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

Jun 23 - Hunger, as Salvation by Ariel K. Moniz: @kiss.of.the.seventh.star on Instagram. Her chapbook, Nostos Algos, is published with Ethel, a Micro Press.

Jun 24 - Shadows by Harriet Monroe

Jun 25 - playing god by Michaela Godding: @michaelagodding on Instagram. Her book, the year our grandmothers died, from AOS Publishing will be released February 2026. Her chapbook, Dwelling, is out now from Bottlecap Press.

Jun 26 - Inheritance by Maggie Devers: @rembrandts.cure on Instagram. Her book, For My Daughter, is out now.

Jun 27 - Gender Affirming Care by Nikki Grierson: @poeticallynikki on Instagram.

Jun 28 - fatal dance - a love story between fire and wood by velvetpoetess: @velvetpoetess on Instagram

June 29 -

Whir

Maggie Devers

The flower falls from the tree

And floats in the water

Animated in her demise.

That she’s held on this long,

To the middle of September,

Is remarkable

Then again it’s warm

And these days summer stays

The girl teaches me tricks

Bossy described this type in the olden days–

Back in the eighties when they still spanked kids,

She’s heard the stories.

But I want to protect her from bossy

I think as the hummingbird hovers

Wondering what to do with flowers in the pool

Chirping noisily to protect the nectar still enthroned in the tree

Not bossy, just direct

As more flowers fall

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