logo
episode-header-image
Nov 2024
5m 49s

1231: Gala Noise by Diane Mehta

American Public Media
About this episode

Today’s poem is Gala Noise by Diane Mehta. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual.


In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s poem invites us to contemplate how language is not just what is heard, but what is conveyed beneath the surface. Underneath, it sees that we are interconnected with nature, linked to an existential restlessness which leads us to the act of making sounds.”


Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Up next
Yesterday
1476: The Quiet World by Jeffrey McDaniel
Today’s poem is The Quiet World by Jeffrey McDaniel. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Poets are known for making big moves in small spaces. We value brevity and compression, which go hand in hand. In a brief poem, maybe a poem with only a ... Show More
6m 1s
Mar 12
1475: Out of These Wounds, the Moon Will Rise by Jay Hopler
Today’s poem is Out of These Wounds, the Moon Will Rise by Jay Hopler. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Today’s poem is about wishing, and in that way, I think it’s about hope. Even when a wish is farfetched and seems less than likely, ho ... Show More
5m 35s
Mar 11
1474: Epistemic Distance by Emma Bolden
Today’s poem is Epistemic Distance by Emma Bolden. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “I’m a poet, so I’m all for nuance. I embrace ambiguity, and I’m flexible in my thinking. But I refuse to believe that we’re living in a post-factual world ... Show More
6m 45s
Recommended Episodes
Nov 2023
Two Poems About Butter
<p>Today we pay tribute, with poems by Andrea Cohen and Elizabeth Alexander, to the indispensable golden wonder.</p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://dailypoempod.subst ... Show More
4m 48s
Feb 2025
Carmen Giménez — Ars Poetica
Carmen Giménez’s poem “Ars Poetica” is a stunning waterfall of words, a torrent of dozens of short statements that begin with “I” or “I’m.” As you listen to them, let an answering cascade of questions fill up your mind. What does this series of confessions reveal to you about poe ... Show More
15m 16s
Mar 2021
[Unedited] Naomi Shihab Nye with Krista Tippett
It’s pretty intriguing to follow poet Naomi Shihab Nye’s idea that most of us actually “think in poems” whether we know it or not. Rarely, as she points out, do you hear anyone say they feel worse after writing things down. That, she says, can be a tool to survive in hard times l ... Show More
1h 34m
Oct 2014
Becca J.R. Lachman, “A Ritual to Read Together: Poems in Conversation with William Stafford” (Woodley Press, 2013)
About twenty years ago, I heard William Stafford read his poetry for about twenty minutes. For a young aspiring writer like I was then, he was mesmerizing, a mix of poetic energy and grandfatherly wisdom, with a high-spirited charm. I think it was the first poetry reading that I ... Show More
37m 36s
Feb 2025
Alcools, by Guillaume Apollinaire. Partie III.
Apollinaire is a pivotal figure in the history of French poetry. Friend of Picasso, albeit a sometimes volatile one, inventor of the term &#39;surrealism&#39; and the poem without punctuation, he advocated a poetry that was direct and intuitive, free of any refined intellectualis ... Show More
46m 57s
Nov 2023
Festival indulges poets' most cringeworthy tendencies
This weekend, Wellington's Verb Festival hosts its annual worst poet wins event which rewards aspiring writers for indulging their most cliched, cringeworthy tendencies. Harry Ricketts is a poet, essayist and a supervisor at Victoria University's International Institute of Modern ... Show More
20m 28s