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The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily

1414: This dark is the same dark as when you close by R.A. Villanueva

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily

American Public Media

Performing Arts, Arts

4.81.3K Ratings

🗓️ 17 December 2025

⏱️ 7 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Today’s poem is by R.A. Villanueva.


The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Today’s poem is one about parents and children, bedtime fears, and the ways we communicate love and safety. It references a lyric from a song I love: ‘Not Strong Enough’ by the band boygenius.”


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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1:05.5

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

1:19.2

Thank you. Smith. And this is the slowdown. As a child, I was afraid of the dark, as I think almost all children are.

1:27.2

It's not the darkness itself that's scary. It's the way

1:31.9

darkness changes a space, conceals things, and somehow turns the emotional dial from calm to

1:41.7

wary. As a child, I needed a nightlight, and I wanted the hall light outside my

1:49.8

bedroom left on, and the door left cracked open, just slightly ajar, so a sliver of light from the

2:00.0

hall could make its way inside. Light felt protective,

2:05.9

as did music, as did covers. If I was tucked in, I felt safe, as if nothing could get at me.

2:17.3

If I was ever scared, I'm sure my parents came into my room and turned the light on,

2:24.4

and they probably said, look, it's just your room.

...

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