The Slowdown

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

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. B

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Today’s poem is Sonnet for Ochún by Leslie Sainz. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. We're currently taking a break and will be back soon with new episodes. This week, we’re revisiting some favorites from Major’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on January 19, 2023. In this episode, Major writes… “In today’s poem, I hear a shared melancholy, a world-weariness where the edges of life fail to offer answers. Yet, I detect, too, in the presence of a deity, the transits and rituals of hope and renewal.” 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 Worry (the Dybbuk) by Anthony Immergluck. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. We're currently taking a break and will be back soon with new episodes. This week, we’re revisiting some favorites from Major’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on April 27, 2023. In this episode, Major writes… “After living through all manner of personal and communal tribulations, I’ve come to believe things will work themselves out. Yet, it’s not that the worries have gone away. Just like in my early days, I’ve learned to find ways to ease the burdens and uneasiness of living. Of course, I’m not trying to find a fully anxiety-free existence; it’s good to have a barking dog occasionally at one’s heels. I just try to walk past it when I need to.” 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 Who Among You Knows the Essence of Garlic? by Garrett Hongo. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. We're currently taking a break and will be back soon with new episodes. This week, we’re revisiting some favorites from Major’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on July 6, 2023. In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s poem exemplifies the kind of deep historical and sensory awareness only possible when one has turned their senses into a laboratory of feeling and wonder.” 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 Six for Gold by Kate Hanson Foster. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. We're currently taking a break and will be back soon with new episodes. This week, we’re revisiting some favorites from Major’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on April 4, 2023.In this episode, Major writes… “Confession: As a young parent, when my children barraged me with questions, so many times, I wanted to [poof] disappear. We’ve all experienced this moment (right?) when a child suddenly becomes a human question generator or a “you-think-you’re-smart-but-I’m-going-to-bring-you-to-your-knees-in-recognition-of-your-ignorance” kind of a child? No, there was never malice, but the onslaught felt relentless. Today’s poem models the pitch of imagination that goes into satisfying a child’s curiosity in a way that leaves room for magic.” 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 Some Madness There by Charlotte Pence. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. We're currently taking a break and will be back soon with new episodes. This week, we’re revisiting some favorites from Major’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on March 31, 2023.In this episode, Major writes… “When I arrived in Eugene, Oregon after an arduous yet stunning road trip of camping and driving through the midwest, the Rockies, the Arches National Park, Death Valley, and up California’s Route 101, I felt oddly reborn into an existence and landscape that felt like it was always a part of me. Today’s illuminating poem contends with that normal yet emotional experience of children leaving home, and posits that this wanderlust is maybe, genetically encoded in our natal spirit of adventure and discovery.” 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 The Party is Downstairs by Didi Jackson.The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s poem honors the family dog whose imperfections are all the more reason to love. The Slowdown was more than a labor of love. Each episode was an invitation to dream how we might come to love our imperfect world.” 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 Playback by Lauren Camp. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “I used to believe great art emerged from intense passion, a committed discipline driven by a purity of purpose. Of late, I use the word hunger as a measure of art, as an aesthetic value. Hunger as that inexplicable quality that conveys the artist’s works as their unique form of living, how they breathe where creation is existence.” 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 Mantle by Kevin Young. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s minimalist poem makes a poignant observation about the images of those who silently populate our homes, offices, museums, and walls. Their presence is our eventual destination.” 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 Forge by Ethel Rackin. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s poem reminds me, in the midst of rapid changes and the assault on freedoms, that we must find ways to protect our health and each other, to harness our capacity for joy, to shore up our hearts, minds, and bodies.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp