I'm Jane H. And I donate to the slowdown. I've loved the slowdowns format and

mission from the first program I heard bringing indispensable poems to us all.

One poem a day beautifully chosen, spoken and framed. Please join me in

supporting this program's future with your own gift today. Visit slowdownshow.org

forward slash donate.

Hey slowdown listeners. Today's episode is hosted by the poet Shira Erlichman.

Don't worry. I'll be back on August 28th.

I'm Shira Erlichman and this is the slowdown.

When it comes out in conversation that I grew up playing soccer, the exchange

usually goes something like this. The other person, maybe a former athlete, maybe

not, smiles. We salute the developmental merit of team sports, guest field

positions, ponder the multiverse where I played in college instead of choosing

to follow art making, ask if the other still plays pickup and so on until the

topic fizzles. But the polite banter never seems to properly reflect the

parade detonating inside my body. Massive sky touching balloons, intricate

floats, and at least 15 marching bands with trumpets raised in harmony. I'm a

woman in love and a woman in love doesn't just love the game. She loves the

details, the private moments, and what happens off the field as much as on.

As we chat, I am transported. My mind is flooded with rain. Rain so total

that it is a sheet of wet and I can feel my uniform stuck to me as a second

skin can feel how the field became precarious beneath my cleats, gritty,

sopping, torn. I can feel the ghost of an elbow to my throat,

...