1381: What Is This Air Changing, This Warm Aura, These Threads of Air Vibrating Rows of People by Ariel Yelen

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily

American Public Media

Arts, Performing Arts

4.8 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 24 October 2025

⏱️ 8 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Today’s poem is What Is This Air Changing, This Warm Aura, These Threads of Air Vibrating Rows of People by Ariel Yelen.

The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Going to the elementary school choir concerts and winter music festivals, I got teary every time the kids sang. I told myself it was because of their sweet, little-kid voices, but that’s not the whole story. Something about hearing voices in unison—it’s powerful, and communal, and comforting, and deeply moving.”

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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1:05.5	I'm Maggie Smith, and this is the slowdown.
1:19.8	Thank you. Smith, and this is the slowdown. Recently, I was invited to speak at the Chautauqua Institution in New York State.
1:25.9	It was actually a conversation event with author Kwame Alexander, which was wonderful.
1:32.8	Spending a few days at Chautauqua was a special treat, boating on the lake with friends,
1:39.9	going to see Leve in concert, and just enjoying the energy and spirit of the place and the people there.
1:48.8	If you've been, you know what I mean. It's pretty magical.
1:54.3	One of the things I did while there was attend a church service in the amphitheater, which holds more than 4,000 people.
2:03.7	I was there to hear Sister Teresa Maya speak, and I'm so glad I went.
2:09.9	She spoke about the environment and about the wonder we experience in nature not being enough on its own. We have to work to protect the world,
2:21.7	not just be in awe of its beauty. But the most surprising thing that happened was that as soon as
	...

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