The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily

Today’s poem is Olympians vs. Modernity by Adelaide Sendlenski. This week’s episodes are for, and feature, young poets. Adelaide, today’s co-host, is a dedicated tennis player. She’s so busy with school and sports that she writes poetry in the minutes between, thinking up lines while in motion. Today’s poem is one of her own, a poem which deftly connects the power of the Greek gods to the power we...

Today’s poem is Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley. This week’s episodes are for, and feature, young poets. Ever since taking on the role as host of The Slowdown, I’ve been thinking a lot more about the importance of performance in poetry. An organization that teaches this art to young people is Poetry Out Loud, for which I’ve served as a national judge; today’s co-host, Cat, participated as a per...

Today’s poem is Occasional Poem by Jaqueline Woodson. This week’s episodes are for, and feature, young poets. Today’s co-host, Jasper, and I share an entry point to poetry – music. In the songs he’s written, he seeks an honesty and perspective in relationships, which reflects so many great poems. Sometimes, the best way to make sense of something is to bring sound to it – whether the spoken word,...

Today’s poem is Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll. This week’s episodes are for, and feature, young poets. Our producers met up with Nova at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens while the cherry blossoms were in full bloom. And as much as she loved the pink blossoms, the poetry she’s created there comes from more unexpected places. She is a pro at embracing the strangeness of the world, at finding the quiet pl...

Today’s poem is Flesh (“You in your ecstasy of coffee”) by Deborah Landau. 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 becko...

Today’s poem is Hymn to Church Basements by Joan Kwon Glass. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s poem exalts the unadorned spaces where those on the journey to recovery find acceptance and community.” 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 Ethnic Arithmetic by Sara R. Burnett. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “One of the deeply harmful and insidious ways white supremacy wounds people is having them believe they are superior to (or less than), based merely on skin color. There’s a deep sadness in not seeing each other as whole human beings, in not recognizing the gift and potent...

Today’s poem is The Half-Finished Heaven by Tomas Tranströmer. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… "Contemporary art and poetry encourage uncertainty and a spirit of inquiry. If we are willing to let go of our frustration, abandoning the quest for meaning can be its own spiritual reward. Today’s extraordinary poem constructs a fascinating and dreamy space where...

Today’s poem is Four-in-Hand by Kweku Abimbola. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… "When I was young, I played basketball for hours. As much as I enjoyed playing back then with my friends, I loved shooting hoops even more with my dad. In my youth, we never lived together. I wince when I think of myself back then, always trying to dazzle him during visits or wh...

Today’s poem is Tea with Ann by Mary Brancaccio. In this episode, Major writes… “I had always thought my friendships would last forever, but life subverts the noblest of intentions. So, kudos to all those who have stayed friends without the aide of an algorithm or social media platform.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tiny...

Today’s poem is Worry (the Dybbuk) by Anthony Immergluck. 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 fu...

Today’s poem is To the Buyer of Our Old Home by Helen Pruitt Wallace. In this episode, Major writes… “If you are a writer, old houses are more than quaint. They send the imagination down the corridors of time. What did the children dream of? Which songs were sung? What stories did the elders share? What sadness fell upon their souls and how did they tend to their wounds?” Celebrate the power of po...

Today’s poem is La Peste by Marilyn Nelson. In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s poem states a truth about turbulent times. After sadness, fear, and uncertainty, we will inevitably feel that distinct sense of having surmounted some great hardship. This suffering makes life precious, and above all, makes our friends treasured. And may I suggest, that to follow this episode, you might queue up De...

Today’s poem is Last Night I Had Such Good Dreams by Jennifer Perrine. In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s poem points out that sometimes that voice streaming in our heads isn’t even our own. Sometimes words directed back to ourselves as lack of worth, the self-critiques that we vocalize, though of our own making, are sentiments put there by someone else.” Celebrate the power of poems with a g...

Today’s poem is Apologia by Cherene Sherrard. In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s poem, drawn from the language of biology, contains a strong and simple message about diversity in society.” 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 Learning Money in Reverse by Stephanie Niu. 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://ti...

Today’s poem is Diving at Blue Hole by Ally Young. In this episode, Major writes… “In the spirit of Walt Whitman who heard the chorus of voices that made America and its geography, today’s poem continues the rich tradition of celebrating a poetry of place, utterly unique and rich for its ability to cultivate its poets to sing our land into our literary record.” Celebrate the power of poems with a...

Today’s poem is from BOOK OF THE OTHER by Truong Tran. In this episode, Major writes… “Names carry family histories, maybe even indicate what region of the country we reside in, or from where our ancestors traveled. This is why it comes as an affront when someone fails to learn how to say our name or worse, makes up a name for us, like my fourth-grade teacher who, instead of learning to pronounce...

Today’s poem is And Everywhere Offering Human Sound by Joan Houlihan. In this episode, Major writes… “Through my many years of reading poetry, I feel as though I’ve absorbed other people’s stories and feelings. I strongly believe this has fortified me with a spirit of kindness, poetry as a daily pill of compassion. This is a grounding tenet in my belief in poetry as a communal and righteous good....

Today’s poem is The "I Want" Song by Rachel Richardson. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “On occasion, I question whether or not my desires are my desires. Or has my subconscious merely given into the massive amounts of stimuli of our modern age? For example, take this almond milk grande cappuccino with one-pump sugar-free vanilla syrup. Now that it sits on...

Today’s poem is Placebo by Preeti Vangani. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “When medical science runs its course, we desperately pursue other pathways to healing. Such was the case with my grandmother. Today’s poignant narrative poem highlights the extent of our vulnerability when we wish to save those we love.”

Today’s poem is To be brave, I look to the daffodil by Susan Nguyen. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “I live in that between space of Play it safe and Go for it. I mostly proceed with caution but then again, foolishly, I brave activities that put life and limb at risk, like jumping off a cliff into an unknown depth of water. Literally and figuratively. I’ve...

Today’s poem is from LET IT BE BROKE by Ed Pavlić. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s poem celebrates the bonding that occurs when music and art are at the center of our treasured relationships. There is gratitude for the ways we learn to talk to each other as family and friends, that make music a spiritual bridge across time.”

Today’s poem is Forestbathing (or Trees) by francine j. harris. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “As we stroll slowly beneath the earth’s giants, amidst fungi, moss, lichen, and ferns, we are being workshopped in dappled light. What’s restorative isn’t merely the smells and sounds of woodlands, chirping birds and glimpses of wildlife. We are forced to confro...

Today’s poem is I Was Wrong About So Much by Eugenia Leigh. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s poem exquisitely models one of my new and favorite acts of speech, that moment when we hold ourselves accountable for our mishaps and make amends — which feels like taking time to grow.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every d...