One Poem Only

One Poem Only is a daily ritual: one poem, center stage, just for now. Swan Dive by Maia von Maltzahn Maia von Maltzahn It’s the kind of hot afternoon in August where the sun cracks your mouth open so you can take a big gulp of life Chin tucked wind-up lanky-limbs bare browned shoulders hum in the heat running warm wooden dock beneath your feet, step one, two, and Leap… gravity greets you like a p...

One Poem Only is a daily poetry podcast offering a quiet moment with a single poem—read aloud, without analysis or noise. Operating Instructions for the Day After Your Best Friend Tells You He Supports Genocide Jané Dowd Upon waking: breathe deep. Savour the shimmer of momentary freedom, lack of memory and regret. Surround yourself with three dogs: sentinels; triumvirate. Check the curtain crack f...

One Poem More gathers all of this week’s poems from One Poem Only—an unhurried chance to listen again, or catch what you missed. This week’s poems no place like home by Abhilasha Ghosh The mind unmasked by Aliyah Morayo borderline by Luna Ferguson Inedible by Sera adulthood by Carlee Wilson To My Daughter Elizabeth by Mary Ann H. T. Bigelow Plus one new one to carry us into the week ahead The Call...

One Poem Only is a daily ritual: one poem, center stage, just for now. To My Daughter Elizabeth Mary Ann H. T. Bigelow Two flowers upon one parent stem Together bloomed for many days. At length a storm arose, and one Was blighted, and cut down at noon. The other hath transplanted been, And flowers fair as herself hath borne; She too has felt the withering storm, Her strength's decayed, wasted her...

One Poem Only is a daily poetry podcast offering a quiet moment with a single poem—read aloud, without analysis or noise. adulthood Carlee Wilson gone are the days where my ceiling twinkled with plastic magic and the only house i worried about was barbie’s. it didn’t matter if ken came home or not, didn’t matter if stacie’s car had a flat or if joe’s deployment was extended. boy, i’d kill for a mu...

A daily reading from One Poem Only—a quiet space for a single poem, read aloud. Inedible Sera I wish I could cover my body in spikes, become unappetizing, indigestible. I poke holes into my image, pour lighter fluid over it, flicking the flame on and burning away the outline you memorized, char the version of me you still think of. I wish I could transform, shapeshift into something you hate. I ch...

Wednesdays on One Poem Only are a double feature: one poem here on the podcast, and one more by the same poet shared on Instagram. borderline Luna Ferguson borderline between what may i ask? floating whilst the clock ticks by tears on the night of your life pain in pleasure pleasure in pain doors closed the slams still echo in your brain in-prisoned by your own name dust scatters over where you la...

One Poem Only is a daily ritual: one poem, center stage, just for now. The mind unmasked Aliyah Morayo My mind carries centuries. The rust of chains sits where dreams should bloom. It remembers the songs my ancestors could not finish, the languages drowned beneath the ocean, The prayers that reached heaven but never came back whole. I carry the scent of burning villages, the hush of mothers hiding...

One Poem Only is a daily poetry podcast offering a quiet moment with a single poem—read aloud, without analysis or noise. no place like home Abhilasha Ghosh coming back feels different— as if the walls have softened while you were gone, as if the light has rehearsed the exact way it will fall on your face when you step inside. you notice small things first: the old curtain breathing in the breeze,...

One Poem More gathers all of this week’s poems from One Poem Only—an unhurried chance to listen again, or catch what you missed. This week’s poems Presence of Choice by Alecia Lewis Harmony by Seán Tate Memory weighs more than bone and Hash browns by Charlotte Dawn Tangerines and Alcoholism by Labanya Dey I Am Mother by Melissa Norton Comrades by Ella Wheeler Wilcox Plus one new one to carry us in...

One Poem Only is a daily ritual: one poem, center stage, just for now. Comrades Ella Wheeler Wilcox I and my Soul are alone to-day, All in the shining weather; We were sick of the world, and put it away, So we could rejoice together. Our host, the Sun, in the blue, blue sky Is mixing a rare, sweet wine, In the burnished gold of this cup on high, For me, and this Soul of mine. We find it a safe and...

One Poem Only is a daily poetry podcast offering a quiet moment with a single poem—read aloud, without analysis or noise. I Am Mother Melissa Norton I am Mother, stepping barefoot on the snake. Absorbing her power as her body wraps tight around my leg. I, with quick, sharp force sever the head full of venom As my mother has done with the point of a shovel As I have done with a horrified hatchet My...

