ONLY POEMS
@onlypoemsmag.bsky.social
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📖 Read it & weep (or laugh hysterically idk) 👇🏾
➡️ linktr.ee/onlypoemsmag
📩 Submit poems, book reviews & fever dreams
💰We pay (money & attn)
📖 Read it & weep (or laugh hysterically idk) 👇🏾
➡️ linktr.ee/onlypoemsmag
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ONLY POEMS
@onlypoemsmag.bsky.social
· May 30
Octavia Butler wrote this in her journal in 1988.
It wasn’t a wish — it was a plan.
Every line a spell. Almost all of it manifested.
(Writers, read this out loud. Then write your own.) ↓
It wasn’t a wish — it was a plan.
Every line a spell. Almost all of it manifested.
(Writers, read this out loud. Then write your own.) ↓
Each wave destroys the next, even the wavelets. What desire drives them? And are we like this, destroying ourselves? The waves, reflecting and fracturing a desireless sky.
— Sal Randolph, Waves, our POTW 💙
— Sal Randolph, Waves, our POTW 💙
November 10, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Each wave destroys the next, even the wavelets. What desire drives them? And are we like this, destroying ourselves? The waves, reflecting and fracturing a desireless sky.
— Sal Randolph, Waves, our POTW 💙
— Sal Randolph, Waves, our POTW 💙
what are you up to today? *points to the button pinned to my chest*
November 9, 2025 at 6:30 PM
what are you up to today? *points to the button pinned to my chest*
I don't think he's content or happy, I think of him more as an affirmation that even when there is no one left, we have to put in the time, we'll still make art even if there is no one left to applaud us.
— Ramsey Tawfick
— Ramsey Tawfick
November 9, 2025 at 6:01 PM
I don't think he's content or happy, I think of him more as an affirmation that even when there is no one left, we have to put in the time, we'll still make art even if there is no one left to applaud us.
— Ramsey Tawfick
— Ramsey Tawfick
I think both as poets and people we are taught how to perform constantly, to act for a series of invisible audiences and the poem was me imagining the internal apocalypse that would happen if there were no more stages to stand on.
— Ramsey Tawfick
— Ramsey Tawfick
November 9, 2025 at 5:01 PM
I think both as poets and people we are taught how to perform constantly, to act for a series of invisible audiences and the poem was me imagining the internal apocalypse that would happen if there were no more stages to stand on.
— Ramsey Tawfick
— Ramsey Tawfick
But I am starting to believe that I am just one person, made of one self, hitchhiking on different cultural highways and I'm focusing on enjoying the ride.
— Ramsey Tawfick, our POTW interview up now 💙
— Ramsey Tawfick, our POTW interview up now 💙
November 7, 2025 at 7:02 PM
But I am starting to believe that I am just one person, made of one self, hitchhiking on different cultural highways and I'm focusing on enjoying the ride.
— Ramsey Tawfick, our POTW interview up now 💙
— Ramsey Tawfick, our POTW interview up now 💙
the prayer is the earth shifting
continental spiritual drift
one tribe to another
exchanging nothing but movement
the functional traffic of energy
later this becomes known as war
— Ramsey Tawfick, Proto deities (for Francis), our POTW 💙
continental spiritual drift
one tribe to another
exchanging nothing but movement
the functional traffic of energy
later this becomes known as war
— Ramsey Tawfick, Proto deities (for Francis), our POTW 💙
November 7, 2025 at 6:04 PM
the prayer is the earth shifting
continental spiritual drift
one tribe to another
exchanging nothing but movement
the functional traffic of energy
later this becomes known as war
— Ramsey Tawfick, Proto deities (for Francis), our POTW 💙
continental spiritual drift
one tribe to another
exchanging nothing but movement
the functional traffic of energy
later this becomes known as war
— Ramsey Tawfick, Proto deities (for Francis), our POTW 💙
babe are you ok you've hardly opened your notes app today
November 7, 2025 at 4:03 PM
babe are you ok you've hardly opened your notes app today
my father tells me the algorithm has died/that there was a man selling eulogies/brewing syrups/blind/medicine and snake oil for the healing/come forward/he would say/come towards the centre of the digital/commune with me as if were the pastor/kneel
kneel before flopping pixel
— Ramsey Tawfick 💙
kneel before flopping pixel
— Ramsey Tawfick 💙
November 6, 2025 at 8:01 PM
my father tells me the algorithm has died/that there was a man selling eulogies/brewing syrups/blind/medicine and snake oil for the healing/come forward/he would say/come towards the centre of the digital/commune with me as if were the pastor/kneel
kneel before flopping pixel
— Ramsey Tawfick 💙
kneel before flopping pixel
— Ramsey Tawfick 💙
i feel like here is a good place to share some great buttons i've seen recently
November 6, 2025 at 6:02 PM
i feel like here is a good place to share some great buttons i've seen recently
Poetry is not the change directly. Juliana Sphar says poetry accompanies activism, it’s the 'riot dog' at the protest, barking and spurring people on. I view it more as a signifier of change,...
