The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily

Today’s poem is The Book of Genesis by Morgan Parker. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on June 10, 2020. In this episode, Tracy writes…”Today's poem is by Morgan Parker. Parker's poems fill me with joy for the ways they ponder and bear witness to the experience of blackness.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 26 June 2025

Today’s poem is Stop Looking At My Last Name Like That by Michael Torres. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on May 19, 2020. In this episode, Tracy writes… “Rationally speaking, I know that another person’s bigoted thinking is their problem, not mine. But it’s hard to leave it at that. It’s hard to accept that sometimes my race causes another person to jump to conclusions about what I know or have or deserve… and what I don’t.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 25 June 2025

Today’s poem is Telephone of the Wind by Eddie Kim. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on August 12, 2020. In this episode, Tracy writes… “Today’s poem takes me back to the time when telephones and the distances they allowed us to cross were monumental.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 24 June 2025

Today’s poem is Moon Pull by Carlina Duan. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on May 5, 2020. In this episode, Tracy writes… “I love the way today's poem lays claim to the moon and all it represents.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 23 June 2025

Today’s poem is Flesh (“You in your ecstasy of coffee”) by Deborah Landau. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re revisiting some favorites from Major Jackson’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on May 5 2023. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “When summer arrives, I run as fast as I can into its lushness. I am making new memories with family and friends that involve nights of alfresco dining, remote beaches, mountain ranges, and sun-drenched cocktail parties. Summer is the season that beckons most my senses; all that fruit bursting its wild colors: strawberries, apricots, and peaches. Whereas winter feels interminable, I am most aware summer’s bounty is numbered, finite.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 20 June 2025

Today’s poem is Black Book of Creation by Shanta Lee Gander. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re revisiting some favorites from Major Jackson’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on April 25 2024. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s poem builds on the belief that imagining is a kind of magic and time travel, that listening to the soil and all the voices within is a monumental way into both history, and our future.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 19 June 2025

Today we’re bringing you the recording from Slow Take, our live event in Nashville this past April, featuring Major Jackson in conversation with Jad Abumrad and special guest poets Kate Daniels, Mark Jarman, Ciona Rouse and Didi Jackson, as well as singer-songwriter Tia Sillers. Our hosts and guests employed the attention of The Slowdown to explore the daily noise we interact with -- how sharing poetry, stories, and reflection can shape our experience of the everyday. How do we collage our own pasts and our presents, alongside the many voices that we engage with? This event was produced in collaboration with The Porch and was recorded live at Analog at Hutton Hotel. The full video is available on The Slowdown’s YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/NfNliG95AiE Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 18 June 2025

Today’s poem is Us by Zaffar Kunial. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re revisiting some favorites from Major Jackson’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on September 27 2023. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “Since moving to the quaint village of Rochester, I come to expect visible signs of welcome everywhere. What matters in life is that space between us, formulated by philosopher Martin Buber as I-Thou. It’s a sacred space of shared existence where we feel each other’s uniqueness and feel our common humanity. Today’s attentive poem fosters a consciousness in which we view our lives as more in relation to each other, as close as two small letters.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 17 June 2025

Today’s poem is from "The Crystal Text" by Clark Coolidge. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re revisiting some favorites from Major Jackson’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on July 2 2024. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “Poetry negotiates that space between our inner life and the relational world we share with others. Magically, we make plain what we feel and observe to convey what some might call a soul. I often describe poetry as a mirror that reflects back our interiority. But today’s poem wonders if such perspective is even possible, given that we barely know who we are — making the enterprise of connection through art deeply indeterminate and delicate.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 16 June 2025

Today’s poem is I Would Do Anything For Love, But I Won't by Traci Brimhall. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Ada Limón’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on May 27 2022. In this episode, former host Ada Limón writes… “I am often laughing with my husband about our own idiosyncrasies. The part of us that only we know, the things that could never be said to anyone else but each other. I love that private language. That lexicon. My private moments, his private moments. I have it with good friends too, the things that don’t require explanation. That’s the real history of us.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 13 June 2025

