Because that is all it is. by Maggie Devers

Because that is all it is. by Maggie Devers

Author: Maggie Devers June 5, 2025 Duration: 2:27

Because that is all it is.

Maggie Devers

I want to know your process
So I can make it with you
The way you sketch until your nails are packed with graphite
And your warm hands smell of wood shavings and masking tape
I could hold them to my nose and die happy

I want to know how you change
So I can be there with you
As you chop off your hair
Let your eyebrows grow wilder and abandon heels for Birks.
Even your feet are now free

Tell me what makes your heart grow
And mine will grow too
How you smell the top of a baby’s head watching the sun dip over the ocean.
There’s a margarita with salt in your hand
And the lime stings at your cuticle, but it’s a good hurt.

Show me the hidden parts of you
So I can see all of you
The way you shield yourself from criticism
Even your own. How you fight for everyone
But yourself. How you believe these parts are more hidden than they are.

Know I am here for the process.

More from Maggie Devers ↓


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


Each day, One Poem Only offers a brief, deliberate pause. Hosted by Maggie Devers, this podcast is built on a simple, consistent premise: a single poem, read aloud, without analysis or introduction. It’s an audio space where the words themselves are the event, a performance meant to be absorbed in the few minutes it takes to hear it. The daily rhythm of the show creates a quiet ritual, a point of reflection woven into a busy life. You might hear a classic sonnet, a piece of modern free verse, or a work from a poet you’ve never encountered. The selection is varied, touching on themes from the natural world to the intricacies of human emotion, always leaving room for your own interpretation. The effect is cumulative; listening regularly becomes a subtle form of education in the sound and scope of poetry, and a small act of self-care. This isn't a lecture or a book club, but a performing art delivered directly to your ears. Maggie’s clear, thoughtful readings provide the only framework needed, allowing each poem to stand entirely on its own. The curtain falls, and the moment passes, but the podcast invites you to return tomorrow when a new piece takes center stage, offering another quiet moment, one poem only.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 355

One Poem Only
Podcast Episodes
Reckoning by Anna Goodman Herrick [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:52
Reckoning Anna Goodman Herrick You have to know you're enough. And you have to remember.Then,you have to forgetand tumble into the soft darkness and let it hold youSometimes, if you're luckyit will whisperto you secrets:…
Morning Song of the Bees by Louisa May Alcott [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:20
Morning Song Of The Bees Louisa May Alcott (1832 – 1888) Awake! awake! for the earliest gleamOf golden sunlight shinesOn the rippling waves, that brightly flowBeneath the flowering vines.Awake! awake! for the low, sweet…
Jawbone, Ribcage by Emily Holman [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:10
Jawbone, Ribcage Emily Holman I Split [The chord of my brain as it connects to] [] [my spine snaps; thoughts gone, gone] Myself Apart, [My spine snaps, a snare trap of my own] [] [melancholy design, hospitalized within]…
Sunday Recap & I’m a protest poet by Maggie Devers [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 8:20
Here’s your recap of this week’s poems plus one new poem to carry us into the week ahead.Jul 14 - Bricklayer by Katrina Kaye @poetkatrinakaye on Instagram, Threads, and BlueSky. Her website: poetkatrinakaye. Her chapbook…
I feel the weight of always needing to be helpful by EdenS [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:44
I feel the weight of always needing to be helpful, but never truly being knownI was told to be obedient, but not to be asked.To echo kindness, but never be touched by it.To offer warmth but from a burned out hearth.Every…
unwritten by Zaïnab El Meziani [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:31
unwritten Zaïnab El Meziani Edited by Nabiha Qureshi my words i speak them and sing all of mei breathe them with suffocating lungsi stand in the middle of nowhere and write themi then break them and hide them under a sa…
Two of Cups by Maggie Devers [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:50
Two of Cups Maggie Devers When I was in grade schoolWe made bookmarks from tarot cardsFor Renaissance DayAnd I’ve forever saluted the parent who made it happenIn a world paranoid of the occult.They were silky new, spread…
i'm going to spoil the ending for you by Katie Cecilia [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:38
i'm going to spoil the ending for you — it works out.the storm you’re in? it passesthe weight you’re carrying gets lighter.the december chill you’re feeling — in a few months, the days get brighter.you’ll laugh again wit…
The Muse by Anna Akhmatova [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:43
The Muse Anna Akhmatova 1889 – 1966 When in the night I await her coming,My life seems stopped. I ask myself: WhatAre tributes, freedom, or youth comparedTo this treasured friend holding a flute?Look, she’s coming! She t…
Bricklayer by Katrina Kaye [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:35
Bricklayer Katrina Kaye This poem was first published in Catching Calliope Vol 2, 2014.I want to be a bricklayer;something concreteas opposed to just impression.I want to learn to draw hands with accuracy.To show precisi…