A daily reading from One Poem Only—a quiet space for a single poem, read aloud. Tangerines and Alcoholism Labanya Dey My mother peels tangerines Carefully scaling the orange flesh Until her nails dig into the sour crevices Of the orange ball The juices drip between her nails and fingertips As she puts them on a plate On a bright afternoon As she waits for them to be savoured Appreciated with the d...

Wednesdays on One Poem Only are a double feature: one poem here on the podcast, and one more by the same poet shared on Instagram. Memory weighs more than bone Charlotte Dawn You can’t see the ghosts until you’re almost one— until your breath learns how to hesitate, until mirrors stop recognising you without thinking. They gather in the quiet margins: hospital hallways at 3 a.m., old songs that br...

One Poem Only is a daily ritual: one poem, center stage, just for now. Harmony Seán Tate Harmony, intermingled with melody, falls lightly from the heavens to coat the parched earth. Rough flakes made smooth by a rich flowing sequence. And the rhythm; listen as the rhythm courses down through cracks to slumbering seeds. Listen to that steady beat: tap, tap, tap. Seeds aroused from peaceful repose,...

One Poem Only is a daily poetry podcast offering a quiet moment with a single poem—read aloud, without analysis or noise. Presence of Choice Alecia Lewis I hold no one. They can come or go. Freely. Unbound. They may disconnect Online or in person. People may condemn me. I remain unshaken. Judgment falls. I do not carry it. If exiting brings peace, I let them go. With love. With grace. I hold only...

One Poem More gathers all of this week’s poems from One Poem Only—an unhurried chance to listen again, or catch what you missed. This week’s poems Same Fire by Diana Johar Resist by Francesca Acquaviva The -ness of things by Sanjeevani Women in Me by Ayushi Last Year by Samah Ayesha To Imagination by Emily Brontë Plus one new one to carry us into the week ahead Prattle On Maggie Devers A bird in a...

One Poem Only is a daily ritual: one poem, center stage, just for now. To Imagination Emily Brontë When weary with the long day's care, And earthly change from pain to pain, And lost, and ready to despair, Thy kind voice calls me back again: Oh, my true friend! I am not lone, While then canst speak with such a tone! So hopeless is the world without; The world within I doubly prize; Thy world, wher...

One Poem Only is a daily poetry podcast offering a quiet moment with a single poem—read aloud, without analysis or noise. Last Year Samah Ayesha i spent the better half of last year staring at the ceiling, watching it bend more crooked the longer i looked. but it wasn't just the ceiling it was the walls, the floor, maybe my footing, maybe my mind from being indoors too long. each time i completed...

A daily reading from One Poem Only—a quiet space for a single poem, read aloud. Women in Me Ayushi I think I gather dreams like picking up stones near an abandoned highway where the road leads nowhere, where the wind pants like a tiger breathing and the woman in me returns to look for the girl she had lost years ago perhaps the salt in me will return to the sea and the light in me will break open...

Wednesdays on One Poem Only are a double feature: one poem here on the podcast, and one more by the same poet shared on Instagram. The -ness of things Sanjeevani Sadness incurable. Hopelessness , hold on— brink of collapse— unstable ecosystems, volatile geopolitics, anthropological coldness. Kindness — let the spider live. Closeness — us two, are we corrupt too? A likeness — before the doom, a tho...

One Poem Only is a daily ritual: one poem, center stage, just for now. Resist Francesca Acquaviva A burning wick of resistance in two seas of indifference bitter coffee with the sweetness of the vehemence with which the wind whispers I resist to desire in more than one head to become clovers to sew together the pages the speakers the soft notes tables pushed together close while on the napkins one...

One Poem Only is a daily poetry podcast offering a quiet moment with a single poem—read aloud, without analysis or noise. Same Fire Diana Johar When things were beautiful, you stood in my corner— calling me strong, brave, everything you admired. But beauty dims. And now you say I’ve got out of hand , call me crazy, as if this same fire wasn’t the reason you loved me once. So go— find another love,...

One Poem More gathers all of this week’s poems from One Poem Only—an unhurried chance to listen again, or catch what you missed. This week’s poems Human Nature by Lynn L. Museum of Mourning by Maria Corcoran The House with My Name Carved Into Its Teeth by Tess Ezzy Still, something by Aditya Gupta This Town by Macy Williams Central Park At Dusk by Sara Teasdale Plus one new one to carry us into th...

One Poem Only is a daily ritual: one poem, center stage, just for now. Central Park At Dusk Sara Teasdale Buildings above the leafless trees Loom high as castles in a dream, While one by one the lamps come out To thread the twilight with a gleam. There is no sign of leaf or bud, A hush is over everything. Silent as women wait for love, The world is waiting for the spring. Support + Stay Connected...