I'm Perry from Santa Barbara and I support the slowdown meeting a wide diversity of poets

and their outstanding poems takes my mind and heart to a higher place.

A truth that feeds my day away from the debilitating misinformation or the plagues us.

Join me by making a gift to the slowdown today.

Go to slowdownshow.org slash donate.

I'm Major Jackson and this is the slowdown.

My very first worry in life was 12-year-old Billy Mack.

His father purchased a rot wiler, a dog that he trained to be as mean as the punk's who bullied Billy.

He taunted my little brother and me on our way to school every day.

We were never sure when Billy would run out with this beast of a dog who barked and beared his teeth

as though he were the hound of haines himself.

Most mornings, we ran by his house, terrified.

If my brother didn't securely zip up his book bag, his sandwich, his cheesets, and his books went flying everywhere.

Although it took us longer, we found a root that avoided facing off with a snarling beast.

That's all it took.

Well, that and a big stick I carried just in case.

Many worries followed.

After a childhood of observing my parents' anxieties, mostly around bills,

I eventually learned to embrace uncertainty.

Now, I almost never worry about anything from missing a flight to talking to strangers.

No doubt, I face challenges.

My keep it chill attitude was hard won.

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