One Poem Only is a daily poetry podcast offering a quiet moment with a single poem—read aloud, without analysis or noise.

First Draft

Jo Wright

I don’t want AI.

I want bees and seas

Deep evergreen forests

Great honeycombs

Icecaps.

Just, knowledgeable lovers

Men needing others

People questioning rhetoric

Speaking truth

Understanding Vaccinations

A world where we exclude no one

Years where there is still ozone.

I want words to matter

And when I draft my patter

I don’t want my phone to ask

‘Can I rewrite that for you?’

I want credit where credit’s bloody due

And throwing that swear word in

Stops Google taking the line from you.

I want water poured into humanity

Until everyone’s cup is full

Until this thief clad in microchips

Burns itself out.

I want precisely zero of your excuses

Wailing viciously under this sky

Retreat quietly please

Out to no man’s land

Keeping jealous ignorance of

How generosity feeds

Everyone’s delicate creativity

Better without AI.

I don’t want it.

I want to reclaim the land.

More from Jo Wright ↓

1. @joslipstick on Instagram

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Poetry slows us down. Thank you for listening.

Mentioned in this episode:

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.