Podcast appearances and mentions of tracy k smith

Tracy K. Smith comes to Shakespeare and Company for a conversation with Adam Biles. They discuss her book Fear Less: Poetry in Perilous Times, a bold manifesto on poetry as a tool for deeper living, clearer thinking, and more compassionate citizenship. Drawing on her time as US Poet Laureate, Smith reflects on taking poetry to rural America, and how poems, unlike political debate, can open rather than entrench. She talks about the origins of Fear Less, and why she chose to write a love letter to the art form rather than a polemic. Smith also reads from her forthcoming collection The Forest, sharing new poems on war, complicity, the divine feminine, and an expansive, unsettling "us" that includes those we revile.Buy Fear Less: https://www.shakespeareandcompany.com/books/fear-less-4Tracy K. Smith was born in Massachusetts and raised in northern California. She earned a BA from Harvard University and an MFA in creative writing from Columbia University. From 1997 to 1999 she held a Stegner fellowship at Stanford University. Smith is the author of four books of poetry: The Body's Question (2003), which won the Cave Canem prize for the best first book by an African-American poet; Duende (2007), winner of the James Laughlin Award and the Essense Literary Award; Life on Mars (2011), winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry; and Wade in the Water (2018). In 2014 she was awarded the Academy of American Poets fellowship. She has also written a memoir, Ordinary Light (2015), which was a finalist for the National Book Award in nonfiction. Her latest book is Fear Less: Poetry in Perilous Times (2025). In June 2017, Smith was named U.S. poet laureate. She teaches at Harvard University, where she is a professor of English and of African and African American Studies and the Susan S. and Kenneth L. Wallach Professor at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute. Adam Biles is Literary Director at Shakespeare and Company.Listen to Alex Freiman's latest EP, In The Beginning: https://open.spotify.com/album/5iZYPMCUnG7xiCtsFCBlVa?si=h5x3FK1URq6SwH9Kb_SO3w Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today's poem is The Good Life by Tracy K. Smith. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, guest host Diannely Antigua writes… “When my grandmother took us kids to the pharmacy, she'd let us pick one snack to share. We always picked raspberry and creme cookies. We'd take our time with them, taking little bites of the buttery shortbread and jammy filling, savoring each one. Sometimes I'll buy those cookies just to remember how they once tasted like luxury. It's in these moments that I learned how love moves. It makes meaning out of what's available, and insists on joy. It makes something out of nothing.” 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 we're excited to share a bonus episode: the first episode of "PASSAGES: On Morrison," produced by our friends at Random House Publishing Group. This new podcast takes reading on the road, as Namwali Serpell — novelist, critic, and Harvard professor — joins fellow writers and skilled readers in conversation to pore over excerpts of Toni Morrison's prose. The show is the record of a traveling salon, a celebration of Morrison's extraordinary work, and a love letter to reading closely in community. You'll hear Serpell in conversation with poet and former host of The Slowdown, Tracy K. Smith. Together, they read the opening of THE BLUEST EYE, Toni Morrison's debut novel, and discuss all that the passage emits and erases. The second episode, featuring acclaimed poet and critic Hanif Abdurraqib, is also available to listen now wherever you get your podcasts.

