One Poem Only

“God, you can keep the boys” by Peyton Michelle Bryant | One Poem Only

04 Apr 2026

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One Poem Only is a daily ritual: one poem, center stage, just for now.“God, you can keep the boys” Peyton Michelle BryantGod, you can keep the boys who only write sad poetryand listen to The Smiths on repeat. God, my man is a warrior.Lord knows I’ve got enough words to feed the both of us when times get tough.My man writes poems with his hands.My man is not afraidto bloody his knuckles for me. My man is a lion, Lord.He is a stallion running down his own mission.Our paths meet in the middle where we play but neither one pulls the other off course.He knows I belong to this wild worlddoesn’t try to rope me in or brand me with his name.He knows I am not something to be owned.Instead, he builds me a boatwith the biggest sail you’ve ever seenand paints my name on the side of her.He builds me a set of wings that carries me farther than Icarus could ever go.He builds me a writing cabinand doesn’t get offended when I’m taken by the desireto be alone for daysin my cocoon of creation.His hands are shields-his palms big enough to hold the entirety of the Milky Wayand each one has memorized the blue/brown/green/red planet of my body.His fingertips brush the column of my throat and he calls the rain down. Gardens grow in the marrow of meand not oncedoes he try to pluck them from the soil.My man has arms and legs like the trunksof the six-hundred-year-old Sycamore.I want to nest in the branches of him.I chart the map of his bodylike a world-eager traveler-trace the veins like blue-green riversalong the shores of his forearmslick the salt ocean sweatgathered in his jugular notchclimb him like a wolf in heat and stillI am hungry for the meat of him.My man calls me Brilliant calls me Dragon Firecalls me Wolf Witch,Poetess,Great Moon of His Heart.My man calls me Thank God.He calls me At Last.God, my man is an inferno.I need him to be sturdy enoughto withstand the heat.He is my burning crimson star;I reach for the ten-million-degree Fahrenheit center of himwithout flinching.God, I know you’ve put us together before;our lifetimes are an ancient songmy cells still remember.I remember how we smelledof campfire smoke and sweat-our feet pounding a beat into the Earth.I remember his face cast in firelight-the two of us skin on skin,a tangled pile of limbs blanketed by furs.I remember my nails tracing red lines down the planes of himmy hair held like a bird tender in his fist.I remember his mouth marking each rung of my spine,his calloused hands like rocky planets orbiting the moon of me.I remember I fell from my horse-he took an arrow to the heart and new bodies and livesmade up a river of time between us.I am a queen lost to his kingdom, Lord.Send the cavalry! The lines have been blurredbetween dragon womanand tower and I can no longer remember which one I’m supposed to be.God, I want you to give him back.I want to lay him downin the feather bed of my heart once again.I want to take his hand catch a ride to some faraway red planetwhere reincarnation is just myth-where this life is the only one that matters. God, call him back to me with bone and bloodwith fire and howl-stitch soul to body once more. I will rearrange the cosmos myself if need be. And this time, when stars align and we find each other again,I will not fall from my horse.No.This timewe’ll ride side by sideall the way back home.More from Peyton Michelle Bryant ↓@mama.laloba on InstagramHer newest poetry book Wolf Witch of the Wild and her debut, Feral Mother, Sovereign Woman, are out now.Support + Stay Connected to OPOIf 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 shows us what we need. Thank you for being part of the experience.Mentioned in this episode:Write After: National Poetry Month with One Poem OnlyWrite 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.#WriteAfterOPOWrite After: National Poetry Month with One Poem OnlyWrite 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

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13:00H | 21 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

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2ª PARTE | 06 ENE 2026 | EL PARTIDAZO DE COPE

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3ª PARTE | 22 ENE 2026 | EL PARTIDAZO DE COPE

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3ª PARTE | 04 MAR 2026 | EL PARTIDAZO DE COPE

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El Partidazo de COPE

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One Poem Only

“God, you can keep the boys” by Peyton Michelle Bryant | One Poem Only

This episode hasn't been transcribed yet

Other recent transcribed episodes

13:00H | 21 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

10:00H | 21 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

12:00H | 20 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

2ª PARTE | 06 ENE 2026 | EL PARTIDAZO DE COPE

3ª PARTE | 22 ENE 2026 | EL PARTIDAZO DE COPE

3ª PARTE | 04 MAR 2026 | EL PARTIDAZO DE COPE

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