Here’s your recap of this week’s poems plus one new poem to carry us into the week ahead.

Jan 12 - Happiness by Navya Chaudhary @chaoticconfessor on Instagram. Her book, Unfinished Letters, is out now.

Jan 13 - I Promise by Riley Hope McPheters @rileyhmcpheters on Instagram. She is a member of @PoetzPortalFW, that exists to awaken consciousness and cultivate liberated creative practice through the transformative power of poetry, sound, and communal dialogue.

Jan 14 - Aloof by Luwa @luwawrites on Instagram. You can listen and watch me read Beauty Allures by Luwa on Instagram @rembrandts.cure.

Jan 15 - Rooted by Shaq Mendes @shackahh_wackahh on Instagram.

Jan 16 - The Season of Returning by Lara @itslarawrites on Instagram.

Jan 17 - The Anatomy of Dawn by Saleha Najeeb @gotta_slayyyy on Instagram. Her book, Whispers Unveiled, is available now.

Jan 18

One More Step

Maggie Devers

I’m worried you might be missing it

I’m worried you might be living through it all and not really living it

I’m worried you can’t smell it

I’m worried you don’t pull it close and smother yourself

Will you remember how she always smelled of milk?

And the way her cry would squeak early in the morning?

Or how she first said daddy

And then her own name

How she needed us for everything and then one day

Didn’t.

I thought I’d be better prepared,

That we could mark it on the calendar and celebrate

But it snuck up on me—

She learned to dress herself,

Feed herself,

Pick up after herself

And I forgot what I was here to teach her

And started learning what I was here to teach myself

We hold on to the parts that we think come first

But the order doesn’t go how we imagine

Time is tricky—

The hand that pulls you forward isn’t always your own.

More from Maggie Devers ↓

1. My debut poetry collection, For My Daughter, available as an audiobook.
2. Purchase a signed copy of For My Daughter or get one free by subscribing to the podcast: One Poem Only on Patreon
3. Follow me on Instagram for more poetry @rembrandts.cure

Mentioned in this episode:

Write After: National Poetry Month with One Poem Only

Write After is a way to encourage poets to listen and write, and use National Poetry Month to highlight how listening to poetry makes us better poets. I know I write the best when I’m surrounded by beautiful poetry–it’s part of the reason I created this podcast, and I want to encourage others to share this practice. We'll get started in April. You can share to #WriteAfterOPO.

#WriteAfterOPO