Producer/Host: R.W. Estela Hi, I'm RW Estela: Since 1991, I've been presenting A Word in Edgewise, WERU's longest-running short feature, a veritable almanac of worldly and heavenly happenings, a confluence of 21st-century life in its myriad manifestations, international and domestic, cosmopolitan and rural, often revealing, as the French say, the more things change, the more they stay the same — though not always! Sometimes in addressing issues affecting our day-to-day lives, in this age of vagary and ambiguity, when chronological time is punctuated elliptically, things can quickly turn edgy and controversial, as we search for understanding amid our dialectic. Tune in Monday mornings at 7:30 a.m. for an exciting journey through space and time with a few notable birthdays thrown in for good measure during A Word in Edgewise . . . About the host: RW Estela was raised as a first-generation American in Colorado by a German mother and a Corsican-Basque father who would become a three-war veteran for the US Army, so RW was naturally a military brat and later engaged in various Vietnam-era civil-service adventures before paying his way through college by skiing for the University of Colorado, playing Boulder coffeehouses, and teaching. He has climbed all of Colorado's Fourteeners; found work as an FAA-certificated commercial pilot, a California-licensed building contractor, a publishing editor, a practitioner of Aikido, and a college professor of English; among his many interdisciplinary pursuits are the design and building of Terrell Residence Library (recently renamed the Terrell House Permaculture Living & Learning Center at the University of Maine), writing Building It In Two Languages (a bilingual dictionary of construction terminology), aerial photo documentation of two dam removals (Great Works and Veazie) on the Penobscot River, and once a week since 1991 drafting an installment of A Word In Edgewise, his essay series addressing issues affecting our day-to-day lives — and WERU's oldest continuous short feature. When pandemics do not interfere, he does the Triple Crown of Maine open-water ocean swims (Peaks to Portland, Islesboro Crossing, and Nubble Light Challenge) and the Whitewater Downriver Point Series of the Maine Canoe and Kayak Racing Organization. RW is the father of two and the grandfather of three and lives with his partner Kathleen of 37 years and their two Maine Coons in Orono. The post A Word in Edgewise 5/11/26: Merry Mount, Tracy K. Smith, & the Diamond Sutra . . . first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

A former US Poet Laureate has told FRANCE 24 how we should stop making poems feel like puzzles, and instead embrace them as a way to help us in our perilous times. Tracy K. Smith is now a Harvard professor and the author of five poetry collections, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Life on Mars". Her book "Fear Less: Poetry in Perilous Times", is being discussed here in Paris this Tuesday. She spoke to us in Perspective.

When Tracy K. Smith served as Poet Laureate of the United States, she used her platform to bring people together. In 2018, she traveled the country for a series called American Conversations: Celebrating Poems in Rural Communities. At these events, she encouraged people to share their thoughts, regardless of their background. While Tracy’s two terms as poet laureate ended in 2019, she is still using poetry to build connections. Her new book is Fear Less: Poetry in Perilous Times. GUEST: Tracy K. Smith: Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory at Harvard. She served as the 22nd Poet Laureate of the United States from 2017 to 2019. Her 2011 collection Life on Mars won the Pulitzer Prize. Her latest book is Fear Less: Poetry in Perilous Times. You can find both of the poems Tracy reads on this episode, "Everybody's Autobiography" and "Charity," online. Special thanks to our former interns Vy Duong and Talei Ricketson. This episode originally aired on November 14, 2025.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

These days I sometimes have to remind myself to keep breathing. I think this is true of human beings across all of our differences and divides. But in a room in New York City just before the turn of this year, I was regrounded by this fierce and joyous conversation with Joy Harjo and Tracy K. Smith.  I invite you to settle into your soft breathing body with these two wise women as companions and with a sense of poetry as a technology, as Tracy describes in her new book: a technology for rising to our truest, highest selves, even amidst grief and mystery and danger, and bearing witness to each other as we do so.  I think all of us in the room left a little more lighthearted and alive as this conversation unfolded. I hope that will be your experience too.  Tracy K. Smith and Joy Harjo are former U.S. poet laureates, beloved On Being guests, and friends. They are each wildly and deservedly awarded and not just as poets — Tracy also as a teacher and professor at Harvard, Joy as a saxophonist and painter. We were brought together at Symphony Space in Manhattan to celebrate their newest books: Fear Less by Tracy and Girl Warrior by Joy. Find an excellent transcript of this show, edited by humans, on our show page.  Sign yourself and others up for The Pause to be on our mailing list for all things On Being and to receive Krista's monthly Saturday newsletter, including a heads up on new episodes, special offerings, recommendations, and event invitations. Joy Harjo was the 23rd Poet Laureate of the United States. Among many honors, she has received the Poetry Society of America's Frost Medal and a National Humanities Medal. She is the inau­gur­al Artist-in-Res­i­dence for the Bob Dylan Cen­ter in Tul­sa, Okla­homa. She lives on the Musco­gee Nation Reser­va­tion in Oklahoma. Her new book of essays is Girl Warrior. Forthcoming in 2026 is her 12th book of poetry and a new album co-produced with esperanza spalding. Tracy K. Smith was the 22nd Poet Laureate of the United States. She teaches at Harvard University, where she is Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory, Professor of African and African American Studies, and Susan S. and Kenneth L. Wallach Professor at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute. Among her many honors, she has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry  and is a Chancellor of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Her new memoir is Fear Less. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

