One Poem Only is a daily ritual: one poem, center stage, just for now.

Resist

Francesca Acquaviva

A burning wick

of resistance

in two seas

of indifference

bitter coffee

with the sweetness

of the vehemence

with which the wind

whispers

I resist

to desire

in more than one head

to become

clovers

to sew together

the pages

the speakers

the soft notes

tables pushed together

close

while on the napkins

one knits

a valid

future

to embroider

to knit

the handfuls

of grains

to be sand

a free beach

we have lit

we want to light

among the ruins

the fingerprints

the encephalogram

the commas still

stained with ink

the typing

the union

the gait

the way of speaking

the way of dressing

sometimes deemed

wrong

the only thing wrong is

the yoke of the dust

of the old—not the ancient—

of those who squeeze

the throat

but we are alive

in the commas, even if

belated

in the necessary periods

in the efforts made

with pairs of

biceps

in the snows

in the mountains of

doing, not just

saying

we are alive

in the life that descends upon us

from above

that rises to us

from below

More from Francesca Acquaviva ↓

1. @a.cquaviv.a on Instagram
2. Her book, La Tela, is an Italian collection of poems, published by PAB Editore

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.

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