The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily

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...

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 do...

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 tr...

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 deep...

Today’s poem is The Feeling by Ari Banias. 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 August 27, 2020. In this episode, Tracy writes… “We are living through what I want to believe is an awakening. Many people who have...

Today’s poem is Telling My Father by James Crews. 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 October 19, 2020. In this episode, Tracy writes… “Sometimes love looks like small things. Gentle gestures rich with import....

Today’s poem is Portrait of the Alcoholic with Withdrawal by Kaveh Akbar. 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 December 6, 2018. In this episode, Tracy writes, “One day I was a drinker; the next, I was an ex-dri...

Today’s poem is Listen, by Barbara Crooker. 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 October 19, 2020. In this episode, Tracy writes… “Today’s poem offers up a message of calm and gratitude. It's one I want to learn...

Today’s poem is I Have No Idea What's Going to Happen by Justin Marks. 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 February 24, 2023. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s understated...

Today’s poem is Egrets, While War by Tishani Doshi. 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 May 8, 2024. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s compelling poem honors the ancient a...

Today’s poem is Refusing Rilke's "You must change your life" by Remica Bingham-Risher. 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 24, 2024. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “I live...

Today’s poem is Try to Praise the Mutilated World by Adam Zagajewski, translated by Clare Cavanagh. 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 23, 2024. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Majo...

Today’s poem is If I Told Him, A Completed Portrait of Picasso by Gertrude Stein. 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 December 27, 2023. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s...

Today’s poem is I Imagine the Butches' Stripper Bar by Jill McDonough. 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 January 31, 2022. In this episode, former host Ada Limón writes… “One of my favorite mysteries of the univer...

Today’s poem is Song by Charif Shanahan. 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 12, 2022. In this episode, former host Ada Limón writes… “When I am really writing, really working on poems, which is often as a...

Today’s poem is Walking Across Fire Island by Shelley Wong. 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 6, 2022. In this episode, former host Ada Limón writes… “I love to walk, when I’m healthy and mobile enough to wa...

Today’s poem is Golden Age by Chris Santiago. 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 December 21, 2021. In this episode, former host Ada Limón writes… “When I was a kid, I loved falling asleep to the sound of the telev...

Today’s poem is Bruised Peaches by Bronwen Tate. 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 June 30, 2022. In this episode, former host Ada Limón writes… “Every Thursday when I take out the trash, I think about how I quant...

Today’s poem is Polaroid Ode by Cori Winrock. 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 October 21, 2019. In this episode, Tracy writes… “Today’s poem captures the look and feel and ceremony—with all its hope and dis...

Today’s poem is Kissing the Opelu by Donovan Kūhiō Colleps. 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 May 21, 2020. In this episode, Tracy writes… “Today’s poem speaks to me of ancestry, tradition, and the fluidity...

Today’s poem is What Does It Say by Tess Gallagher. 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 July 17, 2019. In this episode, Tracy writes… “When I packed up for college, back in 1990, I took sneakers and loafers. I...

Today’s poem is Someday I'll Love Ocean Vuong by Ocean Vuong. 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 May 18, 2020. In this episode, Tracy writes… “Today’s poem models another critical aspect of self-care: being ho...

Today’s poem is a brief meditation on breath by Yesenia Montilla. 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 October 19, 2020. In this episode, Tracy writes… “The whole time, I felt all of my senses struggle to decele...

Today’s poem is I Am Trying to Love the Whole World by Jenny Browne. 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 December 21, 2023. In this episode, Major writes… “If only we viewed observations of the natural world and meditat...

Today’s poem is Dear—, by DéLana R.A. Dameron. 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 November 9, 2023. In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s poem of rhyming couplets speaks a truth about loneliness; the wish for a susta...