A Letter to the Poets

To the poets, translators, and estates whose words have found their way to these pages —

This is a small podcast, run anonymously, by someone who loves poetry too much to keep quiet about it.

There is no name attached to this project. No brand being built, no audience being monetised, no books being sold. Just a voice, a microphone, and a genuine belief that certain poems deserve to be heard by more people — read slowly, with care, and with something of their own history and meaning restored to them.

When we choose a poem for Soothing Stanzas, we choose it because it moved us. We read it aloud, we sit with it, we try to say something true about why it matters. We credit the poet, the translator, and the source — always. We hope, in some small way, that someone hears a poem here and goes looking for the book it came from.

We are aware that copyright is complex, that it varies across countries and contexts, and that good intentions do not automatically equal good practice. We do not reproduce full collections. We do not profit from any of this. We operate in good faith, as non-commercial lovers of poetry, in the belief that this kind of careful, credited, contextualised sharing is closer to the spirit of what poetry is for than it is to any harm.

But we also know that the work belongs to you — or to those who hold it in trust for you.

If you would prefer your poem not appear here, we will remove it. No argument, no delay. Simply reach out through our contact page and consider it done.

And if, on the other hand, you are glad the work found its way here — we are glad too.

With respect and gratitude,

Soothing Stanzas