light and nothing elsebecause I suddenly knew in an instantthat you were notin that bodythey took you to the Emergency roomlike a war tr...Lilies by Madilyn Lopez | One Poem Only
A daily reading from One Poem Onlyâa quiet space for a single poem, read aloud.
Lilies
Madilyn Lopez
blood gushes from underneath my index fingersunderneath my thumbsmy eyes go white and pin-point blackbloodshotâ my artery.my throat seals itself shut like a wooden door stuck in humidityâs clutchi tilt my chin to the popcorn ceilinggasping for air thatâs already escapedLilies are my favorite flower by the way.it is late.12:15am exactly.my neck starts to itch where brittle bone holds nostalgic flesh imprintsthe coffee on my wooden-chipped scarred nightstand has gone tep...âHija de tu madre.â by Elisha Fernandez | Handpicked Wednesday | One Poem Only
Wednesdays on One Poem Only are Handpicked, a new feature where I go deeper into the poem of the day and discuss what made it stand out to me.
âHija de tu madre.â
Elisha Fernandez
âEres hija de tu madre.ââYou are your motherâs daughter,â is a phrase I heard growing up,from strangers,family members,friends,most repeated by my own mother.I wanted to claw myself out of my skinPanicked by the implicationThat I did not belong to myselfI could not crawl above my stationLimited to the constraints and expectations people thrust on me,L...Unnamed Season by Jules Travers | One Poem Only
One Poem Only is a daily ritual: one poem, center stage, just for now.
Unnamed Season
Jules Travers
He lives in a peaceful territoryof his own,relatively well-defined.In conversation with his selves,he navigates daily weather,rainbows,mirages,sinkholes.Now,can he still live with himself,with you?Your eyes align,two shapes of water join, sun-lit,know themselves reflected.He feels your arms.He broadens,flattensand retreats,enters spaces filled by airand phantom.He waits, he listens.Voices surface.He slips into marrowlit by the gasping mouthsof scattered self-sustaining fires.He fractures...Life Is the Backside of Embroidery by Aasfa Siddiqui | One Poem Only
One Poem Only is a daily poetry podcast offering a quiet moment with a single poemâread aloud, without analysis or noise.
Life Is the Backside Of Embroidery by Aasfa Siddiqui
Aasfa Siddiqui
Iâve been thinking about it latelylife feels like the backside of embroidery.All I see are the knots,threads pulling in opposite directions,lines crossing with no pattern,like someone stitched it blindfolded.But thenflip it.Turn it over.And there it is.The picture you never thought was formingflowers blooming where only knots existed,Maybe thatâs just my side o...A Baptism by Maggie Devers & Weekly Poetry Recap | One Poem More
One Poem More gathers all of this weekâs poems from One Poem Onlyâan unhurried chance to listen again, or catch what you missed.
This weekâs poems
âWords donât even flow to me anymoreâ by Lisa Le GuiaderThe Return of Titans by Kate M. SineSunday Ritual by Evyan RobertsPrince of Marble by Auri TunglsdottirIce Box Woes by JACK"E"Women of Stardust and Soil by Steph PattersonPlus one new one to carry us into the week ahead
A Baptism
Maggie Devers
Iâm terrified of having to burn...Women of Stardust and Soil by Steph Patterson | One Poem Only
One Poem Only is a daily ritual: one poem, center stage, just for now.
Women of Stardust and Soil
Steph Patterson
We start as stardustand then soil, we become,Underneath our feetthe bones sing of so manywomen before us,Their whispers form tendrilswinding up to tip into your ear,Their stories will not be forgottenas the earth holds their proof of life,When their voices rosein anger and defianceWomen labeled as witches,spinsters, other, lesser than,The control men forced upon us,and continue to resurrect,Born of fear, and carefully tilled hatred,The...Ice Box Woes by JACK"E" | One Poem Only
One Poem Only is a daily poetry podcast offering a quiet moment with a single poemâread aloud, without analysis or noise.
Ice Box Woes
JACKâEâ
This freezing and thawingdosey doethe outdoors has frosted overice falls often,putting the Ice Man of historyin balmy palmsthough I hear the sunshine is dimin the panhandle.A chuck roastwhose rump has frozenrock salt sprinklingif this is dinnerI will screech on pass.More from JACKâEâ â
@poetique_jacq on InstagramHer book, An Abbreviated Mass: A Collection of Poetry, is available nowSupport + St...
Prince of Marble by Auri Tunglsdottir | One Poem Only
A daily reading from One Poem Onlyâa quiet space for a single poem, read aloud.