When Tracy K. Smith was named U.S. Poet Laureate in 2017, the country was in a fragile place. In her new book, Smith writes that, by then, “we'd come to find ourselves in a climate of language — I'd call it a national vocabulary — grounded in fear, derision, and the notion of an intractably divided nation.”But Smith believes that poetry rises above the grim jargon. In “Fear Less: Poetry in Perilous Times,” she describes poetry as a vehicle equipped to transport us beyond facts and figures to places where we may not even know we want or need to go. Smith joins Kerri Miller on this week's Big Books and Bold Ideas to explore how poetry is uniquely positioned to transform our understanding of each other. Along the way, they trade favorite poems, talk about why it's crucial that poetry be read out loud and discuss ways to make poetry more approachable — especially for those who only learned to diagram it in school. Guest: Tracy K. Smith is the Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory at Harvard University. She served as the 22nd Poet Laureate of the United States and is the author of five poetry collections, including the Pulitzer Prize–winning “Life on Mars.” Her newest book is “Fear Less: Poetry in Perilous Times.” Subscribe to the Thread newsletter for the latest book and author news and must-read recommendations.Subscribe to Big Books and Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS or anywhere you get your podcasts.

Five new On Being episodes will begin to roll out next week … We begin with the delightful beloved poets (and friends) Joy Harjo and Tracy K. Smith in conversation together with Krista. We move on to the neuroscientist Gül Dölen; a community of Israelis and Palestinians who will expand your heart and moral imagination; philosopher rabbi Shai Held; and, because we can't get enough of him, a wonderful new sit-down with Krista and Jason Reynolds on hope in this time and in friendship with the young in our world. All of them offer beauty and pragmatic nourishment for ourselves and for witnessing each other's hurt and each other's promise. There is searching and pondering on what love really means and how it works and what hope can mean in this world in which hopelessness feels so reasonable. And be prepared to be amazed in an introduction to majestic learning underway about new, transformative healing of our brains and our lives emerging from the frontier of psychedelically-assisted therapeutic treatments. Please help us spread the word, and join us! Sign yourself and others up for The Pause to be on our mailing list for all things On Being and to receive Krista's monthly Saturday newsletter, including a heads up on new episodes, special offerings, recommendations, and event invitations. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Tracy K. Smith, former poet laureate of the United States, shares some poetry, and her hopes for 2026. Plus, listeners, All Of It producers and Alison share their resolutions and aspirations for the new year.

For many, poetry is a balm. But for others, poetry feels inaccessible and hard to understand. In her latest book, “Fear Less: Poetry in Perilous Times” former U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith aims to make poetry less intimidating. We listen back to our conversation with Smith about how to read poems, how to “listen at the widest possible angle” and how to use poetry to connect to one another across our differences. Guests: Tracy K. Smith, former U.S. Poet Laureate; professor of English and of African and African American Studies, Harvard University - Smith's latest book is "Fear Less: Poetry in Perilous Times" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tracy K. Smith, Pulitzer Prize winning poet, former Poet Laureate of the United States from 2017 to 2019, professor of English and of African and African American Studies at Harvard University and the author of several poetry collections and her latest, Fear Less: Poetry in Perilous Times (Norton, 2025), talks about her new book, making the case for reading poetry and sharing her own writing process.

