The slowdown is supported by W. W. Norton and Company,

publishers of Poetry Unbound by Padreck Ottumah,

a poetry anthology that offers immersive reflections, keen insights, and personal anecdotes on 50 powerful poems.

Focusing mainly on poets writing today, Poetry Unbound engages with a diverse array of voices that includes

Aida Lamone, Ilea Kaminsky, Margaret Atwood, Ocean Vong, Lally Long soldier, and Reginald Wayne Betts.

Poetry Unbound, now in paperback. I'm Major Jackson and this is the slowdown.

I'm Major Jackson and this is the slowdown.

Last week my stepfather died. I had not set eyes on him since my mother's funeral 28 years ago. Despite this, being the writer and the family, I was asked to pen his obituary.

I kept my distance over the years.

I worried about my suppressed anger.

Throughout high school, I lived in his house with fear,

as did my mother and my brother.

Every part of our home and our behavior had to be flawless.

He didn't parent.

He ruled.

We projected perfection to our neighbors. He was a complicated man who inherited a style of disciplining that was abusive, especially to my mother, who loved him fiercely. Writing his obituary with the help of my aunts was surprisingly healing.

I kept a summary of his life positive.

I did not allude to his shortcomings,

reminding myself that he was cherished by someone, even if not by me.

I invoked his passions, Philadelphia sports teams, games of chess, and cars, especially sports cars.

When he entered my life at age seven, I recall him pulling up to the front of our house in a sleek bright blue Corvette.

It was like one of my little matchbox cars had come to life.

...