I'm Adely Moe, and this is my last episode of The Slowdown.

To be honest, I'm emotional right now, and why shouldn't I be?

I'm thinking of how much The Slowdown has meant to me over the last year and changed.

Each time I came across a poem I wanted to share.

Each time I came to the page to write an episode, came to the mic, to record an episode,

and shared it on social media for listeners and readers.

It felt like doing something worthwhile, something good, something that mattered.

Even in the busiest times, making episodes for The Slowdown actually did what they set out to do.

They slowed me down.

I never rushed through an episode even when I was on deadline or mailed one in because I was on the road.

Instead, I'd email with my producer, Micah, who I've grown terribly attached to,

and say something like, I worked on these in the car, and I love these poems,

or I worked on these on the plane, and it helped me get through nine hours of travel.

And I meant it.

It turns out poetry does, in fact, do the thing I want it to do.

It helps me return to the world, to experience it, to pay attention.

While The Slowdown will be in good hands with the new host soon,

I wanted to take a moment to thank you, to thank everyone who has listened to the show,

shared it, read it online, donated to the show, or mentioned it to me when we've met in person.

I also truly want to thank everyone who works behind the scenes,

to make this show everything it is, from tirelessly working on permissions,

to editing scripts, to editing out every second my stomach growls.

...