First Draft by Jo Wright | One Poem Only

First Draft by Jo Wright | One Poem Only

Author: Maggie Devers March 30, 2026 Duration: 1:56

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

First Draft

Jo Wright

I don’t want AI.
I want bees and seas
Deep evergreen forests
Great honeycombs
Icecaps.
Just, knowledgeable lovers
Men needing others
People questioning rhetoric
Speaking truth
Understanding Vaccinations
A world where we exclude no one
Years where there is still ozone.
I want words to matter
And when I draft my patter
I don’t want my phone to ask
‘Can I rewrite that for you?’
I want credit where credit’s bloody due
And throwing that swear word in
Stops Google taking the line from you.
I want water poured into humanity
Until everyone’s cup is full
Until this thief clad in microchips
Burns itself out.
I want precisely zero of your excuses
Wailing viciously under this sky
Retreat quietly please
Out to no man’s land
Keeping jealous ignorance of
How generosity feeds
Everyone’s delicate creativity
Better without AI.
I don’t want it.
I want to reclaim the land.

More from Jo Wright ↓

  1. @joslipstick on Instagram

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Poetry slows us down. Thank you for listening.

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
No one needs to invent time travel by Christiana Doucette [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:41
First published in The Thieving Magpie No one needs to invent time travelIt’s already here. We’re already traveling.The slam of a door layers then with now.Raised voices split screen brainssend us back to prisms of pain.…
Sonnet: To the Poppy by Anna Seward [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:04
Sonnet: To the Poppy Anna Seward 1742 – 1809 While summer roses all their glory yield To crown the votary of love and joy, Misfortune’s victim hails, with many a sigh, Thee, scarlet Poppy of the pathless field,Gaudy, yet…
Someone, open me up by Lindsey [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:24
Someone, open me up.Fillet me, from my shoulder blades, kneed out the knots I’ve collected throughout the years.Flip me over and crack open my ribcage, lungs deflated, heart popping out at you like a jack-in-the-box.Pour…
Sunday Recap & Whir by Maggie Devers [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 8:53
Here’s your recap of this week’s poems plus one new poem to carry us into the week ahead.Jun 23 - Hunger, as Salvation by Ariel K. Moniz: @kiss.of.the.seventh.star on Instagram. Her chapbook, Nostos Algos, is published w…
fatal dance - a love story between fire and wood by Velvet Poetess [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:53
fatal dance - a love story between fire and wood Velvet Poetess there is this certain hungera hunger that cannot be satisfied byanother but youI reach out my handdon’t let it be in vainfor we both know how this shall end…
Gender Affirming Care by Nikki Grierson [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:03
Gender Affirming Care Nikki Grierson When I was a girl Little flurries of hair Began to sprout Here and there At first I didn’t notice But then something made me care What if other people see, Will they point and stare?…
Inheritance by Maggie Devers [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:55
Inheritance Maggie Devers She tells me she likes the new sideWhere they eat pomegranates all dayAnd her lifeSounds like an ancient poemChanted down the agesTo her at six.I wonder if the myths are always in usAnd we ache…
playing god by Michaela Godding [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:18
playing god Michaela Godding (The average person forgets ninety percent of their dreams. I have started keeping tallies on a notepad next to my bed to keep track of all the forgetting. I wonder if endings are all we can…
Shadows by Harriet Monroe [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:55
Shadows Harriet Monroe 1860 – 1936 What is most near? Ah, sweet dead year- Thy fallen leaf And gathered sheaf,The presence that is fled,The vows that once were said- These are most near. Swift speeds away Rose-crowned To…
Hunger, as Salvation by Ariel K. Moniz [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:11
Hunger, as Salvation Ariel K. Moniz This moment, sun speckled and innocent—I speak of prophecies, i plant seedsof affection in your perfect, peachy ears,and it means that I am thinking of tomorrow.I await their blooming…