About this episode
One Poem Only is a daily poetry podcast offering a quiet moment with a single poem—read aloud, without analysis or noise.
Reduced
Rosalind Davies
Easy winter option, ideal for layering over your favourite outfits,
regular fit, timeless crew neckline.
The glory of a full-price item
Chosen in the hot bloom of the season
My size, my length.
I take time to choose, plan ahead, create,
Build a look, an image, or someone else’s,
The one I want to lay on me,
The one that speaks loud what I want it to say.
A gift card redeems me and I walk, like a cat, away.
Long sleeves feature subtle fluting at the cuffs for a stylish finish,
a staple for your occasion wardrobe.
Not every occasion has a desirable, describable outfit.
January watches and waits to launch and throw
Its missile attacks on a cratered high street
And I remember the decorum of the time before.
Arms reach and grab.
The crunch of hangers underfoot.
A cruel mixture of trousers and skirts, fighting colours, jumble sale,
Disordered sizes, lying labels, sale stickers skewering helpless synthetics.
I feel the loss.
Rubbing between finger and thumb the fading image of careless success,
I mourn the season of choice and purchase, the easy accumulation,
the beautiful utility of seamless day-to-night.
Boutique has become bric-a-brac.
I battle, eyes sharp for rivals, at the end of line.
Cropped length with belt to cinch you in
sharp, refined silhouette, a contemporary tailored cut.
More from Rosalind Davies ↓
- @rosssie.d on Instagram
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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.
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One Poem Only — Reduced by Rosalind Davies | One Poem Only. Machine-transcribed; use the interactive transcript above to jump the player to any line.
One poem only, like a one night only performance, but in verse. Here we go. April is National Poetry Month. Listen to a poem, then write one. I'm calling it right after. Share yours with hashtag right after opio. I'll read selected poems in June. Today's poem is by Roslyn Davies. Reduced. Easy winter option. Ideal for layering over your favorite outfits. Regular fit. Timeless crew neckline. The glory of a full price item chosen in the hot bloom of the season. My size, my length. I take time to choose, plan ahead, create. Build a look, an image, or someone else's. The one I want to lay on me. The one that speaks loud what I want it to say. A gift card redeems me and I walk. Like a cat.
Away. Long sleeves feature subtle fluting at the cuffs for a stylish finish. A staple for your occasion wardrobe. Not every occasion has a desirable, describable outfit. January watches and waits to launch and throw its missile attacks on a cratered high street. And I remember the decorum of the time before. Arms reach and grab. The crunch of hangars underfoot. A cruel mixture of trousers and skirts. Fighting colors. Jumble sale. Disordered sizes. Lying labels. Sale stickers skewering helpless synthetics. I feel the loss. Rubbing between finger and thumb. The fading image of careless success. I mourn the season of choice and purchase. The easy accumulation. The beautiful utility of seamless day to night. Boutique has become brick a brick.
I battle. I sharp for rivals. At the end of the line. Crouched length with belt to cinch you in. Sharp, refined silhouette. A contemporary tailored cut. By Roslyn Davies. You can find her on Instagram. At Rossi D. Thank you for listening poetry lover. The curtain rises tomorrow. Subscribe so you don't miss it.
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