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The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily

1354: Checkout by Caroline Bird

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily

American Public Media

Arts, Performing Arts

4.81.2K Ratings

🗓️ 17 September 2025

⏱️ 7 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Today’s poem is Checkout by Caroline Bird. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “I’m willing to bet that no one on their death bed says, “I wish I’d spent more time at the office.” No one, taking stock of their life in those final days and moments, is thinking about spreadsheets or profits or ROI - Return on Investment. I can imagine what I’ll be thinking about at the end of my life: my beloveds, and the beauty of this place I’ve called home, and the memories I treasure most.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcript

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0:00.0

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0:04.1

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0:07.2

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0:09.6

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0:13.8

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0:19.2

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0:21.2

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0:28.0

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0:34.6

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0:39.3

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0:50.6

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0:55.2

Terms and Conditions apply. Hiring, Indeed is all you need.

1:05.0

I'm Maggie Smith, and this is the slowdown.

1:19.1

Thank you. and this is the slowdown. I'm willing to bet that no one on their deathbed says,

1:23.9

I wish I'd spent more time at the office.

1:27.6

No one, taking stock of their life in those final days and moments,

1:33.3

is thinking about spreadsheets or profits or ROI, return on investment.

1:41.7

I can imagine what I'll be thinking about at the end of my life, my beloved's,

1:48.7

and the beauty of this place I've called home, and the memories I treasure most. When my

1:56.6

maternal grandmother was dying, I was a first-year MFA student. I would visit her in the

2:04.1

memory care wing of the nursing home where she lived. Even though she didn't know who I was,

2:11.3

we would sit together and talk. She wanted to be outside as much as possible. She was rarely hungry, but loved the ice cream bars that one of her nurses would bring her. It was fall, brisk outside, and I remember her sitting in a chair on her patio, bundled in an electric blanket. I took a Polaroid of her

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