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American Public Media

Host Maggie Smith is your daily poetry companion. Poetry is one of the greatest tools we have to wield our own attention — to consider our own lives and the lives of others, to help us live creatively and compassionately, to use that attention to lean into wonder, and joy, and truth, and to find hope — to keep hoping. The Slowdown community knows that reflecting on a poem, every weekday, can connect us to our inner world and the world around us. Listen as you make your morning coffee, as you go on a walk in your neighborhood, as you pull away from the to-do list, as you resist the dismal, endless scroll to share five minutes of perspective through the lens of poetry, from poets old and new, well-loved and emerging onto the scene. Brought to you by American Public Media, in partnership with the Poetry Foundation.

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily

Today’s poem is Sonnet Overheard at Phone Booth by Elane Kim. 

The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “The sonnet has survived multiple centuries by always adapting. In a contemporary sonnet, poets are altering its shape and rethinking what the container can hold. Women in particular have transformed the formal tradition of the sonnet in America — poets like Wanda Coleman, who invented the unrhymed American Sonnet. Other women who helped transform the contemporary sonnet are Gwendolyn Brooks, Rita Dove, Patricia Smith, Monica Youn, and Diane Seuss. Today’s poet is part of this tradition. If a sonnet is about turning to the unexpected, then the poet takes it further by looking in unexpected places.” 

This show is supported by gifts from listeners. Support The Slowdown with a donation and get access to the sponsor-free version of The Slowdown today. Slowdownshow.org/donate

1489: Sonnet Overheard at Phone Booth by Elane Kim

Today’s poem is Anniversary by Edward Salem. 

The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Cemeteries are peaceful, reverent places, and yet they’re places I don’t visit regularly — not unless I’m birding, apparently. If I want to feel close to someone I’ve lost, I’m more likely to look at photos, or tell stories, or listen to songs that remind me of them. And yes, I’m likely to write about them. That’s part of how I honor their memory and keep them close.” 

This show is supported by gifts from listeners. Support The Slowdown with a donation and get access to the sponsor-free version of The Slowdown today. Slowdownshow.org/donate

1488: Anniversary by Edward Salem

Today’s poem is The Problem With Early Warnings by Charles Rafferty. 

The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “You’ve probably heard the boiling frog theory. It goes like this: If a frog is dropped into a pot of tepid water that is slowly heated, the creature won’t perceive the danger until it’s too late — when the water is finally boiling, and it’s cooked to death. But if a frog is dropped directly into boiling water, it will jump out immediately, saving itself. I don’t need to tell you that in this analogy, we’re the frog. We’re in hot water that keeps getting hotter. So why aren’t more of us jumping? Why are we slow to react? This analogy suggests that it’s because the water didn’t start out boiling. We’ve been slowly acclimating to the increase in temperature — or rather, the increase in danger.” 

This show is supported by gifts from listeners. Support The Slowdown with a donation and get access to the sponsor-free version of The Slowdown today. Slowdownshow.org/donate

1487: The Problem with Early Warnings by Charles Rafferty

Today’s poem is from Perihelion: A History of Touch by Franny Choi. 

The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Today’s poem is about the snow moon, the first full moon of February. The explanation behind the name “snow moon” is fairly straightforward: February is often the snowiest month. After reading this quiet stunner of a poem, I was inspired to turn on one of my favorite Nick Drake songs, “Pink Moon.” I highly recommend this poem/song pairing.” 

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

1486: from Perihelion: A History of Touch by Franny Choi

Today’s poem is Scheduling the Bone Scan by Katie Farris. 

The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “I know our hearing involves sound waves and the structures of the ear, but I wouldn’t have been able to explain it in depth or draw you a diagram. So I did a little research, and as I suspected, there is plenty of poetry — by which I mean music and mystery — in the science.” 

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

1485: Scheduling the Bone Scan by Katie Farris

Today’s poem is Crossing by C. Rees. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Today’s poem carries us to the Delaware River, cold and dark in winter, and also a place that feels both beautiful and haunted.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

1484: Crossing by C. Rees

Today’s poem is How to Write by Anne Waldman. 

The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Consciousness is just … exhausting sometimes, isn’t it? There’s no “power down” mode for our minds like there is for the devices we use: laptops and phones and televisions. Being a human is sort of like having 24/7 screentime, but the screen is your own mind, and there’s no real way to turn it off — none that’s worked for me, anyway.”

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

1483: How to Write by Anne Waldman

Today’s poem is XII. Southern Constellations by Brandon Kilbourne. 

The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “No matter where I am in the world, no matter what beautiful landscape I might find myself in, no matter what new experience I might be having, I feel the pull of home. I don’t mean home as in place. I mean home as in people.” 

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

1482: XII. Southern Constellations by Brandon Kilbourne

Today’s poem is What Is This Air Changing, This Warm Aura, These Threads of Air Vibrating Rows of People by Ariel Yelen. 

The Slowdown is taking a week to return to some of our favorite episodes from Maggie’s tenure so far. We’ll be back on Monday, March 30 with new episodes. 

Today’s episode was originally released on October 24, 2025. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Going to the elementary school choir concerts and winter music festivals, I got teary every time the kids sang. I told myself it was because of their sweet, little-kid voices, but that’s not the whole story. Something about hearing voices in unison—it’s powerful, and communal, and comforting, and deeply moving.” 

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

[encore] 1381: What Is This Air Changing, This Warm Aura, These Threads of Air Vibrating Rows of People by Ariel Yelen

Today’s poem is Poem to Remind Myself of the Natural Order of Things by Donika Kelly. 

The Slowdown is taking a week to return to some of our favorite episodes from Maggie’s tenure so far. We’ll be back on Monday, March 30 with new episodes. Today’s episode was originally released on February 19, 2026. 

In this episode, Maggie writes… “Today’s poem is such a beautiful meditation on knowing ourselves, and knowing what we need to be at home in our own lives.” 

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

1483: How to Write by Anne Waldman

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