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PODCAST

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily

Eliana Benavides

Poet Major Jackson is your guide on the pathways to feel and understand our common journey – through poetry. In sharing poems, we take a moment to pause and acknowledge the world’s magnitude, and how poets illuminate that mystery. Join The Slowdown for a poem and a moment of reflection in one short episode, every weekday. Produced by APM Studios in partnership with The Poetry Foundation and supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. Make us a

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All Episodes

5:22

1449: Nightline: September 20, 1982 by June Jordan

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily ·

2026/02/04

Today’s poem is Nightline: September 20, 1982 by June Jordan. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, guest host Samiya Bashir writes… “Today’s poem reminds me of the power of poetry to comment, to respond, to shed light and offer us space to form our own impressions of what the facts may mean. To decide, then, with the knowledge provided by our very own bodies, what we mean to do about it.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a

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5:59

1448: Orchestra by Russell Brakefield

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily ·

2026/02/03

Today’s poem is Orchestra by Russell Brakefield. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, guest host Samiya Bashir writes… “Restoration, like most things worthwhile, is far from simple. But we know, and this poet shows us, that by taking such deliberate steps toward doing recovery, repair, and renewal, in our poetry as well as in our environmental stewardship, we re-establish our own ability to live our own best lives.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown

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8:58

1447: Gratitude by Cornelius Eady

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily ·

2026/02/02

Today’s poem is Gratitude by Cornelius Eady. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, guest host Samiya Bashir writes… “Today’s poem makes a promise of its title, dresses it in flesh and bone, and tracks it across time. It’s a clear, bold promise that might actively change the future not only for its speaker, but for the world we all share.” 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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6:52

1445: Hackberry by Cecily Parks

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily ·

2026/01/29

Today’s poem is Hackberry by Cecily Parks. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Today’s poem is a kind of love poem—to a beloved tree, and to the sense of home it created.” 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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6:12

1444: Congratulations! Your Grief Is About to Stop...

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily ·

2026/01/28

Today’s poem is Congratulations! Your Grief Is About to Stop Being Relevant! by Bridget Bell. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Today’s poem captures a time of grief in the speaker’s life, when life goes a little quiet after a flurry of support and care.” 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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7:01

1443: Come Back! by Camille Guthrie

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily ·

2026/01/27

Today’s poem is Come Back! by Camille Guthrie. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “One of the poets I discovered in college was H.D.. Born Hilda Doolittle, she published under her initials. I remember being wowed by her poems, which were experimental and strange, unlike anything I’d read before—and unlike anything I’ve read since.” 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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6:11

1442: Apocatastasis by G.C. Waldrep

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily ·

2026/01/26

Today’s poem is Apocatastasis by G.C. Waldrep. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “When a poet, or a child, plays with figurative language, they explore the possibilities and the boundaries of the words we use to describe the world around us. Life will throw at us things that are hard or impossible to describe, both beautiful and awful things. So I think that kind of play isn't just a writing tool—it's a life skill.”Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to

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5:55

1440: New Year by Kate Baer

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily ·

2026/01/22

Today’s poem is New Year by Kate Baer. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Is it too late to wish you all a Happy New Year? I don’t think so. I don’t think there’s ever an expiration date on well wishes, and frankly, we need all the well wishes we can get for 2026!” 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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5:54

1439: I Have Lost It by Monica Ferrell

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily ·

2026/01/21

Today’s poem is I Have Lost It by Monica Ferrell. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “I’ve misplaced—or lost—many things in my life, but a few come to mind because losing them pained me. A few Polaroid pictures of a loved one who’s gone now. Some vintage clothes I was attached to. A long handwritten letter. At first, losing those irreplaceable items felt like losing the keys to that loved one, that place, that time. But I eventually realized the doors to those

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7:05

1438: The Long Now by Robin Beth Schaer

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily ·

2026/01/20

Today’s poem is The Long Now by Robin Beth Schaer. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Today’s poem addresses a child—a child full of questions about the world. It reminds me that as parents, we don’t need to have the answers, and we don’t need to pretend to have them. Instead we can listen, stay open, and honor our kids’ curiosity and wonder. Honor the poets and philosophers that they are.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every

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5:49

1437: Now that we’ve been married all these years, by...

