This fall I spoke with listeners at the Twin Cities Book Festival about the place of poetry in their lives.

This week we're sharing their stories. I'm Abby. I'm Abby. I live in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I am a middle school

orchestra teacher six through eighth through 8th grade.

In my daily life, poetry is, I mean,

it's a little cheesy, but it is what helps me slow down.

As a middle school teacher, I am constantly in crisis mode, especially after

the pandemic when students have no idea how to be in school or regulate their emotions or anything like that.

So it kind of helps me remember who I am

and outside of a middle school teacher

and helps me slow down at the end of the day when I'm driving home and take

a breath and just it's just such a comfort to listen to it every day.

I turn to poetry to answer questions about like what sort of emotions

it's okay to be feeling and is it like because I wasn't given that permission growing up and a lot of

understanding of what it means to be a person and also understanding of others and their experiences because I, you know, I can't see those and so when they put that on the page and that is it feels like an invitation.

I'm Micah Kielbon, producer of the slowdown.

Over the holidays, I visited my family in Seattle.

As much as I love being home, sometimes

it's a little overwhelming to be so known. Like our listener Abbey, I struggle at times to separate out an independent version of myself.

But poetry can help us find permission for all of our feelings. One night I was heading

home after dinner with an old friend. While I sped down the freeway, driving my mom's car in the rain, I felt completely beset by the familiar lights of the city.

A new late night DJ started their set on the station I was tuned to

merging from song to song with such a

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