Prince of Marble
Auri Tunglsdottir
Iâve put you on a pedestalFor some reason.One day it was there,And I put you up,It looked right.Iâve made you a statue of marble and gold,Shining in the dark â the moon looks dull compared to you;Glowing in the sun â thatâs learning how to look golden from you.Iâve made you immortalBy creating an image that will live in my mind, in the universe.Iâve made you...Sunday Ritual by Evyan Roberts | One Poem Only
Wednesdays on One Poem Only are Handpicked, a new feature where I go deeper into the poem of the day and discuss what made it stand out to me.
Sunday Ritual
Evyan Roberts
Residing in her pink robe, the one with the acrylic zipper in the front and the unnecessary homemaker-like lace at the collar. She sets her matching orthopedic slippers, to the side,
and kneels over the basin. Like praying to deities of Arm &; Hammer Baking Soda and Heinz
Vinegar, she bends and begins passionately scrubbing, invoking the tool...The Return of Titans by Kate M. Sine | One Poem Only
One Poem Only is a daily ritual: one poem, center stage, just for now.
The Return of Titans
Kate M. Sine
The last leaf of autumn falls,striking the door like a match,lighting our world with the magic from a distant universe.We watch the spirits pass us by at the window,our breath fogging the glass as the archaic creaturespad past,shepherding their kind to safety while the world sleepsthrough December, January, and February.Karan, the goose, who slides through the air like a knife,blotting out the sky with a quilt...âWords donât even flow to me anymoreâ by Lisa Le Guiader | One Poem Only
One Poem Only is a daily poetry podcast offering a quiet moment with a single poemâread aloud, without analysis or noise.
âWords donât even flow to me anymoreâ
Lisa Le Guiader
Words donât even flow to me anymoreI think tiredness got meThe source has gotten stabbedStrangled I think Iâm getting tiredhaving been let to stormand bleed it out, pouring this heart soft outIn your armsOn your chestNow to your touchIâll much preferevaporate condense awayprecipitate a mile awayIâm already boiling insideWould not need much but meet the fire, your calming touchto...Shake It Up by Maggie Devers & Weekly Poetry Recap | One Poem More
One Poem More gathers all of this weekâs poems from One Poem Onlyâan unhurried chance to listen again, or catch what you missed.
This weekâs poems
What's Wrong with My Heart by Gillian ShielsA Few Weeks Into the Dreams by Jorge Lopez LlorenteBenedict Fruit by Yonsiri RojasDisjointed Conversations by Jean WathuguHuman-Nature by Katie-May FinchamIn the Hot Spring Locker Room by Haley DiRenzoPlus one new one to carry us into the week ahead
Shake It Up
Maggie Devers
I water my plants to feed myselfI feel my toe...In the Hot Spring Locker Room by Haley DiRenzo | One Poem Only
One Poem Only is a daily ritual: one poem, center stage, just for now.
In the Hot Spring Locker Room
Haley DiRenzo
I saw naked women scrubbing saltedskin as my mother ushered mepast. Eyes lingered on bodies rawand round. Breasts dangling, belliesdrooping. Sketched scars and stretchmarks painted in different shades.Clay earth, bruised sky, blue vein.My own body was a girlâs then.Still, Iâd graduated from runningnaked through my home to needingto hide myself. I barely rememberedthe bloom of my own motherâsbreast that fed me. She toonow dressed behind closed doorsu...Human-Nature by Katie-May Fincham | One Poem Only
One Poem Only is a daily poetry podcast offering a quiet moment with a single poemâread aloud, without analysis or noise.
Human-Nature
Katie-May Fincham
In the stillness of the awakening forest,where twilight dances with the dawn,human hearts pulse beneath the light rays,piercing the gloom like fragile promises.We wander, shadows flickering among blooms,breathing in the sweet scent of renewal,lost in the echo of stories yet to unfold.Together, we tread the sun-dappled paths,where branches stretch to embrace the light,and the wind carries whispers of ancient hope.Be...Disjointed Conversations by Jean Wathugu | One Poem Only
A daily reading from One Poem Onlyâa quiet space for a single poem, read aloud.
Disjointed Conversations
Jean Wathugu
Because I saw that obligatory smileI am dismembering the foot in my mouthYour eyes like to wander in the middle of my lame anecdoteSo hereâs my prosthetic humourSo I can fake it enough to make itHow about you write me a technical manual on how to beSo in between the jargon I can mourn the parts of me that don't fit inYou took me in beforeSpitting me outIâm a mishmash of mismatched ingred...Benedict Fruit by Yonsiri Rojas | One Poem Only
Wednesdays on One Poem Only are Handpicked, a new feature where I go deeper into the poem of the day and discuss what made it stand out to me.
