"The Disney versions of fairy tales don’t reflect the gray areas of real life, and they don’t even reflect the traditional versions of these stories," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in episode 1574. Read "Black Fairy Tale" by Elizabeth Spires, from ANNONCIADE: bit.ly/4bYM8ko

"The histories that trees hold ... are at the heart of today’s poem," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in episode 1573. Read “Dialogue with the Oldest Tree in the U.S., whose Location is a Closely-Guarded Forest Service Secret” by @ninasudhakar.bsky.social: bit.ly/4gbFNo9

"Sometimes, as we see in today’s poem, it’s difficult not to wonder if life will go on as expected, and if traditions will continue, or if we’re experiencing the end of an era," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in episode 1572. Read "Summer Strawberries" by Cat Wei: bit.ly/4xa81FE 🍓

“Sometimes, as we see in today’s poem, even when things are difficult, even just the smallest bit of sweetness helps," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in episode 1571 of The Slowdown. Read "Guava Jelly" by Quinn Franzen and our full episode transcript: bit.ly/3TLKCvG

"Today’s poem invites us to celebrate what is, rather than what could be — so it invites us to accept ourselves exactly as we are," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in episode 1570. Read "Wabi-Sabi" by Catherine Esposito Prescott and our full episode transcript: bit.ly/3RqihKO

"You have one of our listeners to thank for today’s poem — well, one of our listeners for suggesting it, and the beloved Mary Oliver for writing it," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in episode 1569. Read “Someday” by Mary Oliver, from RED BIRD, and our full episode transcript: bit.ly/3TKQPYK

"One of the best arguments for what poetry can do, what it’s for, how it can serve us, is that poetry says the unsayable," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in episode 1568. Read “Panegyric” by Leila Farjami, from DAUGHTER OF SALT: bit.ly/4vSqw04 📖: @triohousepress.org

"Maybe someday gardening will call to me and be just what I need," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in episode 1567 of The Slowdown. "In today’s poem, gardening is exactly what the speaker needs." Read "Assistance" by @abbiekiefer.bsky.social: bit.ly/4vQcyf8

"The speaker of today’s poem confesses something — and in doing so, with self-compassion and self-forgiveness, sets it down," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in episode 1566. Read "What I Wanted to Keep Private" by Melissa Crowe, from ABIDER: bit.ly/4yExjgE 📖: @upittpress.bsky.social

"When the words themselves are lost, so much can be lost with it: oral histories, traditions, and unique perspectives," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in episode 1565. Read “bilingual” by @mrmack88.bsky.social from SIPÈSTISYON: bit.ly/44Om9Z1 📖: @@yesyesbooks.bsky.social

"Grief is with us all the time because love is with us all the time," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in episode 1564. "Grief touches every part of our lives, because love touches every part of our lives." Read "Young Widow at the Kitchen Window" by @dsmpoet.bsky.social: bit.ly/45dnp8a

"Today’s poem is a villanelle, and its use of the word 'circuit' makes the repetition especially apropos," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in episode 1563. Read “Return Path” by @lesleymwheeler.bsky.social, from MYCOCOSMIC: bit.ly/4ffeAke 📖: @tupelopress.bsky.social

"Today's poem speaks to the way we show up for our friends ... and the ways we can be saved by our friendships, even long-distance ones," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in episode 1562. Read “Listening to Vespertine for Twenty Hours Straight" by @paradiselaust.bsky.social: bit.ly/4fr1UWk

Today’s poem was selected by one of our listeners: Rekha from Washington, D.C. "[It] shows us that we are part of nature," she shares. Read “So Much Space for Song” by James Crews — from TURNING TOWARD GRIEF — and our full episode transcript: bit.ly/4w94wzf 📖: @broadleafbooks.bsky.social

Not on our newsletter list? Sign up today at slowdownshow.org/newsletter to start each weekday with a poem delivered to your inbox. If you join this week, we'll send you a special postcard to either keep for yourself or mail to a loved one. Our little way of saying thanks for your support. 🖤

Today’s poem was selected by Abdulmueed from Oyo, Nigeria. "[It] urges us to take a pause in our day-to-day activities to reflect on our lives, to look around us, experience the little things." Read “Gratification to the survivors of daily damnations” by Oladejo Abdullah Feranmi: bit.ly/4vBgUa5

