The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily

1439: I Have Lost It by Monica Ferrell

Today’s poem is I Have Lost It by Monica Ferrell. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “I’ve misplaced—or lost—many things in my life, but a few come to mind because losing them pained me. A few Polaroid pictures of a loved one who’s gone now. Some vintage clothes I was attached to. A long handwritten letter. At first, losing those irreplaceable items felt like losing the keys to that loved one, that place, that time. But I eventually realized the doors to those memories are still there — and to my surprise, they’re always unlocked. I can open them with my mind … my imagination … whenever I want. Do I wish I still had the things I treasured—the keys to those doors? Yes, of course I do. But I don’t need them.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

1438: The Long Now by Robin Beth Schaer

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 have the answers, and we don’t need to pretend to have them. Instead we can listen, stay open, and honor our kids’ curiosity and wonder. Honor the poets and philosophers that they are.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

1437: Now that we’ve been married all these years, by Keetje Kuipers

Today’s poem is Now that we’ve been married all these years, by Keetje Kuipers. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… "I can remember a few “beforetimes” in my own life, though some are foggier than others. It’s hard for me to clearly imagine the life I had before my kids. It’s also hard for me to conjure the life I had with my ex-husband, and the life I had before him. Now is so… well, present. I’m happy, and I feel like my life is as it should be. I don’t want to go back. But the past is never really past; it’s with us, because it changes us. The past shaped who we are in the present. Today’s poem is a love poem, one in which the long-married speaker can hardly imagine their own “beforetimes”—the life before their spouse."Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

1436: Vacation by Sara Moore Wagner

Today’s poem is Vacation by Sara Moore Wagner. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “It feels like a quintessential American experience, taking your kids to the beach. I remember trips to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and Ocean City, Maryland, when I was young — road trips in the family minivan, because it was more affordable to get a family of five to the coast by car than by plane. (My first flight wasn’t until I was twenty years old, but that’s another story for another day.)” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

1435: ars poetica, 2019 by Airea D. Matthews

Today’s poem is ars poetica, 2019 by Airea D. Matthews. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “I love poetry. Of course I do—I’m hosting this show every weekday! And you’re here, listening, so I think we have this love of poetry in common. But I also know people who are a little uneasy with poetry. I’ve met plenty of people who’ve confessed to me, ‘I love to read, but I don’t get poetry.’ Or they might simply say, ‘I’m not a poetry person.’” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp