When the Poems Do What They Do is the debut studio album by American poet Aja Monet, released by drink sum wtr on June 9, 2023.

In Exclaim!, Tom Beedham called this album "a roadmap to somewhere greater" and states that the work has "emotional import [and] mechanical industry".

[1] Marcus J. Moore of The New York Times compares this release to the spoken word scene of the 1990s and characterizes it as "a nuanced exploration of Blackness".

[3] NPR's Sheldon Pearce considers this a "wondrous debut album" that is "gorgeously meditative and potently groovy".

[5] Writing for Pitchfork Media, Mary Retta scored this album a 7.4 out of 10 for having "a profound and forceful clarity" and that the backing of veteran jazz musicians adds to the "gravitas and wonder" of Monet's poetry.