The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily cover art

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily

By: American Public Media
Listen for free

About this listen

 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.Copyright 2026 Minnesota Public Radio Art Entertainment & Performing Arts
Episodes
  • 1460: Poem to Remind Myself of the Natural Order of Things by Donika Kelly

    1460: Poem to Remind Myself of the Natural Order of Things by Donika Kelly
    Feb 19 2026

    Today’s poem is Poem to Remind Myself of the Natural Order of Things by Donika Kelly.


    The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Today’s poem is such a beautiful meditation on knowing ourselves, and knowing what we need to be at home in our own lives.”


    Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp
    Show More Show Less
    6 mins
  • 1459: February by Jim Moore

    1459: February by Jim Moore
    Feb 18 2026

    Today’s poem is February by Jim Moore. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Despite February being my birth month, it is easily my least favorite month of the year. The winter weather in the Midwest is brutal. By mid-January, the twinkling lights and holiday cheer that make December bearable are gone. By February, I’m over it.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp
    Show More Show Less
    5 mins
  • 1458: on projection by Raena Shirali

    1458: on projection by Raena Shirali
    Feb 17 2026

    Today’s poem is on projection by Raena Shirali. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “One of the things I love about poetry—one of the things I look forward to, and revel in, as a reader and listener—is the way a poet can make the familiar strange. A familiar landscape, thanks to poetic language, can be transformed into something unfamiliar.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp
    Show More Show Less
    6 mins
No reviews yet
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.