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

Cradle

Meagan Sexton

I feel storm-woven into exhale,

loud rage of drum

preludes river current tears.

Lightening unlids origami eyes—

folded corners open

as wings of swan

take flight to the light.

Repression dissipates with release—

we speak in tongue of stardust,

tender bouts of longing lift by sigh.

Fingertips brush skin

in feathered silence;

this sheen of want

cocoons stability.

I rain

in contemporary know,

a rumble of reached echo

held like the breath of reason;

a cradle of taut vision.

More from Meagan Sexton ↓

• @soul.spills10 on Instagram
• @meaganswrites on Substack
• Her books, Riptides and Rapture and A Sliding Light, are available now

Support + Stay Connected to OPO

If you’d like to support the show, Substack and Patreon members receive a copy of my book, For My Daughter, along with episodes from the audiobook.

Poetry slows us down. Thank you for listening.

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Write After 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. If you want to join: Listen to a poem from the month of April on One Poem Only, then write your own in response. I will pick one for each day to read in June for a special series: One Poem After 🍎🍏 Submissions close May 15.

Write After Submissions Form