Today's poem was selected by a listener: J.D. from Texas. "[It's] a cheeky tableau of a grocery store where we get to see what we present to the world, but also what the world presents to us," J.D. shares. Read “Florida Doll Sonnet” by Denise Duhamel and Maureen Seaton: bit.ly/4hfcYrO

Today’s poem was selected by one of our listeners: Meghan from Pennsylvania. "[It's] determined to be hopeful in a way, and it's a kind of hope that seems to exist among all of it," Meghan shares. Read “Late Work” by Andrés Cerpa, from THE PALACE: bit.ly/4bcJPdl 📖: @alicejamesbooks.bsky.social

Today's poem was selected by one of our listeners: Prerna from Assam, India. "Today's poem takes me back to the timelessness of the pandemic," Prerna shares. Read "All Trains Are Going Local" by Timothy Liu, from DON'T GO BACK TO SLEEP: bit.ly/4vTItwa 📖: @saturnaliabooks.bsky.social

"I’ve read a lot of books over the years, and some have fundamentally changed not only the way I write but the way I think," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in episode 1556. "I mean books that broke everything wide open for me." Read “Articulation of Solace” by Yongyu Chen: bit.ly/4fgW0qK

"Wherever you live, you don’t have to be nice. But please be kind. We need more genuine, altruistic kindness in this world," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in today's episode, number 1555. Read "Kindness" by Naomi Shihab Nye and our full episode transcript: bit.ly/3SWtqTS

"The best punch lines catch you off guard, but they don’t come out of nowhere. They connect back to something while also springing you forward," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in episode 1554. Read “Nobody’s Job” by Ronna Bloom, from IN A RIPTIDE: bit.ly/4brc7Az

"Today’s poem grapples with parenting, and gender, and what we inherit — positive and negative — from the people who raised us," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in episode 1553. Read “When you have to remind me to do the dishes” by @isaacpickell.bsky.social: bit.ly/44clhNA

"No matter where you live in the U.S., you live on land that has long been home to Indigenous people," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in ep. 1552. "Today’s poem takes us to Ancestral Puebloan structures in New Mexico." Read "Mother Church No. 3" by @robincostelewis.bsky.social: bit.ly/4eZPhBf

“Today’s poem makes its many, intentional observations at the pace of a good, long walk," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in episode 1551. Read “Laurelhurst” by David Biespiel, from BEAUTIFUL IS THE WORLD: bit.ly/3QXlNfk 📖: @unboundedition.bsky.social

"Today’s poem makes a case for that deeply personal searching we do through our dreams, reflecting on one from the speaker’s childhood," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in episode 1550 of The Slowdown. Read "The Interpretation of Dreams" by Kate Farrell: bit.ly/4eU0aEq

"I’m awarding bonus points for a clever nod to Prufrock in a poem about a sexy selfie," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in episode 1549. Read "Thirst Trap" by @cdcurtiss.bsky.social, originally published in The Rumpus: bit.ly/4arVm87

"Our lives are understandably precious to us, and we don’t know how long we can keep them. Of course that causes anxiety," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in episode 1548. Read "You're Supposed to Enjoy Dying" by Colin Pope, from LOSERS: bit.ly/4ezt6CY 📖: @uwiscpress.bsky.social

An absolutely devastating poem from Ross Gay that took me out of commission for a solid half hour yesterday. Do it up!

The Slowdown@slowdownshow.org · 2mo ago

"Hope ... is something we all need more to combat the cruelty and cynicism of these times we’re enduring," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in episode 1529. Read "Prayer for My Unborn Niece or Nephew" by Ross Gay, from BRINGING THE SHOVEL DOWN: bit.ly/4uOcpsX 📖: @upittpress.bsky.social

This is one of my heart's poems: when I first read it years ago, something inside me said YES and never forgot it. I wrote it into my dissertation.

The Slowdown@slowdownshow.org · 2mo ago

"It’s in these moments that I learned how love moves," guest host Diannely Antigua shares in episode 1533. "It makes meaning out of what’s available and insists on joy." Read "The Good Life" by Tracy K. Smith, from LIFE ON MARS (@graywolfpress.bsky.social): bit.ly/443t3ch