The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily

Today’s poem is i love you to the moon & by Chen Chen. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, guest host Diannely Antigua writes… “The moon is about 238,855 (two hundred thirty-eight thousand, eight hundred fifty-five) miles away from Earth, which is roughly 30 Earths lined up end to end. But moonlight only takes about 1.3 seconds to reach us.The distance feels impossible, and yet the light arrives almost instantly. It makes me think about how love can work like that, too. How it can stretch across time and space and still arrive right when we need it.” 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

Today’s poem is There Is Always Space in My Life for More Life by Natasha Rao. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, guest host Diannely Antigua writes… “I firmly believe I became a poet because of my time in Spain. Something in me cracked open, and a little light came through. I came through. I learned that if I stepped outside the small world I’d been given, the loveliest things could happen. Today’s poem reminds me of the power of stepping into experience and coming away changed. It asks us to make room for the moments we didn’t know we needed.” 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

Today’s poem is Blue by Laura Villareal. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, guest host Diannely Antigua writes… “I believe color carries energy. It carries memory. I remember when I was young, coming home from the hospital after being sick. The teal paint on my bedroom walls suddenly felt overwhelming. It reminded me of sickness, of that version of myself I didn’t want to return to. A few days later, my dad and my uncle painted my walls a light beige. The color of cream. Or the pages of an old book. Or the color of my dog’s soft belly when she’d roll over, asking for a rub. I remember how calming it felt. How it erased what the room had previously carried and gave me the canvas to begin again.” 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

Today’s poem is At the End of a Good Week, the Van Broke Down by Mary Ardery. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Poetry, instead of asking questions like How did I get here? or What should I do? often deals more with the senses. Questions like What did it look like? How does it sound, taste, feel? Questions that ask us to witness. Much of the advice we receive assumes we have a level of control. But life doesn’t always work like that. We’re so often rolling with the punches, trying to hold our sorrows, or, to wring out a little pleasure and joy along the way.” 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

Today’s poem is Isobutyl Nitrite by Kieron Walquist.The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “In today’s poem, the speaker feels something awaken in him while watching the film “Remember the Titans.” The poem weaves together the pain and the beauty of desire, which can become so knotted in our teen years. It leaves the reader a little breathless, like only a crush can.”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

Today’s poem is Liquefying by Chloe Yelena Miller. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Poets use language the way an artist uses paint, the way sculptors use clay. It’s our material. We have to use it wisely, not only as craftspeople but as humans who care about others. The way today’s poem talks about vision — and vision problems — is original, and vulnerable, and full of nuance. It uses the idea of vision to speak not only into the future, but also, into the past.”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

Today’s poem is True Story by Camille T. Dungy. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Today’s poem examines the many possibilities of giving love in a temporary world.” 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

Today’s poem is Climacteric by Kelly Gray. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Midlife is a strange season. I find myself both embracing the changes to my life and also grieving a little. Some doors are closing as others open. My kids are almost grown. I’m nearing the end of a long and much-loved era.”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