What's up? It's Major. Starting this Monday, February 3rd, our next two weeks of episodes will be hosted by the poet and writer Maggie Smith. We hope you enjoy. I'll return to your feeds on Monday, February 17th.

I'm Major Jackson, and this is the slowdown. Are you prone to going down rabbit holes as much as me?

Far too often.

I spend part of my day distracted by a topic that enters my kin.

It typically goes like this.

I go to my office on campus to retrieve a book.

I thumb through 10 other books.

Next thing I know, I am two hours deep into reading about the moon.

Tidal locking, Paragian tides, lunar nodes, and other sundry facts like this one.

That every planet could potentially have a moon in synchronous orbit, where the moon is in a stable relative location, getting neither closer to

nor farther from its partner, where the two bodies actually share a center of gravity.

A noted SAS refers to synchronous orbiting as a narrow passage of permanence. That gets me to thinking about relationships, and the

moon's antics as the perfect allegory for all kinds of love. And then I think I should write a poem about finding the path,

the groove that puts us in perfect harmony with our partner.

But then, most likely, the poem would turn on the idea that permanence is an illusion.

Death is a looming reality for every creature.

All good poems about love hint at our transience,

which makes poems that mourn the loss of someone the superfood of poetry.

We are wiser when we face such truths.

Pluto is the only planet in our solar system whose moon, Karen, is locked into its groove.

But then again, Pluto is no longer a planet.

See what I mean about rabbit holes?

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