meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily

1269: Grace by Orlando Ricardo Menes

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily

American Public Media

Arts, Performing Arts

4.81.2K Ratings

🗓️ 9 January 2025

⏱️ 6 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Today’s poem is Grace by Orlando Ricardo Menes.


The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “I believe in grace, which arrives from a sacred belief that all of us are deserving of it.”


Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

I'm Major Jackson, and this is the slowdown.

0:07.0

Someone was coming down the staircase, and I was going up the staircase.

0:24.6

The music thumped loudly.

0:27.2

This was the last festive gathering of those gathered for a writer's conference.

0:32.8

She said, Hi, Calvin.

0:35.2

And I responded, cheerfully, I thought. oh, that's the other black guy, I'm

0:40.9

major. Don't worry about it. This hallway is low-lit. She froze, and I continued bouncing up the

0:48.9

stairs. It happened that quick, a truly uneventful passing encounter.

0:56.1

Six weeks later, I received a handwritten letter in the mail.

1:01.0

It accused me of victimology, and, of course, that she wasn't a racist, and that she gives

1:08.4

annually to the Fresh Air Fund, And I stopped reading. I quickly became bored.

1:17.2

I did not speak to her with rage, so I was very confused. I had forgotten about the moment.

1:25.6

Misidentifying happens enough that it is a cliche. Whatever. I had tried to reassure her,

1:33.2

have her not feel bad about mistaking me for someone else. I made verbal and nonverbal gestures

1:40.4

to say, I really do not care, that it is not worth our expended energy.

1:47.3

I too have misidentified someone.

1:50.2

I know how mortifying it can be, the feeling of shame, how one relives the moment over and

1:56.5

over, wishing they could take back their words.

2:00.4

Unfortunately, my joking about the moment brought no relief.

2:05.3

Granted, to say the other black guy might sound like a reprimand, but it was a fact.

2:12.6

My tone conveyed lightheartedness.

2:15.5

Still, she insisted on projecting her, I presume, feelings of inadequacy

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from American Public Media, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of American Public Media and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.