— Ramsey Tawfick, our POTW interview up now 💙
— Ramsey Tawfick, our POTW interview up now 💙
November 6, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Poetry is not the change directly. Juliana Sphar says poetry accompanies activism, it’s the 'riot dog' at the protest, barking and spurring people on. I view it more as a signifier of change,...
— Ramsey Tawfick, our POTW interview up now 💙
— Ramsey Tawfick, our POTW interview up now 💙
just here to say our POTW, Ramsey Tawfick, has an incredible piece up on our site right now with the best title: I too, would have been Leonard Cohen if it were not for the supermarket
had to mention this go check it out now, ok thanks! 💙
had to mention this go check it out now, ok thanks! 💙
November 6, 2025 at 6:01 PM
just here to say our POTW, Ramsey Tawfick, has an incredible piece up on our site right now with the best title: I too, would have been Leonard Cohen if it were not for the supermarket
had to mention this go check it out now, ok thanks! 💙
had to mention this go check it out now, ok thanks! 💙
It's closing time! Last call to submit your s*xy and divine poems for the Leonard Cohen Poetry Prize.
One Winner will be awarded $1000 + publication & nomination for Pushcart, Best Spiritual Literature, Best of the Net, or Best New Poets + lifetime ONLY POEMS membership 💙
All good wishes! ☺️
One Winner will be awarded $1000 + publication & nomination for Pushcart, Best Spiritual Literature, Best of the Net, or Best New Poets + lifetime ONLY POEMS membership 💙
All good wishes! ☺️
November 6, 2025 at 5:40 PM
It's closing time! Last call to submit your s*xy and divine poems for the Leonard Cohen Poetry Prize.
One Winner will be awarded $1000 + publication & nomination for Pushcart, Best Spiritual Literature, Best of the Net, or Best New Poets + lifetime ONLY POEMS membership 💙
All good wishes! ☺️
One Winner will be awarded $1000 + publication & nomination for Pushcart, Best Spiritual Literature, Best of the Net, or Best New Poets + lifetime ONLY POEMS membership 💙
All good wishes! ☺️
You have to love. You have to feel. It is the reason you are here on earth. You are here to risk your heart. You are here to be swallowed up.
— Louise Erdrich, The Painted Drum
— Louise Erdrich, The Painted Drum
November 5, 2025 at 8:01 PM
You have to love. You have to feel. It is the reason you are here on earth. You are here to risk your heart. You are here to be swallowed up.
— Louise Erdrich, The Painted Drum
— Louise Erdrich, The Painted Drum
Poetry is inherently political; there’s not enough money changing hands for it to be anything else.
— Ramsey Tawfick, our POTW interview up now 💙
— Ramsey Tawfick, our POTW interview up now 💙
November 5, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Poetry is inherently political; there’s not enough money changing hands for it to be anything else.
— Ramsey Tawfick, our POTW interview up now 💙
— Ramsey Tawfick, our POTW interview up now 💙
It is inside myself that I must create someone who will understand.
— Clarice Lispector, The Passion According to G.H.
— Clarice Lispector, The Passion According to G.H.
November 5, 2025 at 6:01 PM
It is inside myself that I must create someone who will understand.
— Clarice Lispector, The Passion According to G.H.
— Clarice Lispector, The Passion According to G.H.
Let money be made on the body of the Lord,
Let her body be used and discarded
Let slaughter be more than cattle and sheep
Let slaughter be the name of this temple.
