Today’s poem is Assistance by Abbie Kiefer.

The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “I famously have a brown thumb, as they call it. For as much as I love trees and appreciate flowers when I see them, I haven’t thought to plant and tend to them myself. For as much as I love fresh cucumber and zucchini and herbs, I’ve never planted them. Maybe someday that will change. Maybe someday gardening will call to me and be just what I need. In today’s poem, gardening is exactly what the speaker needs.”

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Today’s poem is ode to the afternoon by Zeina Hashem Beck.

The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “‘Que Sera Sera’ is a song I remember my mother singing when I was small. Which is fitting, as the song opens with these words: ‘When I was just a little girl I asked my mother what will I be.’ I remember part of the chorus well: ‘Que Sera Sera, whatever will be, will be, the future’s not ours to see.’”

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Today’s poem is Panegyric by Leila Farjami.

The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Poems that engage with war and grief are texts that communicate to us in ways that news articles about war, and loss, and grief cannot. An article might tell us what happened, who died, how many casualties there were. It should provide facts as to who, what, where, when, and how. It might even attempt the why. But a poem sings to us. A poem sits with us. Holds us, even.”

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Today’s poem is Someday by Mary Oliver.

The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “You have one of our listeners to thank for today’s poem — well, one of our listeners for suggesting it, and the beloved Mary Oliver for writing it.”

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Today’s poem is Wabi-Sabi by Catherine Esposito Prescott.

The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Today’s poem invites us to celebrate what is, rather than what could be — so it invites us to accept ourselves exactly as we are.”

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Today’s poem is Guava Jelly by Quinn Franzen.

The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Sometimes, as we see in today’s poem, even when things are difficult, even just the smallest bit of sweetness helps.”

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Today’s poem is Summer Strawberries by Cat Wei.

The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “We move through life with so many doors opening and closing all around us. One of the gifts and burdens of being human is being aware of time, and impermanence, and our own mortality. That awareness keeps us grateful for what we have, but it can also make us fearful to lose what we have. Sometimes, as we see in today’s poem, it’s difficult not to wonder if life will go on as expected, and if traditions will continue, or if we’re experiencing the end of an era. But still, there are ways to find presence in the uncertainty.”

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Today’s poem is Dialogue with the Oldest Tree in the U.S., whose Location is a Closely-Guarded Forest Service Secret by Nina Sudhakar.

The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “I like to think that I’m still growing as a person. That every year I become older, I truly grow older, developing some new part of myself. Conversations about aging so often dwell on preserving what you have when you’re young, about postponing loss. But when I turn to my writing, my poems and prose, I see a body of work that does continue to grow. A body that comes from my physical body, from how my whole being senses and processes the world around me. It continues to grow, even when marked by hardship, by absences, and by loss.”

This show is supported by gifts from listeners. Support The Slowdown with a donation today. Slowdownshow.org/donate