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

This Town

Macy Williams

This town knows many ways of moving.

Some rush.

Some pause.

Some stop and start again.

All of them count.

I walk these streets with a body

that does not follow the expected map.

Some days it cooperates.

Some days it asks for patience

I’m still learning how to give.

Disability lives quietly here.

In waiting.

In adapting.

In choosing rest without permission.

In knowing limits without shame.

There are doors that open easily

and others that don’t notice you at all.

There are systems built for speed,

and people built for survival instead.

I have learned that strength

is rarely loud.

It looks like showing up anyway.

It looks like leaving early.

It looks like staying home and choosing

to keep going tomorrow.

This place holds all of it

the visible, the hidden, the misunderstood.

Bodies that ache.

Minds that work differently.

Lives that don’t fit tidy explanations.

I am not here to overcome anything.

I am here to exist.

To take space.

To move at the pace my body allows,

without needing to justify it.

And this town

with its noise and quiet corners,

its imperfections and familiar streets

keeps making room for people like me.

Not because we are exceptional.

But because we are part of it.

More from Macy Williams ↓

1. @macywilliams05 on Instagram

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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.

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