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily ·

2026/01/19

Today’s poem is Now that we’ve been married all these years, by Keetje Kuipers. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… "I can remember a few “beforetimes” in my own life, though some are foggier than others. It’s hard for me to clearly imagine the life I had before my kids. It’s also hard for me to conjure the life I had with my ex-husband, and the life I had before him. Now is so… well, present. I’m happy, and I feel like my life is as it should be. I don’t want

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7:15

1436: Vacation by Sara Moore Wagner

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily ·

2026/01/16

Today’s poem is Vacation by Sara Moore Wagner. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “It feels like a quintessential American experience, taking your kids to the beach. I remember trips to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and Ocean City, Maryland, when I was young — road trips in the family minivan, because it was more affordable to get a family of five to the coast by car than by plane. (My first flight wasn’t until I was twenty years old, but that’s another story

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6:06

1432: The Good Guy by Blas Falconer

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily ·

2026/01/12

Today’s poem is The Good Guy by Blas Falconer. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Today’s poem touched me because it acknowledges the patience and tenderness we need to have as spouses and as parents. Relationships are a lot of work, and when you have children it adds another layer of love and another layer of work. Another level of consideration.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference:

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6:07

1429: Midlife Crisis by Jane Zwart

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily ·

2026/01/07

Today’s poem is Midlife Crisis by Jane Zwart. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Midlife has upended everything I thought about aging. It’s not at all what I expected. Certainly, when I was a child, I thought of people in their forties as old, and now that I’m closer to 50 than 40, I laugh at that. I feel … young! I feel younger, in many ways, than I did ten years ago. I admire how today’s poem describes time, and what it feels like to reach the middle of

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7:10

1428: In Defense of “Candelabra with Heads” by Nicole...

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily ·

2026/01/06

Today’s poem is In Defense of “Candelabra with Heads” by Nicole Sealey. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Today’s poem pulls back the curtain on the revision process, showing us how it’s about more than just the text on the page. The poet refers to an earlier poem of theirs, an ekphrastic poem based on a sculpture by Thomas Hirschhorn. His work “Candelabra with Heads” features mannequins bandaged in brown duct tape and hung from a wood frame. This poet

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6:23

1427: A toast to something beautiful flapping in the...

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily ·

2026/01/05

Today’s poem is A toast to something beautiful flapping in the wind by J. Hope Stein. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Once upon a time, I was a new mother with a baby girl in my arms, and I was her whole world. It was seventeen years ago, but sometimes I swear I can transport myself back there just by closing my eyes and taking a deep breath. I remember reading that a baby’s first three months of life are called the fourth trimester. Three trimesters are

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6:49

1426: One-Way Gate by Jenny George

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily ·

2026/01/02

Today’s poem is One-Way Gate by Jenny George.The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Sometimes I swear I can feel a life-changing moment as it’s happening. Some moments in life feel like walking through a doorway from one place or time into another. Like crossing a threshold. It’s often easier to see these thresholds from the other side, looking back. Retrospect is clearer than present perspective. But as I get older, I think I’m getting better at seeing

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7:33

1421: My 1994 by Stephanie Burt

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily ·

2025/12/26

Today’s poem is My 1994 by Stephanie Burt. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “In 1994 I was seventeen: my daughter’s age! I remember that as a time when I was trying to figure out who I was. But to some degree we’re always trying to figure that out, aren’t we?” 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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6:41

1419: Ladies' Arm Wrestling Match at the Blue Moon...

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily ·

2025/12/24

Today’s poem is Ladies' Arm Wrestling Match at the Blue Moon Diner by Jenny Johnson. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Today’s poem begins with a little advice that made me smile because of its sauciness, and the poem unfolds into such a rich, detailed portrait — not a portrait of a lady, but of ladies, shedding old expectations and claiming new power.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference:

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6:47

1418: Whitetail in the Rain Moving About by Melissa...

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily ·

2025/12/23

Today’s poem is Whitetail in the Rain Moving About by Melissa Ginsburg.The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Today’s poem moves quietly and deliberately, the way a cautious deer might walk from the shelter of the woods into a clearing. I love the sounds of this poem, and its pacing.” 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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