The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily
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.
Episodes
The Slowdown is taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes. This encore episode was originally released on April 3, 2026.
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&rdq...
The Slowdown is taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes. This encore episode was originally released on January 20, 2026.
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 hav...
The Slowdown is taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes. This encore episode was originally released on September 18, 2026.
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 th...
The Slowdown is taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes. This encore episode was originally released on August 28, 2025.
Today’s poem is From the Sky by Sara Abou Rashed.
The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “When I think about ways to foster empathy, perspective, and care, one of those ways is poetry. I know poetry can’t stop bombs from falling...
The Slowdown is taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes. This encore episode was originally released on February 25, 2026.
Today’s poem is Somewhere Else by Adam J. Gellings.
The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “I was born at 4:30 in the afternoon on a cold Sunday in February. All of this is either useless information — time of day, day of the ...
The Slowdown is taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes. Today’s encore episode was originally released on February 27, 2026.
Today’s poem is Poem about everything except— by Amy Lemmon.
The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “I was drawn to today’s poem from the get-go because of its title: ”Poem about everything except—.&r...
The Slowdown is taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes. Today’s encore episode was originally released on March 30, 2026.
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 experi...
The Slowdown is taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes. Today’s encore episode was originally released on December 4, 2025.
Today’s poem is Go by Kathleen Ossip.
The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Other poems are like strands of pearls, long and lustrous and nearly impossible to gather into your hands all at once.”
Celebrate the pow...
The Slowdown is taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes. Today’s encore episode was originally released on November 3, 2025.
Today’s poem is Different Kinds of Sadness by Jenny Molberg.
The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “When I lost my joy, my generous friends were there. It can be so hard to accept help from others, especially if you pride yo...
The Slowdown is taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes. Today’s encore episode was originally released on March 4, 2026.
Today’s poem is Pardon My Heart by Marcus Jackson.
The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “If I had a different kind of heart, a tougher heart, would I be able to see what’s happening in the world around me and not feel ...
Today’s poem is What I Am Telling You, Jessica, Is That Those Chickens Are Fine by K.T. Landon.
The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Several of our neighbors have backyard coops, and occasionally we’re offered fresh eggs. Unfortunately, the raccoons and possums (and maybe even a fox) have encountered the chickens, too. There are fewer now.”
This show is sup...
Today’s poem is ode to the afternoon by Zeina Hashem Beck.
The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “‘Que Sera Sera’ is a song I remember my mother singing when I was small. Which is fitting, as the song opens with these words: ‘When I was just a little girl I asked my mother what will I be.’ I remember part of the chorus well: ‘Que Sera Sera, what...
Today’s poem is Black Fairy Tale by Elizabeth Spires.
The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “When I was old enough, I found my way to the collected Brothers Grimm, but even then I wasn’t quite old enough for the violence I found inside. Cinderella’s sisters butchered their own feet to try to fit into the glass slipper! That bloody plot detail certainly wasn&rsqu...
Today’s poem is Dialogue with the Oldest Tree in the U.S., whose Location is a Closely-Guarded Forest Service Secret by Nina Sudhakar.
The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “I like to think that I’m still growing as a person. That every year I become older, I truly grow older, developing some new part of myself. Conversations about aging so often dwell on preserving wh...
Today’s poem is Summer Strawberries by Cat Wei.
The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “We move through life with so many doors opening and closing all around us. One of the gifts and burdens of being human is being aware of time, and impermanence, and our own mortality. That awareness keeps us grateful for what we have, but it can also make us fearful to lose what we have. ...
Today’s poem is Guava Jelly by Quinn Franzen.
The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Sometimes, as we see in today’s poem, even when things are difficult, even just the smallest bit of sweetness helps.”
This show is supported by gifts from listeners. Support The Slowdown with a donation today.
Slowdownshow.org/donate
Today’s poem is Wabi-Sabi by Catherine Esposito Prescott.
The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “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.”
This show is supported by gifts from listeners. Support The Slowdown with a donation today.
Slowdownshow.org/donate
Today’s poem is Someday by Mary Oliver.
The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “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.”
This show is supported by gifts from listeners. Support The Slowdown with a donation today.
Slowdownshow.org/donate
Today’s poem is Panegyric by Leila Farjami.
The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Poems that engage with war and grief are texts that communicate to us in ways that news articles about war, and loss, and grief cannot. An article might tell us what happened, who died, how many casualties there were. It should provide facts as to who, what, where, when, and how. It might eve...
Today’s poem is Assistance by Abbie Kiefer.
The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “I famously have a brown thumb, as they call it. For as much as I love trees and appreciate flowers when I see them, I haven’t thought to plant and tend to them myself. For as much as I love fresh cucumber and zucchini and herbs, I’ve never planted them. Maybe someday that will cha...
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