— Ramsey Tawfick, "Jesus for the shareholders", our POTW 💙
Let her body be used and discarded
Let slaughter be more than cattle and sheep
Let slaughter be the name of this temple.
— Ramsey Tawfick, "Jesus for the shareholders", our POTW 💙
November 5, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Let money be made on the body of the Lord,
Let her body be used and discarded
Let slaughter be more than cattle and sheep
Let slaughter be the name of this temple.
— Ramsey Tawfick, "Jesus for the shareholders", our POTW 💙
Let her body be used and discarded
Let slaughter be more than cattle and sheep
Let slaughter be the name of this temple.
— Ramsey Tawfick, "Jesus for the shareholders", our POTW 💙
Let him go. Have the guts.
— Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath; April 1956
— Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath; April 1956
November 4, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Let him go. Have the guts.
— Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath; April 1956
— Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath; April 1956
"...you are not my cure, nobody has that power..."
— Margaret Atwood, Is/Not
— Margaret Atwood, Is/Not
November 4, 2025 at 6:03 PM
"...you are not my cure, nobody has that power..."
— Margaret Atwood, Is/Not
— Margaret Atwood, Is/Not
I wrote this letter to you to curb my consumption. To stop my fingers growing fatter. Love in the time of quantities, I begin to eat my pen.
— Ramsey Tawfick, "I too, would have been Leonard Cohen if it were not for the supermarket", VI. 💙
— Ramsey Tawfick, "I too, would have been Leonard Cohen if it were not for the supermarket", VI. 💙
November 4, 2025 at 6:01 PM
I wrote this letter to you to curb my consumption. To stop my fingers growing fatter. Love in the time of quantities, I begin to eat my pen.
— Ramsey Tawfick, "I too, would have been Leonard Cohen if it were not for the supermarket", VI. 💙
— Ramsey Tawfick, "I too, would have been Leonard Cohen if it were not for the supermarket", VI. 💙
— so I am less concerned with attacking or continuing the sacred voice and just want to try my best to locate it in the world around me.
— Ramsey Tawfick, our OP POTW interview up NOW 💙
— Ramsey Tawfick, our OP POTW interview up NOW 💙
November 3, 2025 at 10:48 PM
— so I am less concerned with attacking or continuing the sacred voice and just want to try my best to locate it in the world around me.
— Ramsey Tawfick, our OP POTW interview up NOW 💙
— Ramsey Tawfick, our OP POTW interview up NOW 💙
I think poetry has the ability to reach the divine, what you do from there matters less than the journey, I think in a lot of ways I am substituting prayer with writing —
— Ramsey Tawfick, our POTW 💙
— Ramsey Tawfick, our POTW 💙
November 3, 2025 at 10:47 PM
I think poetry has the ability to reach the divine, what you do from there matters less than the journey, I think in a lot of ways I am substituting prayer with writing —
— Ramsey Tawfick, our POTW 💙
— Ramsey Tawfick, our POTW 💙
If you had really loved something, wouldn't a little bit of it always linger?
— Susan Orlean
— Susan Orlean
November 3, 2025 at 8:00 PM
If you had really loved something, wouldn't a little bit of it always linger?
— Susan Orlean
— Susan Orlean
poetry prompt of the week: do you worship something mortal? if so, what will you do when it decays? will it live on in some way or will it rest in the ground? tell me about it.
November 3, 2025 at 6:03 PM
poetry prompt of the week: do you worship something mortal? if so, what will you do when it decays? will it live on in some way or will it rest in the ground? tell me about it.
There are teeth marks on everything he loves.
— Yusef Komunyakaa, The Thorn Merchant
— Yusef Komunyakaa, The Thorn Merchant
November 2, 2025 at 9:00 PM
There are teeth marks on everything he loves.
— Yusef Komunyakaa, The Thorn Merchant
— Yusef Komunyakaa, The Thorn Merchant
You are the altar cup and from this / I do fill my mouth...Martyr, my religion is love, is you.
— Anne Sexton, Sweeney
— Anne Sexton, Sweeney
November 2, 2025 at 6:00 PM
You are the altar cup and from this / I do fill my mouth...Martyr, my religion is love, is you.
— Anne Sexton, Sweeney
— Anne Sexton, Sweeney