Benedict Fruit
Yonsiri Rojas
the goose hisses in its ivory crochet suit;sauntering the stoned road, a flinch of lightbathing the pigeonâs pearls, the townâs bruteanimalâits local needful, lazy pal mighthave carved off some of its benedict fruit.the goose grasps the pigeonâs winghums a ballad, makes a sorrowful scenedown the mountain, towards the springâcut him some slack!â, swallows him clean;local...A Few Weeks Into the Dreams by Jorge Lopez Llorente | One Poem Only
One Poem Only is a daily ritual: one poem, center stage, just for now.
A Few Weeks Into the Dreams
Jorge Lopez Llorente
Back then, a few bodies ago, you knew how to get your dreams delivered. You would sleep in the shape of a question mark and the empty side of the bed would be the silent answer. Now the silence is broken by you answering the door late, groggy. Now dreams are strangersâ hands, with covered faces, leaving a parcel on the doorstep, untouched, which you find too late, with the doorbellâs ri...What's Wrong with My Heart by Gillian Shiels | One Poem Only
One Poem Only is a daily poetry podcast offering a quiet moment with a single poemâread aloud, without analysis or noise.
What's Wrong with My Heart
Gillian Shiels
My heart is a little broken:Sometimes it does too much tickingAnd not enough tocking.Itâs an electrical signal disruption,They tell me.I take my tablets every dayAnd they help.Most of the time.But I worry.I canât help it.Over the years,This poor heart of mineHas been shattered so many times.It has been battered,Bruised,Ached so badlyI was su...Tea Party by Maggie Devers & Weekly Poetry Recap | One Poem More
One Poem More gathers all of this weekâs poems from One Poem Onlyâan unhurried chance to listen again, or catch what you missed.
This weekâs poems
Aching by Brittany Searle KempaiahLa Mariposa de Fierro by Christiane Williams-VigilThey Built the Wall Themselves by M. A. DubbsNine Novembers Later by Erin ZarroShadow Infested Room by Himani GoelShow & Tell by Shahé MankerianPlus one new one to carry us into the week ahead
Tea Party
Maggie Devers
The hand of godSips with the divine pinky upHoly water servedIn antique china c...Show & Tell by Shahé Mankerian | One Poem Only
One Poem Only is a daily ritual: one poem, center stage, just for now.
Show & Tell
Shahé Mankerian
This poem was first published in Contemporary Verse 2, Summer 2024 (Vol. 47, No. 1)To Lucille CliftonJosĂ© lifted a rabbit from a corroded cageand said, âThis is JesĂșs. We found himsleeping among the dead daffodils.âElizabeth asked us to cover our earsâBecause Beethoven was deaf,â she saidas âOde to Joyâ squeaked on her violin.I clapped the loudest because on the firstday of school Liz braided my shoelaceswith hers. Mrs. Honzay poked my forearmwith a pen, âSettle down,â she whispe...Shadow Infested Room by Himani Goel | One Poem Only
One Poem Only is a daily poetry podcast offering a quiet moment with a single poemâread aloud, without analysis or noise.
Shadow Infested Room
Himani Goel
Closing the door on the shadow infested room?I say noI pull the curtains open.Shaky handsWindows stuckStrain harderpushed open with a rattleSudden breezehair swept awayCurtains blownThe wind takes the lead to start a dance with the mossy curtainsUp they flysaying hello to theparticlessparkling like pixie dusta magic in new ray of shineThe wind pulls back with a whisperthe curtains flow downcaughtin a thorn,grown unknownbetween the fl...Nine Novembers Later by Erin Zarro | One Poem Only
A daily reading from One Poem Onlyâa quiet space for a single poem, read aloud.
Nine Novembers Later
Erin Zarro
TW: ViolenceNine Novembers laterYou plucked flowers from my mouth andweaved them into a crownYou sang me into submission andwe made beautiful music togetherbut in the morning, you didn't remember my name.When I wanted to leave you, you gave me sunlight,promised me forever,slid a dagger through my spine.When you sucked the light from my bones,I cried, and you sewed my tears to my facein silence that burnsIn darkness, you fe...They Built the Wall Themselves by M. A. Dubbs | Handpicked Wednesday
Wednesdays on One Poem Only are Handpicked, a new feature where I go deeper into the poem of the day and discuss what made it stand out to me.