Tracy K. Smith on her Hello Kitty notebook, automatic writing, and the afterlife.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this special Sunday Sermon, we celebrate a monumental milestone: the 150th anniversary of Oceanside Sanctuary Church. Joining us to mark this occasion is guest speaker Yvonne Gilmore, who brings a powerful message on the legacy of "spiritual audacity" and the enduring power of community. Drawing from Psalm 46, Yvonne explores the concept of God not just as a static refuge, but as an active force that "stirs the oceans" and transforms landscapes. She weaves together the ancient wisdom of the Sons of Korah with the modern resilience found in Louis Armstrong's What a Wonderful World—reminding us that true hope is a practice we perform even in the midst of global turmoil. Listen in as we reflect on what it means to sing songs that hold true on both our best and worst days, and how a community deeply rooted in love can weather any storm to bring about a different manner of weather for the world. Key Themes & Takeaways Celebrating 150 Years: A look back at the "spiritual audacity" that has sustained the community for a century and a half. The Power of Psalm 46: Understanding God as a "very present help" who calls us to be still and know—not to withdraw, but to witness the shifting tides of justice. Songs of Resilience: How Louis Armstrong's masterpiece, recorded during a time of national unrest, mirrors the call to see beauty and grace despite chaos. Community as Refuge: Why our "best songs" are the ones we can sing together through both triumph and tragedy. Poetic Wisdom: Insights from Tracy K. Smith's poem An Old Story on how our collective singing can transform the atmosphere around us. Links Support the Work: oceansidesanctuary.org Chapters (00:00:00) - Welcome to Oceanside Sanctuary Church's Podcast(00:00:44) - Spirit of the Living God(00:03:20) - Psalm 46(00:04:51) - What a Wonderful World(00:13:16) - An Old Story: Songs of Refuge

Tracy K. Smith is a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, memoirist, editor, translator and librettist. She served as the 22nd Poet Laureate of the United States from 2017-2019. Smith is the author of five poetry collections: Such Color: New and Selected Poems, which won the 2022 New England Book Award; Wade in the Water, which was awarded the 2018 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award; Life on Mars, which won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize; Duende, winner of the 2006 James Laughlin Award of the Academy of American Poets; and The Body's Question, which received the 2003 Cave Canem Prize. Her memoir, Ordinary Light, was a finalist for the 2015 National Book Award in nonfiction. She is the Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory at Harvard University, and a Susan S. and Kenneth L. Wallach Professor at Harvard Radcliffe Institute. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For many, poetry is a balm. But for others, poetry feels inaccessible and hard to understand. In her latest book, “Fear Less: Poetry in Perilous Times” former U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith aims to make poetry less intimidating. We talk to Smith about how to read poems, how to “listen at the widest possible angle” and how to use poetry to connect to one another across our differences. Guests: Tracy K. Smith, former U.S. Poet Laureate; professor of English and of African and African American Studies, Harvard University - Smith's latest book is "Fear Less: Poetry in Perilous Times" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tracy K. Smith joins for the Breaking Form Interview to discuss her new book of prose about poetry, Fear Less.Please Support Breaking Form!Review the show on Apple Podcasts here.Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series.James's ROMANTIC COMEDY is available from Four Way Books.Show Notes:See Tracy K. Smith read from Life on Mars at the Kelly Writers' House .Here's a reminiscence of Lucie Brock-Broido by her student, Stephanie Burt. Read more Brock-Broido-isms on writing & wonderment here.Read Diane Seuss's "My Education," first published in Massachusetts Review and which appeared later in her 2024 book Modern Poetry.Joy Harjo's poem "She Had Some Horses" was published in the book of the same name by Thunder's Mouth Press in 1983 and reissued in 1997. The link is to the original poem Tracy reads on the show.Read reviews of Fear Less: Poetry in Perilous Times here, here, and here.Visit Tracy's website here. Two more poets who appear in Fear Less are Victoria Adukwei Bulley (Read her "The Ultra-Black Fish" & follow her on Instagram) and Francisco Marquez (read his "Provincetown") 

When Tracy K. Smith served as Poet Laureate of the United States, she used her platform to bring people together. In 2018, she traveled the country for a series called American Conversations: Celebrating Poems in Rural Communities. At these events, she encouraged people to share their thoughts, regardless of their background. While Tracy’s two terms as poet laureate ended in 2019, she is still using poetry to build connections. Her new book is Fear Less: Poetry in Perilous Times. GUEST: Tracy K. Smith: Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory at Harvard. She served as the 22nd Poet Laureate of the United States from 2017 to 2019. Her 2011 collection Life on Mars won the Pulitzer Prize. Her latest book is Fear Less: Poetry in Perilous Times. You can find both of the poems Tracy reads on this episode, "Everybody's Autobiography" and "Charity," online.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, former Poet Laureate Tracy K Smith talks with Jenn and Kelsey about the power of poetry to connect us with people and places outside of our lived experiences, to tell the story of humanity, and to build durable life skills. Slow down, listen, and feel. You'll be glad you did.

