I'm Adely Moe and this is The Slowdown.

I'm always fascinated by how poems can hit us in different ways at different times.

The poem that I need often shows up just when I need it.

And sometimes a poem that I thought I didn't love suddenly becomes my favorite.

I remember being influenced by what others thought was cool to be reading in graduate

school.

It wasn't cool to be reading Mary Oliver, but I loved Mary Oliver.

I was a little embarrassed by how much I liked Franco Herra when everyone thought I should

be reading more Ashbury.

And I wanted very much to like Ashbury, but I liked Lucille Clifton more and read her

on the subway and then hid her in my backpack before our craft seminars on Milton and Merrill.

Now, I don't have those fears as much, and I give poems more of a chance.

Things that were harder for me back then, I have more patience for now.

This spring, some friends and I read self-portrait in a convex mirror by John Ashbury over

Zoom slowly over many months.

And you know what?

I loved it.

Reading it out loud.

The patience everyone took with the sections.

I was hooked.

Not something I'll always love about poetry.

The more time you spend with it, the more it deepens your understanding and sometimes

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