Today’s poem is anti-immigration by Evie Shockley. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Ada Limón’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on October 26 2021. In this episode, former host Ada Limón writes… “In today’s complex poem, we see what hateful stereotypes might do. Poet Evie Shockley reimagines what would happen if everyone packed up and left this country, took with them every stereotype, every oversimplified image, and left.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 12 June 2025

Today’s poem is Last Sundays at Bootleggers by Carlos Andrés Gómez. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Ada Limón’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on May 17 2022. In this episode, former host Ada Limón writes… “Sometimes when I am nostalgic for my past, I’m not actually nostalgic for my youth, but for what I thought was my wisdom, for what I thought was my beautiful righteousness. I knew so much about life. I knew the problems with the world, and I even knew some of the answers. I knew that when you were too down to want to leave the apartment, you should actually leave the apartment, or blast music as loud as you can to change your brain waves.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 11 June 2025

Today’s poem is In Response to Feeling Alone by t. liem. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Ada Limón’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on October 5 2021. In this episode, former host Ada Limón writes… “I spend a lot of time alone during the days. Though the dog would like to assure you I am not alone. And the cat sleeping in the upstairs bathroom would also beg to differ. Still, many of my days are spent in my office, or on the back porch, or at the kitchen table alone with my thoughts.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 10 June 2025

Today’s poem is Sligo Abbey by Rebecca Lindenberg. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Ada Limón’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on February 3 2022. In this episode, former host Ada Limón writes… “In today’s gorgeous poem of honoring, we see how the speaker transforms the story of her mother’s illness into something that feels like an offering. Sometimes the job of the poet is simply to listen, and sometimes it is to become the unburied voice.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 9 June 2025

Today’s poem is Tracing the Horse by Diana Marie Delgado. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on April 29, 2020. In this episode, Tracy writes… “I turn to words constantly—to help me clarify a thought, to dig deeper into an idea, to keep something from slipping away and being forgotten. And yet, there is so much that I love—and so much that I remember—that doesn’t need words. Images, sounds, scents, feelings that dawned instantly and imparted something different from sense but indelible nonetheless. I could read today's poem over and over, dwelling in the states of awareness and sensation it invokes.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 6 June 2025

Today’s poem is The Feeling by Ari Banias. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on August 27, 2020. In this episode, Tracy writes… “We are living through what I want to believe is an awakening. Many people who have never given an injustice like racism much thought are beginning to think about it. Now what? What are those who are awake to this reality willing to give up, change, renounce, replace in order to begin righting age-old wrongs? And what’s next?” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 5 June 2025

Today’s poem is Telling My Father by James Crews. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on October 19, 2020. In this episode, Tracy writes… “Sometimes love looks like small things. Gentle gestures rich with import. We give such things to one another at times without even realizing it. Tiny soul-saving acts.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 4 June 2025

Today’s poem is Portrait of the Alcoholic with Withdrawal by Kaveh Akbar. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on December 6, 2018. In this episode, Tracy writes, “One day I was a drinker; the next, I was an ex-drinker. A braver person would say: one day I came to understand I am an alcoholic. I consider myself lucky. The best way I can describe the change is to call it an unburdening.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 3 June 2025

Today’s poem is Listen, by Barbara Crooker. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on October 19, 2020. In this episode, Tracy writes… “Today’s poem offers up a message of calm and gratitude. It's one I want to learn to offer myself—especially on days when peace feels far-away. Are there people out there who live always with that gratitude? That sense of the world with its simple gifts being all the plenty they seek? I’d like to be one of them for more than just an hour at a time.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 2 June 2025

Today’s poem is I Have No Idea What's Going to Happen by Justin Marks. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re revisiting some favorites from Major Jackson’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on February 24, 2023. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s understated poem shows us how impromptu encounters with art, those that are unforeseen, disruptive in the best sense, have us dwell outside time and exist within the spirit of the maker, then return us to our days with a new purchase on our lives.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 30 May 2025

Today’s poem is Egrets, While War by Tishani Doshi. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re revisiting some favorites from Major Jackson’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on May 8, 2024. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s compelling poem honors the ancient and indomitable essence of human beings who continue on even in the face of tragedy, who crossover into the perfect fullness of their truth and emotions.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 29 May 2025