Also on Arizona Spotlight: Poet and author Tracy K. Smith to visit the Tucson Humanities Festival; Owl and Panther celebrates 30 years of hope; and one man's journey to becoming a full-time "worm wrangler".

Tracy K. Smith is the author of five poetry collections, including Such Color: New and Selected Poems; Wade in the Water, winner of the 2019 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award in Poetry, and shortlisted for the 2018 T. S. Eliot Prize. Her debut collection, The Body's Question, won the Cave Canem Poetry Prize in 2002. Her second book, Duende, won the 2006 James Laughlin Award from the Academy of American Poets. Her collection Life on Mars won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. She also edited the anthology American Journal: Fifty Poems for Our Time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's poem is Sleeping with the Chihuahua by Tami Haaland.The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We'll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we're going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith's time as host. Today's episode was originally released on November 28 2019. In this episode, Tracy writes… “Today's poem describes the joy of falling asleep next to someone you love. Because whether you're snuggled in with pets, people, or some combo of the two, it's bliss when love makes you into a pack.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Today's poem is Fish Heads by R.A. Villanueva. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We'll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we're going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith's time as host. Today's episode was originally released on March 30, 2020. In this episode, Tracy writes… “What is it about food that feeds us? Not just the calories and nutrients, but the deeper yearning certain foods quench?” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Today's poem is Thanks by W.S. Merwin.The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We'll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we're going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith's time as host. Today's episode was originally released on December 18, 2019. In this episode, Tracy writes… “It takes a wise and gifted poet to create a panoramic portrait of life that allows guilt and anger and shame to occupy the very same space as gratitude. I believe the late W.S. Merwin was such a poet. Reading his poem, “Thanks,” takes courage, because it insists upon a fierce form of moral reckoning.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Today's poem is Workshop by Jacob Shores-Argüello. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We'll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we're going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith's time as host. Today's episode was originally released on October 22, 2019. Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Today's poem is Another Night at Sea Level by Meg Day.The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We'll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we're going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith's time as host. Today's episode was originally released on May 12, 2020. In this episode, Tracy writes… “Written in letter form, today's poem captures and seeks to describe that feeling of the sublime for someone who is far away.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Today's poem is Climbing China's Great Wall by Afaa M. Weaver.The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We'll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we're going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith's time as host. Today's episode was originally released on August 4, 2020. In this episode, Tracy writes… “I visited China for the first time in the spring of 2017. It was a visit to the great poet Yi Lei, whose poems I had been working to translate. It was my second time meeting Yi Lei in person. The first had been three years earlier, over lunch in Manhattan. That was the trip when we visited the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall. It was a bright, clear, warm day. There were plenty of visitors all around, but our climb up and down the thousand steep steps felt spacious somehow, as if we had the site to ourselves. I gawked happily at trees and mountains, stones and birds. I wanted to feel history under my feet, but really it was the living moment that enraptured me.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Today's poem is On a Spaceship Somewhere, Long After Empire's Collapse by Jesús I. Valles.The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We'll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we're going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith's time as host. Today's episode was originally released on August 20, 2020. In this episode, Tracy writes… “The message from the stars is simple: it doesn't have to be this way. I hope we humans might change of our own volition. Barring that, I'm game for celestial intervention.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Today's poem is Say Thank You Say I'm Sorry by Jericho Brown. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We'll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we're going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith's time as host. Today's episode was originally released on September 11, 2020. In this episode, Tracy writes… “I like it when I pass into the orbit of a stranger and, without expecting or even wanting to, I feel a very accidental, very fleeting form of kinship. For me, this happens sometimes when I'm traveling and far from home — far from my everyday me. Or when I'm moving through public space while also deeply lost in thought. Talking to myself maybe. Or laughing at something I think only I have seen. And then I meet unfamiliar eyes, and I understand that we are in the same moment together. How wonderful would it be if trust, or even love, might be possible between any of us — or even all of us. I mean, if we let ourselves believe such a thing is possible.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Today's poem is Song In Which We Yet Sidestep Disaster by Tess Taylor.The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We'll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we're going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith's time as host. Today's episode was originally released on May 27, 2020. In this episode, Tracy writes… “How can everything be? How is it possible? Maybe to be alive is a matter of accepting that such answers do not concern us. Maybe being alive in matter is a matter of learning to hear and see and feel and trust and to love all that is available to us.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Today's poem is one of those perfect distillations of a concrete emotion. Happy reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe

