One Poem Only

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...

One Poem Only is a daily poetry podcast offering a quiet moment with a single poem—read aloud, without analysis or noise. This Town Macy Williams This town knows many ways of moving. Some rush. Some pause. Some stop and start again. All of them count. I walk these streets with a body that does not follow the expected map. Some days it cooperates. Some days it asks for patience I’m still learning h...

A daily reading from One Poem Only—a quiet space for a single poem, read aloud. Still, something Aditya Gupta I stopped praying long ago. The gods grew tired of my voice, or maybe I just grew tired of asking for things that never came. My wallet’s thin, my dreams thinner a handful of words no one cared to read. Even my parents’ eyes look at me like unfinished work, a draft they wish they could rew...

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 House with My Name Carved Into Its Teeth Tess Ezzy Executive dysfunction is a kind of haunting but not the pretty kind, not the candlelit ghost girl floating through the hallway. No. This thing is a beast with my name carved into its teeth. Every morning I wake to...

One Poem Only is a daily ritual: one poem, center stage, just for now. Museum of Mourning Maria Corcoran This poem was first published in the Raven Review . Ocean of silent, aching desires Drowned before even taking form Guiltless, carried to the pyre Snuffed and swallowed, not yet born O lulling waves of strangled dreams, Why do you refuse to die? Trying even now to be heard, be seen From below t...

One Poem Only is a daily poetry podcast offering a quiet moment with a single poem—read aloud, without analysis or noise. Human Nature Lynn L. My fingertips feel the texture of a rose petal, Silken, yes, but silken with the hush of something already dying. Soft as sin, velvet against the finger, A whisper that resists and surrenders all at once. Cool at first, like a lover’s indifference, Then qui...

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 Every Cell Misses You by Dolon Pramanik Butterflied, oh by Yonsiri Rojas You’ll Hear Music by Chandra Tyler Mountain Patience by Ayesha Khalid Lost Bond by Pinky Faith Okafor Love Song by Dorothy Parker Plus one new one to carry us into the week ahead W...

One Poem Only is a daily ritual: one poem, center stage, just for now. Love Song Dorothy Parker My own dear love, he is strong and bold And he cares not what comes after. His words ring sweet as a chime of gold, And his eyes are lit with laughter. He is jubilant as a flag unfurled— Oh, a girl, she’d not forget him. My own dear love, he is all my world,— And I wish I’d never met him. My love, he’s...

One Poem Only is a daily poetry podcast offering a quiet moment with a single poem—read aloud, without analysis or noise. Lost Bond Pinky Faith Okafor There are stories the world claims to tell, Yet, we do not hear. Stories of girls denied the gift of learning, Who live through nightmares and are not allowed to dream. Of salma–12 who watches her uncle close a business deal behind closed doors Scru...

A daily reading from One Poem Only—a quiet space for a single poem, read aloud. Patience Ayesha Mohal Yes, you need patience, The patience of a steadfast tree, In autumn, it lets its leaves go free. Believing, not hoping alone, In spring, he will have grown. No one sits beneath the tree, Yet soon, they will come to see. Look, the birds are drawing near. Yes! yes! yes! Spring is here. Everyone is h...

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. You’ll Hear Music Chandra Tyler Mountain This poem is included in the 2024-25 Stafford Challenge Anthology . If you listen closely— you’ll hear the music in the quiet humming, pulses and surges of electricity, moving through us with light and energy. If you listen clos...