The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily

Today’s poem is Cassandra by Sasha West. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “The speaker in today’s poem, taken from Greek mythology, has sight beyond the veil. Their relationship to objects points to the kind of clairvoyance that artists exercise, connecting our physical, emotional, and spiritual worlds.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdo...

Today’s poem is Ferment by Monica Rico. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “As a person who sticks to the recipe, step by step, exact measurements and all, I appreciate how today’s poem lifts up the magic of feeling and improvisation, of putting one’s whole body into a task.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes...

The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “Why is it so hard to write a love poem? Well, I think sentimentality is often the culprit. Today’s poem, by contrast, avoids sentimentality by showing how our perceptions change when we fall in love, how the inner and outer worlds come to reflect each other.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Ev...

Today’s poem is a story from the eighties by Debra Marquart. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “Occasionally, I pretend to resist feelings of nostalgia. Somehow, I got it in my mind that remembrances of things past prevented me from standing fully in the here and now — that musings about foregone events would eclipse any potential value I placed in the presen...

Today’s poem is Translation by Anne Spencer. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “The last time I camped, a wolf’s howl gave me chills; it brought me closer to some primitive ancestor. I fell asleep to fantasies of leading a pack through boreal forest. The last time I camped, I gazed on evening stars blinking their wondrous code, jeweling the dark sky.” Celebra...

Today’s poem is My Father and I Drive to St. Louis for His Mother's Funeral and the Wildflowers by Chaun Ballard. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “Current global conflicts and discussions of borders spotlight the privilege of mobility. An American passport admits entry into 184 countries. Yet, even movement within the United States, for some people, is unsa...

Today’s poem is Great Question by Lisa Olstein. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “Why do we lean on love so much for sustenance? When passion dwindles to a set of burned twigs, where once there was a raging fire; it’s as though a theft has occurred, the result of which makes us homesick for ourselves.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown...

Today’s poem is Under the Bed by Kirun Kapur. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “While not the equivalent of glimpsing the spirit world cleave the air, the insight of poets amounts to a kind of clairvoyance. They make connections that close the gap between the known and the unknown.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donati...

Today’s poem is Ode to the Idea of France by Dan Alter. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “At parties, I jokingly discuss with friends about collectively purchasing property, maybe even a castle. I want us to live out our days together, to communally enact our shared values. They… are not convinced. I romanticize social utopias, especially those that, guided...

Today’s poem is Thirteen by Anna V.Q. Ross. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s poem celebrates the glow and growth of daughters, their energy and curiosity, their intuition and vulnerability.” 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 An Exchange by Corey Marks. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “After a decade and a half of living in Vermont, one morning I thought, “Road signs all over the state and still no sighting of a moose?” Then, one morning, a large four-legged bulk of an animal appeared at the edge of a clearing along the road. I saw it from a distance as I rounded...

Today’s poem is Fish Pier, Santa Monica by Vernon Duke, translated by Boris Dralyuk. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s poem taps into the beauty and spirit of California seaside beaches, whose amassed mythology and symbolism feeds so much of how we imagine and hear America.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donati...

Today’s poem is blues-elegy for cheryl by Evie Shockley. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “Despite the attacks on academic institutions, despite the diminishing power of free inquiry, scholarly work benefits us all. So much critical inquiry is born out of wonder and curiosity, like a crackling in the soul. Curiosity leads to exploration and research.” Celebr...

Today’s poem is Casual Labor by Sandy Solomon. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s wonderful poem models a courageous leap beyond fear into a wholehearted kindness. The poem invites us to lean into each other with generosity so that we no longer flinch at the messy richness of our humanity.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown toda...

Today’s poem is First of March by Stacie Cassarino. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “I learned from all those mornings of weekly commuting — living in Burlington, Vermont and teaching in New York City — that my passions run in every direction. To the critique and dismay of friends, I would simply say, travel fulfills the country-mouse-city-mouse in me.” Cel...

Today’s poem is Dry Spell by Lisa Sewell. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “Like so much of what our teachers share as advice about our writing, today’s poem can also be applied to our life off the page.” 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 Love Poem by Sophie Cabot Black. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s poem reminds me of the daunting and ongoing and heartrending work of preparing ourselves to love and to dare to receive it, if we can.” 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 Response to the Misguided Student by Wesley Rothman. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “I gain as much, if not more, from my students as I believe they receive from me. Sometimes, a truly breathtaking poem lands on my desk, and I am utterly grateful for the miracle of language: a student writing about her developmentally disabled uncle and h...

Today’s poem is Mirror, Mirror by Tom Healy. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s fine poem balances humor with hard truth-telling. It revives in me the bravery of boldly saying that which dignifies our existence with clarity. ” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4syn...

Today’s poem is Portable Paradise by Roger Robinson. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. We’re taking a break this week, so we’re running some of our favorite episodes from this season so far. This episode was originally released on 11/10/2023. In this episode, Major writes… “As so much poetry reminds us, suffering is at the core of being human. Yes, we fumble along. We live a melancholic ex...

Today’s poem is Kinds of Silence by Elisabeth Murawski. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. We’re taking a break this week, so we’re running some of our favorite episodes from this season so far. This episode was originally released on 11/28/2023. In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s poem captures that feeling of expectancy and uncertainty, a feeling that resonates lately, as I find mysel...

Today’s poem is A Funeral Ending with Beyoncé by Karisma Price. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. We’re taking a break this week, so we’re running some of our favorite episodes from this season so far. This episode was originally released on 07/18/2023. In this episode, Major writes… “When speaking about the dead, my uncle makes sure to hit his fisted hand on any object that looks grainy a...

Today’s poem is Feeding the Koi by Rosanna Young Oh. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. We’re taking a break this week, so we’re running some of our favorite episodes from this season so far. This episode was originally released on 11/02/2023. In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s poem exemplifies those moments when sometimes we cannot speak or act on our truth because of debilitating fea...

Today’s poem is this is a library by Asiya Wadud. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. We’re taking a break this week, so we’re running some of our favorite episodes from this season so far. This episode was originally released on 07/26/2023. In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s empathetic poem, which takes the tone of an elementary school primer, encourages a greater noticing of those who...

Today’s poem is Love Poem, with Birds by Barbara Kingsolver. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. This week, in honor of Valentine’s Day, we’re revisiting some of our favorite episodes on love. This episode was originally released on September 15, 2023. In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s poem gives voice to the intimidating feeling of competing with a partner’s personal passion. However...