Today's poem is To be of use by Marge Piercy.The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We'll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we're going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith's time as host. Today's episode was originally released on September 2, 2020. In this episode, Tracy writes… “I am alive in 21st Century America. I have a voice. Let it serve as a corrective to the violent and reckless power that stands against the force of love.”Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Today's poem is The Book of Genesis by Morgan Parker.The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We'll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we're going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith's time as host. Today's episode was originally released on June 10, 2020. In this episode, Tracy writes…”Today's poem is by Morgan Parker. Parker's poems fill me with joy for the ways they ponder and bear witness to the experience of blackness.”Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Today's poem is Stop Looking At My Last Name Like That by Michael Torres.The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We'll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we're going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith's time as host. Today's episode was originally released on May 19, 2020. In this episode, Tracy writes… “Rationally speaking, I know that another person's bigoted thinking is their problem, not mine. But it's hard to leave it at that. It's hard to accept that sometimes my race causes another person to jump to conclusions about what I know or have or deserve… and what I don't.”Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Today's poem is Telephone of the Wind by Eddie Kim.The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We'll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we're going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith's time as host. Today's episode was originally released on August 12, 2020.In this episode, Tracy writes… “Today's poem takes me back to the time when telephones and the distances they allowed us to cross were monumental.”Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Today's poem is Moon Pull by Carlina Duan.The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We'll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we're going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith's time as host. Today's episode was originally released on May 5, 2020. In this episode, Tracy writes… “I love the way today's poem lays claim to the moon and all it represents.”Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Today's poem is Tracing the Horse by Diana Marie Delgado. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We'll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we're going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith's time as host. Today's episode was originally released on April 29, 2020. In this episode, Tracy writes… “I turn to words constantly—to help me clarify a thought, to dig deeper into an idea, to keep something from slipping away and being forgotten. And yet, there is so much that I love—and so much that I remember—that doesn't need words. Images, sounds, scents, feelings that dawned instantly and imparted something different from sense but indelible nonetheless. I could read today's poem over and over, dwelling in the states of awareness and sensation it invokes.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Today's poem is The Feeling by Ari Banias. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We'll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we're going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith's time as host. Today's episode was originally released on August 27, 2020. In this episode, Tracy writes… “We are living through what I want to believe is an awakening. Many people who have never given an injustice like racism much thought are beginning to think about it. Now what? What are those who are awake to this reality willing to give up, change, renounce, replace in order to begin righting age-old wrongs? And what's next?” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Today's poem is Telling My Father by James Crews. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We'll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we're going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith's time as host. Today's episode was originally released on October 19, 2020. In this episode, Tracy writes… “Sometimes love looks like small things. Gentle gestures rich with import. We give such things to one another at times without even realizing it. Tiny soul-saving acts.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Today's poem is Portrait of the Alcoholic with Withdrawal by Kaveh Akbar. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We'll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we're going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith's time as host. Today's episode was originally released on December 6, 2018. In this episode, Tracy writes, “One day I was a drinker; the next, I was an ex-drinker. A braver person would say: one day I came to understand I am an alcoholic. I consider myself lucky. The best way I can describe the change is to call it an unburdening.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Today's poem is Listen, by Barbara Crooker. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We'll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we're going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith's time as host. Today's episode was originally released on October 19, 2020. In this episode, Tracy writes… “Today's poem offers up a message of calm and gratitude. It's one I want to learn to offer myself—especially on days when peace feels far-away. Are there people out there who live always with that gratitude? That sense of the world with its simple gifts being all the plenty they seek? I'd like to be one of them for more than just an hour at a time.