1487: The Problem with Early Warnings by Charles Rafferty
06-04-2026 | 5 Min.
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.”
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1486: from Perihelion: A History of Touch by Franny Choi
03-04-2026 | 5 Min.
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
1485: Scheduling the Bone Scan by Katie Farris
02-04-2026 | 6 Min.
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
1484: Crossing by C. Rees
01-04-2026 | 6 Min.
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
1483: How to Write by Anne Waldman
31-03-2026 | 5 Min.
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
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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