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.”

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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.”

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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.”

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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.”

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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.”

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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

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

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