The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily

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1549: Thirst Trap by Caleb Curtiss
01-07-2026 | 6 Min.
Today’s poem is Thirst Trap by Caleb Curtiss.

The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “People post seductive selfies for all kinds of reasons. They might want validation in the forms of likes and comments. They might be single and hoping to meet someone online. They might be trying to build a following, or promote a product. Someone’s face or body is going to grab a lot more eyes on social media than text on a plain background. Which means we’re often attaching our bodies to our labor or art. Regardless of how you feel about this, it is, in a way, deeply intimate.”

This show is made possible by gifts from listeners. Support The Slowdown today. Slowdownshow.org/donate
1548: You're Supposed to Enjoy Dying by Colin Pope
30-06-2026 | 6 Min.
Today’s poem is You're Supposed to Enjoy Dying by Colin Pope.

The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “There are so many things to fear — spiders, snakes, heights, deep water, the dark. I have a friend who is so fearful of rats, you can’t even say the word in her presence. I’d say that most of these fears are rational. Snakes and spiders can bite, and some are venomous. You could drown in deep water or fall from a great height. The one thing that humans seem almost universally afraid of is also the only part of life that is certain: death.”

This show is made possible by gifts from listeners. Support The Slowdown today. Slowdownshow.org/donate
1547: Northern Flicker Reconsidered by Susan Rich
29-06-2026 | 5 Min.
Today’s poem is Northern Flicker Reconsidered by Susan Rich.

The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Once, during a Q&A after a reading, a woman raised her hand to ask, ‘What’s with all the birds in your poems?’ I had to laugh. She was right: the hawks, grackles, and starlings of my neighborhood have called and swooped into many of my poems. I told her that birds are wildlife that we all have access to, no matter where we live. Birds are everywhere … in cities, in suburbs, in the country. They make cameo appearances in many of my poems, and sometimes they’re even the stars.”

This show is made possible by gifts from listeners. Support The Slowdown today. Slowdownshow.org/donate
1546: Pocket Dial by James Davis May
26-06-2026 | 5 Min.
Today’s poem is Pocket Dial by James Davis May.

The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes... "It’s a strangely intimate thing, the pocket dial. When we’re on the receiving end, we find ourselves listening from a tucked away place close to someone’s body. It’s a pitfall of carrying our devices with us. Previous generations, generations who grew up without cell phones, didn’t have to contend with things like pocket dials."

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
1545: Panis Angelicus by Carol Muske-Dukes
25-06-2026 | 6 Min.
Today’s poem is Panis Angelicus by Carol Muske-Dukes.

The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… "There is music everywhere — played from the stereos of passing cars, sung by unselfconscious walkers wearing headphones. There’s the slamming of screen doors. The barking dogs. The occasional siren. And those noises are a kind of music, too."

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

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Over 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.

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