The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily

Latest Episodes:

1358: Parts of a Body House by Erika Meitner Sep 23, 2025

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Today’s poem is Parts of a Body House by Erika Meitner.

The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “It struck me recently how much technology has changed our relationships with our bodies. There are devices that tell us how well (or poorly) we slept the night before, how many steps we took in a given day, what our heart rate is when we work out. We have access to more data about our physical selves than ever, and we don’t even need to go to the doctor to get that data. We also have access to our own image more than ever before. I know that technology has made me more aware of my body and my face, because I see myself so often: on Zoom, on Facetime, in selfies.”

Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

1357: Country Night by Laura Newbern Sep 22, 2025

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Today’s poem is Country Night by Laura Newbern. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Today’s poem touched me because it made me think of my grandmother. It made me think of her care, but also about the life she had after her marriage ended. I know her life didn’t look the way she’d expected it would. I wish it had been easier. Still, she could whistle like a songbird.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

1356: The Song of Songs of Songs of Songs by Jeremy Radin Sep 19, 2025

Show notes

Today’s poem is The Song of Songs of Songs of Songs by Jeremy Radin. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Today’s poem is one of my favorite kinds of poems—a list. And not any list, but a list of similes. This poet builds bridge after bridge, line after line. Don’t worry—I won’t give you homework, but maybe, just maybe, after listening to this poem, you’ll be inspired to make a list of your own. I wonder what bridges you might build.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

1355: Rancho Bar by Margot Kahn Sep 18, 2025

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Today’s poem is Rancho Bar by Margot Kahn. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Today’s poem looks, tenderly, at two siblings attempting to close the distance between them. The poem is made even more poignant by the fact that its setting, a bar in California, has since burned down in a wildfire.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

1354: Checkout by Caroline Bird Sep 17, 2025

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Today’s poem is Checkout by Caroline Bird. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “I’m willing to bet that no one on their death bed says, “I wish I’d spent more time at the office.” No one, taking stock of their life in those final days and moments, is thinking about spreadsheets or profits or ROI - Return on Investment. I can imagine what I’ll be thinking about at the end of my life: my beloveds, and the beauty of this place I’ve called home, and the memories I treasure most.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

1353: Alive at the End of the World by Saeed Jones Sep 16, 2025

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Today’s poem is Alive at the End of the World by Saeed Jones. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Today’s poem invites us to look at ourselves at this moment of extreme, ongoing gun violence in America. And to think about our own responses, time after time after time.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

1352: Blue by Jodie Hollander Sep 15, 2025

Show notes

Today’s poem is Blue by Jodie Hollander.

The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Today’s poem speaks to how we all see the world—and our lives—with completely unique eyes. With a vision colored by our own experiences.”

Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

1351: The Happy Middle by Hedgie Choi Sep 12, 2025

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Today’s poem is The Happy Middle by Hedgie Choi. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Today’s poem walloped me with its authentic intelligence. Even in her grief, this poem’s speaker envisions her situation from a different perspective. This poem imagines so artfully, I think you’ll want to revisit it a second time, and then a third. That is the power of authentic intelligence.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

1350: Real Estate by Richard Siken Sep 11, 2025

Show notes

Today’s poem is Real Estate by Richard Siken. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Today’s poem unpacks some of what happens when families change, because of death or divorce or other upheavals. I admire the way it looks not only at the variables—what must necessarily change—but also at the constants.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

1349: Sati by Vandana Khanna Sep 10, 2025

Show notes

Today’s poem is Sati by Vandana Khanna. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Today’s poem is a persona poem from the point of view of a Hindu goddess, Sati. The practice of a widow throwing herself on her husband’s funeral pyre is named after Sati, who, in this poem, gets to speak. I think you’ll be moved by what she has to say.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

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