Today’s poem is Refusing Rilke's "You must change your life" by Remica Bingham-Risher. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re revisiting some favorites from Major Jackson’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on July 24, 2024. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “I live with Rilke’s famous line, “You must change your life,” in my ear on repeat, an earworm, as if something is less than stellar about who I am today. I move instinctively towards myself as though I were a massive project, believing I will someday, again in Rilke’s words, “burst like a star.” That this is how to be seen, to be loved, to be cherished. This quest has distorted my sense of what is important, sown constant dissatisfaction, and emotional states of being that pose health risks. Pursuing perfection has, at times, alienated me from those I hold dear. Not that I don’t love them or they me — but that I get tunnel vision in seeking some heroic terminus.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 28 May 2025

Today’s poem is Try to Praise the Mutilated World by Adam Zagajewski, translated by Clare Cavanagh. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re revisiting some favorites from Major Jackson’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on September 23, 2024. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “One of the great paradoxes in life is the presence of human suffering on the planet amidst prosperity. No religion can explain this other than point to some large cosmic plan. Sometimes it’s tough bearing witness and walking in a world where one feels debilitated, and silence around other people’s suffering feels like gaslighting.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 27 May 2025

Today’s poem is If I Told Him, A Completed Portrait of Picasso by Gertrude Stein. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re revisiting some favorites from Major Jackson’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on December 27, 2023. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s poem is a touchstone example of art that altered how we hear words, but also, how we perform language to transform words into elements of our yielding and will.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 26 May 2025

Today’s poem is I Imagine the Butches' Stripper Bar by Jill McDonough. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Ada Limón’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on January 31, 2022. In this episode, former host Ada Limón writes… “One of my favorite mysteries of the universe is what turns us on and why? When I talk with anyone about crushes and sensual pleasures and desires, what always impresses me is that everyone is different. We desire different things. Different attributes turn us on and make us ready to rip our clothes off and run through the streets. It makes sense that that’s the case. Everyone is so unique. Every crush is so unique. In today’s irreverent poem, we see an exploration of what the speaker finds sexy. It blooms into a whole new imaginary world, all in the service of desire.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 23 May 2025

Today’s poem is Song by Charif Shanahan. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Ada Limón’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on September 12, 2022. In this episode, former host Ada Limón writes… “When I am really writing, really working on poems, which is often as alive as I ever feel, as present as I ever feel, I am not just speaking to the world... I am listening to it. Listening to my body, my blood, my ever-changing pulse that slows and quickens depending on the emotionality of the subject.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 22 May 2025

Today’s poem is Walking Across Fire Island by Shelley Wong. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Ada Limón’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on April 6, 2022. In this episode, former host Ada Limón writes… “I love to walk, when I’m healthy and mobile enough to walk, it’s one of my favorite things to do to recenter myself, or rather decenter myself. For me, it’s a solution to many things. When in doubt, hit the road, get out of yourself. Of course it doesn’t always work, and there were whole years where I was too sick with vertigo to properly go for a walk, but when it works, it really does work. You don’t have to have a plan. You don’t have to go fast or go slow. You don’t have to know the names of all the fauna and flora. You simply have to put your body into the world and something happens.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 21 May 2025

Today’s poem is Golden Age by Chris Santiago. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Ada Limón’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on December 21, 2021. In this episode, former host Ada Limón writes… “When I was a kid, I loved falling asleep to the sound of the television in the living room. I liked it most because it meant someone was up watching the world so I didn’t have to. The trouble of the world was unfolding on the news and I could sleep through it. There was something both comforting and eerie about it. A world that never shuts off. In today’s tender poem, we watch how the tv becomes almost another character in a multigenerational family.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 20 May 2025

Today’s poem is Bruised Peaches by Bronwen Tate. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Ada Limón’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on June 30, 2022. In this episode, former host Ada Limón writes… “Every Thursday when I take out the trash, I think about how I quantify the value of my life. Every laundry day. Every time I check the mail. It feels like this is how I know time has passed, we roll out the recycling, we mow the lawn, we watch as the seasons change. The day is broken up into the hours in which I feed the dog. Morning, noon, and evenings. Yes, she gets lunch. I give myself lunch, so the dog gets lunch too. There is safety and security in these routines. And yet, I’m sometimes scared that the whole routine of life might swallow me whole.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 19 May 2025