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Today's poem is Polaroid Ode by Cori Winrock.The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We'll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we're going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith's time as host. Today's episode was originally released on October 21, 2019. In this episode, Tracy writes… “Today's poem captures the look and feel and ceremony—with all its hope and disappointment—of taking instant pictures. And it makes me wistful both for the past and the present.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Today's poem is Kissing the Opelu by Donovan Kūhiō Colleps.The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We'll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we're going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith's time as host. Today's episode was originally released on May 21, 2020. In this episode, Tracy writes… “Today's poem speaks to me of ancestry, tradition, and the fluidity of perception. We are who we are, the poem suggests to me, because of what we inherit from the people we love. Why does it have me thinking about ghosts and visitations? Maybe because I've decided that the people I love are always with me in one form or another.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Today's poem is What Does It Say by Tess Gallagher. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We'll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we're going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith's time as host. Today's episode was originally released on July 17, 2019. In this episode, Tracy writes… “When I packed up for college, back in 1990, I took sneakers and loafers. I probably also brought some nerdy deck shoes, and maybe even a pair of heels. But by the time my sophomore year rolled around, nearly all of those shoes had been replaced by a pair of black cowboy boots. I wore them everyday, even in snow. By the time I came home for the holidays, they were worn down at the heel and a coin-sized hole had been worn through each sole. I was afraid I'd have to let them go, but my mother took them to the shoe repairman, who resoled them, built the heels back up, and polished them to a high shine, reviving them to their former glory!” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Today's poem is Someday I'll Love Ocean Vuong by Ocean Vuong.The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We'll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we're going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith's time as host. Today's episode was originally released on May 18, 2020. In this episode, Tracy writes… “Today's poem models another critical aspect of self-care: being honest about how difficult life feels, and striving to be tender, patient and consoling with oneself.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Today's poem is a brief meditation on breath by Yesenia Montilla. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We'll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we're going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith's time as host. Today's episode was originally released on October 19, 2020.In this episode, Tracy writes… “The whole time, I felt all of my senses struggle to decelerate. My heart was like a drum solo. It felt like someone was pounding on my chest. While I was there, I flipped through my mental Rolodex of workday vexation. I ticked off the headlines that, even on a good day, hamper my ability to unwind. Lying there, struggling to relax, egged on by the actual bothers my work-week forces me to wrestle, I understood something. Many people live like this on a regular basis. The peril, the worry, the blood pressure roiling. When you wake up and people doubt you, threaten you, overstep respectful bounds. When leaders utter slurs against you. When every day the deck, already stacked against you, is reshuffled.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Today's poem is Minneapolipstick by Rachel McKibbens. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We'll be back soon with new episodes. This week, we're going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith's time as host. Today's episode was originally released on September 21, 2020. In this episode, former host Tracy K. Smith writes… “Sometimes a dance party is the only means of conflict resolution in my house.]” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Today's poem is Leaving Tulsa by Jennifer Elise Foerster. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We'll be back soon with new episodes. This week, we're going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith's time as host. Today's episode was originally released on October 22, 2020. In this episode, former host Tracy K. Smith writes… “History is a worn path. Deep ruts eaten into Earth make up a road. But there are additional routes, footprints, and wheel grooves and grassy straits few have traveled. The Myth of a central history of America is damaging to those whose stories have been left untended, overgrown, and it is damaging for those who believe the one heavily trafficked road is the only road. It has become clear to me that the work of survival for this fraught nation is the work of stopping to listen to the many divergent narratives of America.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Today's poem is Untitled by Sesshu Foster. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We'll be back soon with new episodes. This week, we're going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith's time as host. Today's episode was originally released on June 12, 2019.In this episode, former host Tracy K. Smith writes… “Sometimes, I return to memories of my past and feel as though I'm peering in upon strangers. And yet, I know something fundamental to the person I now am, resides there.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Today's poem is Waiting for Happiness by Nomi Stone. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We'll be back soon with new episodes. This week, we're going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith's time as host. Today's episode was originally released on December 24, 2019. In this episode, former host Tracy K. Smith writes… “It's a good thing to have a dog, someone who cares about you, someone who shares their whole heart with you entirely. Dogs don't hold back. They don't keep secrets. And they accept you as you are right now.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp