Operating Instructions for the Day After Your Best Friend Tells You He Supports Genocide by Jané Dowd | One Poem Only

One Poem Only is a daily poetry podcast offering a quiet moment with a single poem—read aloud, without analysis or noise. Operating Instructions for the Day After Your Best Friend Tells You He Supports GenocideJané DowdUpon waking: breathe deep.Savour the shimmer of momentary freedom,lack of memory and regret.Surround yourself with three dogs:sentinels; triumvirate.Check the curtain crack for signs of dawn.When the child stirs, relish her aliveness.As the small ghosts arise in protest,cup their faces in your bloody hands,whisper the useless lament:I am sorry. -And again:I am sorrow.When the cat crawls under your crook’d claw:picture the desert landscapedevoid of trees, of innocence, of hope, of caress.As you pour the milk, squeeze the honey:hold your heart on an open palmleave it be; watch how it stuttersshivers and stallslook at its redness which is simplefragile humanthe same;fill it with your grit, ask that sinewy engineto oyster, to pearlto return to the cave of your chestalive, yes, but beatingdifferently, more soundly andmore trueMore from Jané Dowd ↓@jane_doe.8.0 on Instagram@janedoe9 on SubstackSupport + 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 slows us down. Thank you for listening.