They Built the Wall Themselves
M. A. Dubbs
On any given weekday on the east boardwalk of Port Washington,youâll find fishermen of leisure.Long white beards, shirtless with an all over tan,crepey skin a canvas of tattoos;a visual storyboard of his trials.If youâd ask, youâd learn about the steady handsthat inked him as a kid drafted to âNam.He wonât...La Mariposa de Fierro by Christiane Williams-Vigil
One Poem Only is a daily ritual: one poem, center stage, just for now.
La Mariposa de Fierro
Christiane Williams-Vigil
The autumn leaves of American Beechflutter and cover her inquilt-like patches of many colors.To warm her through icy yearsand struggles of the 9 to 5.She sings not for those who are entangled in richesbut lullabies those who are suppressed,silenced,and overlooked.The ones who she wishes life willtreat them kind..Blessed is she who opens her heart,and pardons red-haired womenwho canât help their siren-esque call.Out of a chrysalis of ash,he...Aching by Brittany Searle Kempaiah
One Poem Only is a daily poetry podcast offering a quiet moment with a single poemâread aloud, without analysis or noise.
Aching
Brittany Searle Kempaiah
Unexpectedly.There are moments I relish my arms being my arms again.And then,I ache for you.I ache for the way you once fit in the crux of themyour head on my bare chest.I ache for those moments I dreaded your screaming.and the way it seemed to echo with accusations of my failure.I ache for the days I wondered what I had done wi...April: A Poem by Ella B. Winters & Write After Recap | One Poem More
Sundays on One Poem Only are reserved for the weekly recap, but since we were writing a poem a day with Write After in April, we havenât had a break for a recap in a month. So today Iâm reading a poem that perfectly encapsulates Write After. It is a cento and contains one line from each of the 30 poems shared on One Poem Only during April.
April: A Poem
Ella B. Winters
She never whispers in my ear, unfurlingto swallow my words, abandon mewhen I most need her,while the past ride...Square Society by Faye Simpson | One Poem Only
One Poem Only is a daily ritual: one poem, center stage, just for now.
Square Society
Faye Simpson
In the land of square people,They live ridged lives,With right angled rooms made to fit their intended occupants only,And the ridged rules silently spoken by every straight line,Bent and broken are often indistinguishable,For the square mind,In this curveless space,Everybody fits into their place.Or so itâd seem,Between the boundaries of 2D,Live creatures like me.Natural plasticity has allowed me to form a false face,A more an...Everlong/Evergreen by Dan Webber | One Poem Only
One Poem Only is a daily poetry podcast offering a quiet moment with a single poemâread aloud, without analysis or noise.
Everlong/Evergreen
Dan Webber
After an endless winterthe spring has finally come,a reminder,that all things will passeventually.In defiance, nature remainsguarded by tall treeand howling wind.The beauty of the forestis untarnished.Frostbitten or sun kissedupon doorstep, or far, far awaytravellers and explorersold and neware welcomed inin equal measure.These whispers from the woods call:Come.Sit a spell.Breathe in the good air.Calm mind and soothe body.Itâs pe...EPISODE 365 | One Poem Only
I didnât miss a day. Thank you for being here. For listening, for sharing, for writing, for championing poetry with me. Thereâs so much more to come.
I dwell in Possibility âA fairer House than Prose âMore numerous of Windows âSuperior â for Doors âOf Chambers as the Cedars âImpregnable of eye âAnd for an everlasting RoofThe Gambrels of the Sky âOf Visitors â the fairest âFor Occupation â This âThe spreading wide my narrow HandsTo gather Paradise âBy Emily DickinsonThereâs something poeticAbout a country eating itself aliveTo appease the gods of private equityWhile stars are singing to us from the cosmo...Abstract by WC Quinn | One Poem Only
One Poem Only is a daily poetry podcast offering a quiet moment with a single poemâread aloud, without analysis or noise.
Abstract
WC Quinn
My pieces appear askew, but I am no Picassojust a Girl Before a Mirror trying to love myselfdespite the flaws in my reflectionI keep counting my brush strokesgrooming tangles in penance.My tongueâs burden is languageThe She Wolf bellow calls to me; I donât replymy words, sticky sweet honey,smacking heavy in the roof of my mouthsplatters canvas akin to Pollock.My nightmares covet realityso call me a drea...Unlearning Perfection by Mya Noelani | One Poem Only
One Poem Only is a daily ritual: one poem, center stage, just for now.
