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

Dear Personal Care Department God

Chris Kads

After Lancee Whetman

God of the Personal Care Department,

please grant me musk. Grant me

the strength of “Steel Courage” -

buffness in a bottle. Let my

body be a vessel of “dragon’s breath”

and “warrior’s blood”. Allow me,

like men, to be baptized

in wet swagger, to have my

preconceived softness

wash away with the scent

of toughness.

Bless me,

with blindness in the face

of razors. Grant me

the normalization

of forest-y armpits

to pair with the scent of

“Sasquatch Foot”.

And, please, oh holy

Personal Care Department God,

revoke your commandments

and let the avoidance of “Secret”

and smoothness

not be a sin.

Amen.

More from Chris Kads ↓

1. @chris_kads on Instagram

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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