Today’s poem is Polaroid Ode by Cori Winrock. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on October 21, 2019. In this episode, Tracy writes… “Today’s poem captures the look and feel and ceremony—with all its hope and disappointment—of taking instant pictures. And it makes me wistful both for the past and the present.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 16 May 2025

Today’s poem is Kissing the Opelu by Donovan Kūhiō Colleps. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on May 21, 2020. In this episode, Tracy writes… “Today’s poem speaks to me of ancestry, tradition, and the fluidity of perception. We are who we are, the poem suggests to me, because of what we inherit from the people we love. Why does it have me thinking about ghosts and visitations? Maybe because I’ve decided that the people I love are always with me in one form or another.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 15 May 2025

Today’s poem is What Does It Say by Tess Gallagher. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on July 17, 2019. In this episode, Tracy writes… “When I packed up for college, back in 1990, I took sneakers and loafers. I probably also brought some nerdy deck shoes, and maybe even a pair of heels. But by the time my sophomore year rolled around, nearly all of those shoes had been replaced by a pair of black cowboy boots. I wore them everyday, even in snow. By the time I came home for the holidays, they were worn down at the heel and a coin-sized hole had been worn through each sole. I was afraid I’d have to let them go, but my mother took them to the shoe repairman, who resoled them, built the heels back up, and polished them to a high shine, reviving them to their former glory!” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 14 May 2025

Today’s poem is Someday I'll Love Ocean Vuong by Ocean Vuong. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on May 18, 2020. In this episode, Tracy writes… “Today’s poem models another critical aspect of self-care: being honest about how difficult life feels, and striving to be tender, patient and consoling with oneself.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 13 May 2025

Today’s poem is a brief meditation on breath by Yesenia Montilla. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on October 19, 2020. In this episode, Tracy writes… “The whole time, I felt all of my senses struggle to decelerate. My heart was like a drum solo. It felt like someone was pounding on my chest. While I was there, I flipped through my mental Rolodex of workday vexation. I ticked off the headlines that, even on a good day, hamper my ability to unwind. Lying there, struggling to relax, egged on by the actual bothers my work-week forces me to wrestle, I understood something. Many people live like this on a regular basis. The peril, the worry, the blood pressure roiling. When you wake up and people doubt you, threaten you, overstep respectful bounds. When leaders utter slurs against you. When every day the deck, already stacked against you, is reshuffled.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 12 May 2025

Today’s poem is I Am Trying to Love the Whole World by Jenny Browne. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re revisiting some favorites from Major Jackson’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on December 21, 2023. In this episode, Major writes… “If only we viewed observations of the natural world and meditations on birds, mammals, and plant life as equally, critically urgent, we might awaken to the necessity of caretaking of our planet and each other. Birdwatching does not have to be a form of looking away, it can be an antidote for our spirit.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 9 May 2025

Today’s poem is Dear—, by DéLana R.A. Dameron. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re revisiting some favorites from Major Jackson’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on November 9, 2023. In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s poem of rhyming couplets speaks a truth about loneliness; the wish for a sustaining love and companionship motivates us to work through our differences sometimes at the expense of our emotional health.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 8 May 2025

Today’s poem is If only by Dawn Lundy Martin. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re revisiting some favorites from Major Jackson’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on September 24, 2024. In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s poem unapologetically claims psychic space. In order to be at peace and clear-eyed, the speaker forgoes decorative language that would obscure what their heart and mind believe is ethically true.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 7 May 2025

Today’s poem is Learning Money in Reverse by Stephanie Niu. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re revisiting some favorites from Major Jackson’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on April 20, 2023. In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s ingenious poem calls attention to the lived realities of financial literacy, how it’s touch and go, and how it’s thrust upon us if we are not fortunate to receive those lessons in our home.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 6 May 2025

Today’s poem is Felonious States of Adjectival Excess Featuring Comparative and Superlative Forms by A. H. Jerriod Avant. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “I am drawn to poets who, like the author of today’s poem, bring imagination and attention to sonic idioms of a poem. They make reading aloud fun.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 5 May 2025