Unlearning Perfection
Mya Noelani
I took up the task of unlearning perfectionBecause what is perfect anyway?Besides of bunch of standards we try to maintain to impress other peopleIâm learning that itâs okay that the same pile of clothes has sat on my floor for three daysOr that Iâm not always on my Pâs and QâsAnd that sometimes the most productive thing I can do is get in my bed and sleepIâm learning that perfection i...You Are Poetry by Emma-Jane Barlow | One Poem Only
One Poem Only is a daily poetry podcast offering a quiet moment with a single poemâread aloud, without analysis or noise.
You Are Poetry
Emma-Jane Barlow
I hope you know that you are poetry.Everything you do is artand you don't even know it.The way your eyes glistenand your whole face beamswith light when you're happy.The way you sink into the sofaand hum a little to yourself atthe end of a hard day.The way you hold the dooropen for a stranger and smile,or the way you speak to animalswhen yo...Only Sleeping by Jo Guzman | One Poem Only
One Poem Only is a daily ritual: one poem, center stage, just for now.
Only Sleeping
Jo Guzman
The flavor of âFuck youâ smacked across my lips when I wokeNot so much in angerMore like calm clarityI touched my heart with my right handThe one that used to pledge allegiance to many thingsI believed the stories for so longThe ones about love and heroes and goodUntil I realized the truth often died with those mortally silenced because the empire said soMy hand and my heart set about their workCounter clockwise circlesUnravelling layers of grief and...10 Things to Say When Meeting a Miracle by Dana Kinsey | One Poem Only
One Poem Only is a daily ritual: one poem, center stage, just for now.
10 Things to Say When Meeting a Miracle
Dana Kinsey
~for Miraku Uwadiae1. I never knew a woman who skyscrapers a cornfield like you.2. Life plucks Hopeâs feathers, but you sew them back. Never pierce my skin.3. Your âamenâ translates into 500 languages, a Kapok tree teeming with animalsighs, a storm of Nigerian tears, a dog-earred book of psalms.4. I love how you allow dreams to rouse you from bed mornings when each bonewants to sink into sheets.5. You chase laughter down l...Lot: Vacant, Not by Danielle Eleanor Lavalle | One Poem Only
One Poem Only is a daily poetry podcast offering a quiet moment with a single poemâread aloud, without analysis or noise.
Lot: Vacant, Not
Danielle Eleanor Lavalle
Let me pick you a bouquet,cracked-asphalt-flowers â who do not know that they are garbage:Blue violet Chicory, straight, straight, straight,reaching for a Mediterranean sun that isnât hereDaisies at last,in neat clumps â safe from the weedwhackerHawkweed splaying wildly â used to being called âskinny dandelionâMischievous Asters (too early)awaiting autumn to explode between the fences and towers of Goldenrodpetals like fraying thread:deep purple,stained...Then maybe it would mean something by E E Nisbet | One Poem Only
A daily reading from One Poem Onlyâa quiet space for a single poem, read aloud.
Then maybe it would mean something
E E Nisbet
Then maybe it would mean something:If your sorry could un-scream,vacuum spit-sprayed particles,suck up fucks, threats and bullshit,Un-drink, choke it back into the glass,take back your money,If your sorry could drag updregs of saline from blotted paper,Sculpt it back into a tear or twoand roll them backwards up my face,If your sorry could un-scar my skin,build the sharpener back together,Draw to...Melancholy Ink by Dita Indradi | One Poem Only
One Poem Only is a daily poetry podcast offering a quiet moment with a single poemâread aloud, without analysis or noise.
Melancholy Ink
Dita Indradi
Sadness learned my namebefore I learned how to answer.It waitsbehind my teethwhen I say Iâm fine.I used to shakethe moment I knew.Hands too loud.Breath missing.My heart runninglike it heard somethingI couldnât.Heat rushingthrough narrow places,every nerve lit uplooking for an exit.Now, when the same knowing comes,my body does something else.It goes quiet.No shaking.No warning.Just the su...Untamed by Toni Young | One Poem Only
One Poem Only is a daily ritual: one poem, center stage, just for now.
Untamed
Toni Young
My hair is a cascadeof the most unruly waves.Iâve flattened her with a straightener,but she identifies as unbridled.Iâve loaded her with productsto keep her calm,but she prefers to burst througheverything that weighs her down.Iâve since resigned myselfto her defiance.When my friend saidI reminded her of a lionbecause of my wild hair,I laughed.And then I roared.More from Toni Young â
@toniyoungpoems on Instagram@toniyoun...What We Donât Put Away by Nicole Shepherd | One Poem Only
One Poem Only is a daily poetry podcast offering a quiet moment with a single poemâread aloud, without analysis or noise.
