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 Uwadiae

1. I never knew a woman who skyscrapers a cornfield like you.

2. Life plucks Hope’s feathers, but you sew them back. Never pierce my skin.

3. Your “amen” translates into 500 languages, a Kapok tree teeming with animal

sighs, 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 bone

wants to sink into sheets.

5. You chase laughter down long dark hallways, even days with no pay and rent due

soon.

6. A GED agreed that your mind opens wide for knowledge, even dead American

presidents who never spoke your name.

7. The 3-year-old boy clinging to you hears Love whisper in his ear, tell him he’s

smart and strong, bold and funny, kind and gentle, even when he’s tangled in

noise.

8. Isn’t it wild how you traveled 5,499 miles to a new continent to teach me

Christmas lights aren’t strung on fir trees?

9. Your smile in scrubs on CNA pinning day was 8th Wonder-worthy, the

masterpiece I’ve waited my life to see.

10. You are my country; I pledge allegiance to you.

More from Dana Kinsey ↓

• @dana.kinsey on Instagram
• Dana is the founder and director of a project called The Lancaster Living Poetry Museum; 20 performers embody diverse poets throughout our city this May. It's an interactive community initiative. As Lancaster City Poet Laureate, she created the project as a way to edu-tain our city.

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One Poem Only submissions are open.

I’m filling the next chapter of One Poem Only and would love to include your work. Send me the poem you wrote and want the world to hear. New this round: if you’d like to read your own poem on the podcast, you can. No need for a perfect studio recording—just a clear audio file recorded in a quiet space. If you choose this option, you’ll submit your poem and an audio file of you reading it. Submissions close Thursday, July 30. I’ll respond by August 12. Whether I read your poem or you read it yourself, I’d love to hear what you’re ready to share.