Today’s poem is hoop snake by Rebecca Wee. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Ada Limón’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on October 21, 2022. In this episode, former host Ada Limón writes… “A few days ago, a friend told me that Spanish Moss, a moss I love, the way it droops down over the water oaks like mint-colored lace draping the world in a gauzy dappled light, was actually killing the trees. But this myth is gratefully not true. We investigated further, and it turns out Spanish moss gets no nutrients from the trees, but rather takes the moisture and sunlight out of the air. It’s also not a moss. It’s a bromeliad. It’s also not Spanish, but native to the U.S. and Mexico and South America. I like that I can still love Spanish moss and can still think of those beautiful fabric-like threads floating through the canopy as benevolent. I want all the good myths to be true. Because I want to believe in wonder.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 2 May 2025

Today’s poem is Travel by Edna St. Vincent Millay. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Ada Limón’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on November 17, 2021. In this episode, former host Ada Limón writes… “In today’s poem by the iconic Edna St. Vincent Millay, we look at the wanderlust that so many of us have been experiencing during this strange time. How, even if we love where we are right now, love the friends, the landscape, the company, how sometimes escaping even only for a little while, is the thing we desire the most.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 1 May 2025

Today’s poem is The Field by Rick Barot. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Ada Limón’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on April 26, 2022. In this episode, former host Ada Limón writes… “I am prone to making up stories about strangers I see from a distance. Even as a kid, I’d delight in giving someone I didn't know a whole invented backstory. It was a way of imagining that I could be them in another life, that somehow if I could allow them a complex narrative, we might not be strangers after all.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 30 April 2025

Today’s poem is a fishing story. by Mia S. Willis. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Ada Limón’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on September 19, 2022. In this episode, former host Ada Limón writes… “Today’s poem is about imagining oneself as the wild and untamed thing, and how someone else might hold you up to the light.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 29 April 2025

Today’s poem is Divorce by José A. Alcantara. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Ada Limón’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on July 21, 2022. In this episode, former host Ada Limón writes… “Today’s poem takes the metaphor of a bird visitation and transforms it into a symbol of resilience.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 28 April 2025

Today’s poem is Divorce by José A. Alcantara. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Ada Limón’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on July 21, 2022. In this episode, former host Ada Limón writes… “Today’s poem takes the metaphor of a bird visitation and transforms it into a symbol of resilience.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 28 April 2025

Today’s poem is Minneapolipstick by Rachel McKibbens. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on September 21, 2020. In this episode, former host Tracy K. Smith writes… “Sometimes a dance party is the only means of conflict resolution in my house.]” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 25 April 2025

Today’s poem is Leaving Tulsa by Jennifer Elise Foerster. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on October 22, 2020. In this episode, former host Tracy K. Smith writes… “History is a worn path. Deep ruts eaten into Earth make up a road. But there are additional routes, footprints, and wheel grooves and grassy straits few have traveled. The Myth of a central history of America is damaging to those whose stories have been left untended, overgrown, and it is damaging for those who believe the one heavily trafficked road is the only road. It has become clear to me that the work of survival for this fraught nation is the work of stopping to listen to the many divergent narratives of America.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 24 April 2025

Today’s poem is Untitled by Sesshu Foster. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on June 12, 2019. In this episode, former host Tracy K. Smith writes… “Sometimes, I return to memories of my past and feel as though I'm peering in upon strangers. And yet, I know something fundamental to the person I now am, resides there.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 23 April 2025

Today’s poem is Waiting for Happiness by Nomi Stone. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on December 24, 2019. In this episode, former host Tracy K. Smith writes… “It's a good thing to have a dog, someone who cares about you, someone who shares their whole heart with you entirely. Dogs don't hold back. They don't keep secrets. And they accept you as you are right now.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 22 April 2025

Today’s poem is Wake Up by Carl Phillips. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on January 24, 2020. In this episode, former host Tracy K. Smith writes… “That's how it feels sometimes listening to news of our daily catastrophes, like all of us, no matter who we are, are lost together. And the old signs, the old facts even are gone, insufficient to the new task we, together, must face. Why does that idea, the idea that together, we must find a new means of putting things back in order — why does it somehow comfort me?” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcribed - Published: 21 April 2025