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

What We Don’t Put Away

Nicole Shepherd

It’s mid-April,

and the Christmas tree is still up.

I’ve stopped turning the lights on.

The crinkled plastic branches

block the window unit I’ll need next month.

When I dragged the box out in November,

the lights warmed the icy air—

made me believe

in peace on earth,

goodwill to men.

But now I’m tired.

The faux limbs droop with evergreen shame.

I can do the dishes

or put it away—

not both.

Typical.

A bowl full of jelly turned shame mascot.

Even the Easter Bunny won’t stop by.

I’m tired of marking time

by what I haven’t done.

I want to carry the tree to storage,

a singular pallbearer,

before I need one.

Let me mark time by what I manage—

even if it’s small.

Even if it’s late.

Even if it’s just this.

More from Nicole Shepherd ↓

• @tenderpunkconfessional on Instagram

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Poetry slows us down. Thank you for listening.

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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.

#WriteAfterOPO