"I admire how today’s poem is as much about memory — and the connections our minds make — as it is about loss," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in episode 1512. Read "Terra Vita" by Lisa Hiton, from AFTERFEAST, and our full episode transcript: bit.ly/42ZWawD 📖: @tupelopress.bsky.social

"Today’s poem examines the many possibilities of giving love in a temporary world," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in episode 1515. Read “True Story” by Camille T. Dungy — from AMERICA, A LOVE STORY (@weslpress.bsky.social) — and our full episode transcript: bit.ly/4wrFQSS

"Loss is inevitable, but so is growth," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in episode 1513. "There is a natural order to things that we only partially understand." Read “Climacteric” by Kelly Gray and our full episode transcript: bit.ly/4wwWlxh

"We read and share poems in times of tragedy because they say something we need to say, or need to hear," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in episode 1514. Read "A Love Poem Will Not Save the World" by C. Russell Price (@nupress.bsky.social) and our full episode transcript: bit.ly/4wn77Gl

One of the loveliest books I’ve read this year. By @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social. Highly recommend to anyone who loves the craft of writing but also feels terribly insecure. The writing-specific advice is unexpectedly relevant for researchers. The big pictures perspectives are priceless.

"What happens when the boundary between what one person owns and what another person owns falls, or fails?" @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social asks in episode 1509. Read "Something there is that doesn’t love" by Armen Davoudian, from THE PALACE OF FORTY PILLARS, and our episode transcript: bit.ly/3PqSbGi

"Today’s poem reminds me to feel tenderness toward the earlier versions of me," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social writes in episode 1507. Read "How to Dress a Star" by Nicholas Goodly, from STAR POWER (@scribnerbooks.bsky.social) and our full episode transcript: bit.ly/4n5L3M9

"Today’s poem creates a mythology out of inheritance, mirroring the repetition of narratives and lineages," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social writes in episode 1505. Read "Queen of Collapse" by Hadara Bar-Nadav, from THE ANIMAL IS CHEMICAL (@fourwaybooks.bsky.social): bit.ly/4ul1KFM

“Today’s poem shows us that tai chi is not only meditation in motion, but also metaphor in motion," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in episode 1503. Read "Cloud Hands" by Arthur Sze — from SIGHTLINES @coppercanyonpress.bsky.social — and our full episode transcript: bit.ly/3QMVCr9

"It’s always fascinating to see what moves the people you care about. What resonates with them and inspires them," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in episode 1502 of The Slowdown. Read “On My History of Kissing Everyone At Parties” by @isabellewrites.bsky.social: bit.ly/41XVd7S

"There are so many beautiful moments in airports, if you pay attention," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in today's episode of The Slowdown, number 1501. Read “at the baggage claim at JFK” by @lonaylor.bsky.social and our full episode transcript: bit.ly/41SVXLm

"Sometimes I swear I can hear the form of a poem if I listen carefully," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in episode 1500 of The Slowdown. Read "You believed only a girl born of a dandelion can be ferocious" by @purvipoets.bsky.social and our full episode transcript: bit.ly/4vLJ8jH

"Today’s poem is full of questions but doesn’t circle on a single, winning answer," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in episode 1498. "Instead, it finds possibility — and poetry — in the spaces between yes and no." Read “Twenty Questions” by Jayrold Trasporte: bit.ly/3QRsX4c

"Even when we try to do the same thing over and over, variations naturally occur. That’s the magic of being human," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social writes in episode 1497 of The Slowdown. Read "Intaglio" by Emma Aylor and our full episode transcript: bit.ly/4vF387t

"Today’s poem reminds me that even when distance is necessary — or imposed — love and memory are tethers that are elastic," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in episode 1494. Read “Graduation” by Edgar Kunz, from TAP OUT (@harpercollins.bsky.social): bit.ly/4vyajhC

"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," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in episode 1493. Read "Stadium" by Heather Tone and our full episode transcript: bit.ly/4cJ0Igy

From @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social's book, Good Bones. Published by @tupelopress.bsky.social. Get it here: bit.ly/goodbonesBK #poem #booksky #writing

"To make things that don’t exist yet ... and to send them out into the world is wildly, impractically, gorgeously hopeful," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in episode 1491. Read "The plum you’re going to eat next summer” by @gaylebrandeis.bsky.social: bit.ly/41VaS7I

