"Dear death" by Alexis M Levine

"Dear death" by Alexis M Levine

Author: Maggie Devers November 8, 2025 Duration: 2:55
A poem inspired by Emily Dickinson

Dear death
How can I stay
when you,
more than life,
make me feel
seen?

They call you cruel,
but I have seen
the gentleness in your cruelty—
the mercy in your ending,
the way you unburden bones
and hush the screaming thoughts
no one else could hear.
What if the ones who scream
are not cruel,
but trying to anchor me
to a world they still believe
can bloom?

And I—
have I given everything a chance?
Or have I fallen
so in love with the idea
of not hurting
that I’ve forgotten
what healing might feel like?
Do not rush.
But when you come home,
come softly.
Let me fall
like a candle into darkness,
like a secret
finally heard.
But even now,
as I write your name
with steady hands,
something inside me trembles.
What if I’m wrong?
What if your silence
is not peace,
but absence?
What if the ache I carry
is not a curse,
but a call—
a sign that I was meant
to stay,
to fight,
to feel
just a little more?
What if the ones who scream
are not cruel,
but trying to anchor me
to a world they still believe
can bloom?

And I—
have I given everything a chance?
Or have I fallen
so in love with the idea
of not hurting
that I’ve forgotten
what healing might feel like?
- Alexis M Levine

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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.

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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.
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