1501: at the baggage claim in JFK by Lo Naylor

Today’s poem is at the baggage claim in JFK by Lo Naylor. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “When I’m preparing for a multi-city book tour, I’m not nervous about reading in front of people or answering questions or finding my way around a strange place. I’m nervous about getting where I’m going. And with somewhat regular government shutdowns impacting TSA these days, those nerves aren’t coming from nowhere! But there are so many beautiful moments in airports, if you pay attention: parents comforting children, or occupying them with silly games; couples excited to be going on a trip together; teams of uniformed student athletes traveling to, or from, a big game.” 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

Today’s poem is You believed only a girl born of dandelion can be ferocious by Purvi Shah.The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Poems are meant to live in the air, to be read aloud, but I also know that form follows function. I want to see the choices the poet made when crafting the piece. Is the poem in couplets, tercets, or sturdy quatrains? Is it in one unbroken stanza with no white space? When I read a poem, knowing that form has the opportunity to enact, or at least reinforce, the content, I learn from the poet’s choices. The stanza shape and length is an opportunity to embody something in the poem, so what did the poet go with? Maybe they chose couplets for a poem about two lovers or a parent and child. Or a prose poem for a piece that is more narrative and casually spoken. Or maybe the poem “explodes” across the field of the page, fragmented and uncontained.” 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

Today’s poem is Spring in War-Time by Sara Teasdale. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “I’m sure you’ve also seen the news stories, or at least social media takes, theorizing on the potential for a military draft. I have a son, and surely many of you listening have sons, too. “Operation Epic Fury” is what I feel, as a mother, when I think about men like Trump and Hegseth possibly, someday, sending my son and yours needlessly into harm’s way. Meanwhile, it’s spring. The earth feels set on creating more life. It’s sunny in central Ohio, and the Bradford Pears and the Redbud trees and the Magnolias are blooming. My yard is overrun with violets and dandelions. Later today my son — my only son — will mow it.” 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

Today’s poem is Twenty Questions by Jayrold Trasporte.The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Today’s poem is full of questions but doesn’t circle on a single, winning answer. Instead, it finds possibility — and poetry — in the spaces between yes and no.” 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

Today’s poem is Intaglio by Emma Aylor.The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “When we hear the word “print’ in regards to a painting, we might think of a copy or duplicate — in other words, not the real thing. There’s Gustav Klimt’s famous painting “The Kiss,” worth millions of dollars, and then there are poster prints of the original, which anyone can buy and hang in their home. Printmaking as a technology began just before the invention of movable type allowed for the mass production of books — in both cases, opening the floodgates of knowledge and ideas. Today, many forms of printmaking are practiced as a craft and as an art. Some printmaking, like intaglio, is used to create both limited-edition art that would hang in a museum or a piece of paper money.”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

Today’s poem is Love Song to the Alpacas of Solomon Lane by Kenzie Allen. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “I have a soft spot for poems that center animals, and there are many such poems. I’m thinking about the horse in James Wright’s famous poem, “A Blessing.” I’m thinking about the poor dead goat in Brigit Pegeen Kelly’s poem “Song,” which might just be my favorite poem of all time. (It’s so hard to choose just one!)” 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

Today’s poem is Pathway by Paula Bohince. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “What if we saw turning to community not as a sign of weakness, but as a sign of wealth — an acknowledgement that we are so rich with support, so rich with friendship. And beyond that, I think of community as being broader than just people. Isn’t place part of community? The creatures, the landscape, the trees and plants. When I feel grounded in a place, I have a sense of being held. You can see love everywhere if you look closely enough.” 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

Today’s poem is Graduation by Edgar Kunz. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Today’s poem reminds me that even when distance is necessary — or imposed — love and memory are tethers that are elastic. They stretch to accommodate separation. And if we’re lucky, they stretch as needed but don’t snap.” 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

Today’s poem is Stadium by Heather Tone. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Meditation on death awareness, called maranasati, is one of the oldest practices in all Buddhist traditions. It may seem morbid to make a practice from contemplating your own death while you’re still alive, but the idea of your death is probably affecting the way you live.” 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

Today’s poem is Community by Emily Bright. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “I want our house to be a place where anyone can be themselves and know they are with people who care about them, people they can trust. I want my friends and my kids’ friends to feel safe and comfortable, to relax and have fun, and to leave feeling ready to face the world outside, which isn’t always as warm and welcoming as I’d like it to be. Today’s poem is about how the small things we offer one another — meals, conversation, a soft place to land — are not small at all. They’re everything.” 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