Matthew Buckley Smith first appeared in episode 226. He won the 2025 Rattle Chapbook Prize for The Soft Black Stars. He's the author of Midlife (Measure, 2024) and Dirge for an Imaginary World (Able Muse, 2012). His poems have been featured in American Life in Poetry, Best American Poetry, and Poetry Daily. He hosts the poetry podcast SLEERICKETS.

Find more here:

https://www.matthewbuckleysmith.com/

As always, we'll also include the live Prompt Lines for responses to our weekly prompt. Submit your poems through Submittable by midnight Sunday for a chance to be invited:

https://rattle.submittable.com/submit/269309/rattlecast-prompt-poems-online

For links to all the past episodes, visit:

https://www.rattle.com/page/rattlecast/

This Week’s Prompt:

Write a villanelle that features something you see every day–and you’re the only person in the world that does.

Next Week’s Prompt:

Pick a decision that shaped the trajectory of your life and imagine if you’d calculated a different choice. Include at least one scent.

The Rattlecast livestreams on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, then becomes an audio podcast. Find it on iTunes, Spotify, or anywhere else you get your podcasts.