The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “We call an ending “resonant” because it does what a bell does: After it’s rung, the vibration lingers. It reverberates. It sticks with you long after you’ve read the piece, humming in your head. Today’s poem is beautiful start to finish, but the ending astonished me. It moved me to tears, which caught me by surprise! If you don’t know this poem, I’m envious that you get to experience it for the first time.”
This show is supported by gifts from listeners. Power your daily dose of poetry at Slowdownshow.org/donate
1553: When you have to remind me to do the dishes by Isaac Pickell
2026-07-07 | 5 mins.
Today’s poem is When you have to remind me to do the dishes by Isaac Pickell.
The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “When I think back to my own upbringing and what I learned from my mother and father, almost none of it has to do with growing up as a girl. I got my work ethic, sense of humor, and sense of fairness from both of them. I remind myself of all of that whenever I wonder if my son is getting what he needs from me. And I remind myself that he has a village around him.”
This show is supported by gifts from listeners. Power your daily dose of poetry at Slowdownshow.org/donate
1552: Mother Church No. 3 by Robin Coste Lewis
2026-07-06 | 6 mins.
Today’s poem is Mother Church No. 3 by Robin Coste Lewis.
The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “It’s incredible to me that less than two hours from my home in the Midwestern suburbs is an enormous ancient earthwork. But that’s the thing about history — it layers on top of itself in unexpected ways. No matter where you live in the United States, you live on land that has long been home to Indigenous people.”
This show is supported by gifts from listeners. Support us today. Slowdownshow.org/donate
1551: Laurelhurst by David Biespiel
2026-07-03 | 7 mins.
Today’s poem is Laurelhurst by David Biespiel.
The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Today’s poem makes its many, intentional observations at the pace of a good, long walk.”
This show is made possible by gifts from listeners. Support The Slowdown today. Slowdownshow.org/donate
1550: The Interpretation of Dreams by Kate Farrell
2026-07-02 | 6 mins.
Today’s poem is The Interpretation of Dreams by Kate Farrell.
The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “The grand adventures or scary disasters that happen in our sleep are most interesting to the dreamers themselves, because a dream is a window into the subconscious. It’s a little peek into what your mind is actually chewing on, maybe without you even realizing it. You thought you were over that thing a friend said to you, or that awkward situation at work, but when it popped up in your dream, you realized no, it’s still on your mind.”
This show is made possible by gifts from listeners. Support The Slowdown today. Slowdownshow.org/donate
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.
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