1313: A Little Slice of Heaven by Jaswinder Bolina

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily

American Public Media

Arts, Performing Arts

4.8 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 14 March 2025

⏱️ 7 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Today’s poem is A Little Slice of Heaven by Jaswinder Bolina. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual.

In this episode, Major writes… “What breaks through the impenetrable folly of it all? What lends itself as miraculous in the dailiness of our lives? The magic sprouting of a bed of daffodils in spring time, a sculpture made from black twizzlers that the artist intricately wove together into a font of wonder, or the breathtaking smile of a friend that is all the gardens you ever gazed at. Sometimes, just sometimes, someone will utter a phrase that sends us reeling inward, that seems off the grid of the unexpected, that lifts us above the quotidian. Likely, just likely, this is the work of poetry.”

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, Slowdown listeners, this spring, we have two live events coming your way.
0:06.0	In L.A. on March 28th and Nashville on April 8th.
0:11.7	Find more info at slowdownshow.org.
0:20.2	I'm Major Jackson, and this is the slowdown.
0:25.6	So it goes like this.
0:44.4	Wake up, eat yogurt, commute to work, or walk into the next room, your home office.
0:50.0	Midday, call a relative, possibly a sibling or a parent.
0:51.8	Text a friend.
0:58.3	Laugh through the hours at some scrolled meme, at some joke on a Zoom meeting.
1:02.2	Prepare an evening mill or pick up takeout.
1:05.9	Sit down at the table and scroll the headlines.
1:08.8	Get angry. Shake your head.
1:12.3	Watch a TV show to chill you out.
1:14.1	Go to bed.
1:16.7	That's the general cycle.
1:19.5	Throw in a book you cannot put down.
1:27.2	Throw in some workout routine or an after hours gathering at a favorite watering hole with coworkers-workers, throw in time with a beloved,
1:30.4	your favorite human being on earth.
1:33.8	What breaks through the impenetrable folly of it all?
1:38.7	What lends itself as miraculous in the dailiness of our lives?
1:44.0	The magic sprouting of a bed of daffodils and springtime.
1:48.5	A sculpture made from black twizzlers that the artist intricately wove together into a
	...

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