At my Weymouth residency, I walked downtown for coffee & book editing, then popped into The Country Bookshop—where I had to pick up books by Richard Siken, @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social, & @cphillipspoet.bsky.social. #BookReccommendations #Poets #Poetry #Books #PoetrySky

"When we don’t say what’s on our minds, it’s usually out of fear — fear of being rejected, of upsetting the other person, of blowing the whole thing up," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in episode 1490. Read "Smalltown Lift" by Brian Blanchfield and our full episode transcript: bit.ly/4t0IzAF

"The sonnet has survived multiple centuries by always adapting," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in episode 1489. "If a sonnet is about turning to the unexpected, then the poet takes it further by looking in unexpected places." Read "Sonnet Overheard at Phone Booth” by Elane Kim: bit.ly/4c83Cdq

A Suit or a Suitcase is an exquisite collection of #poetry by Maggie Smith. #NetGalley #BookSky 💙📚 @wspbooks.bsky.social @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Come on then, and remove him.

Trump went from making insane genocidal threats this morning to hyping the “golden age” of Iran hours later, and he received no concessions in between. He’s an absolute basket case who needs to be removed from power before he follows through on one of his mass murder fantasies.

So pro-life means jailing women who miscarry but shrugging when the deranged president says “a whole civilization will die tonight.” Do I have that right?

Today's Feature: "In Geologic Time, It Happened Just Seconds Ago" by Maggie Smith from A Suit or a Suitcase published by Washington Square Press Read here: poems.com/poem/in-geol...

VERY timely reminders by both @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social and Charles Rafferty, in @slowdownshow.org .

❤️🙏❤️🙏

“I’m beginning to suspect this life is a study for another one, research for a larger project still taking shape.” Picked up preorders at the bookstore this weekend, will spend all week thinking about this from @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social’s new book.

"The danger is that we want to believe it can’t happen here, or it can’t happen again, or it can’t happen to people I know and love, or it can’t happen to me," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in episode 1487. Read "The Problem with Early Warnings" by Charles Rafferty: bit.ly/4crVGoy

"Today’s poem is about the snow moon, the first full moon of February," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in episode 1486. "After reading this quiet stunner of a poem, I was inspired to turn on one of my favorite Nick Drake songs, 'Pink Moon.'" Read "Snow Moon" by Franny Choi: bit.ly/4dsNPs2

"Today’s poem carries us to the Delaware River, cold and dark in winter, and also a place that feels both beautiful and haunted," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in episode 1484 of The Slowdown. Read "Crossing" by C. Rees and our full episode transcript: bit.ly/4sWSZ48

"Today’s poem is a beautiful blend of science and art, anatomy and music, bones and bells," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in today's episode, number 1485. Read "Scheduling the Bone Scan" by Katie Farris, from STANDING IN THE FOREST OF BEING ALIVE: bit.ly/4v8fvJ0

April is National Poetry Month! I’ve been an English professor for 20 years, but my relationship to poetry was changed for the better at a March 2025 conversation between @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social & @theferocity.bsky.social Maggie’s latest collection, A SUIT OR A SUITCASE, is out now. A GIFT!

"Being a human is sort of like having 24/7 screentime, but the screen is your own mind, and there’s no real way to turn it off — none that’s worked for me, anyway," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in episode 1483. Read "How to Write" by Anne Waldman: bit.ly/4m1euyn

"There are wonderful, necessary, life-changing adventures to be had by traveling, and still we long to hold and hug and kiss the people who aren’t there with us on that trip," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in ep. 1482. Read "XII. Southern Constellations" by Brandon Kilbourne: bit.ly/3PxcOR5

Recovery from a week of travel (six flights in six days) = Elliott Smith turned up loud, an IPA, & a very hot bath. Works every time.

Loving @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social 's new A SUIT OR A SUITCASE. So, so good! #poetry #poetrycommunity #booksky #amreading

Currently reading @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social 's Dear Writer and it is EXACTLY what I need right now. I've been feeling stale and there has been SO MUCH resistance. It's reminding me what I love about writing. #writesky

"Today’s poem takes something banal, something we do every day — lying in bed, doing nothing but thinking — and totally transforms it," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in episode 1481. Read "from Mosaic" by Supritha Rajan and our full episode transcript: bit.ly/40Kd6pW

"When I was young, the myth of Icarus was one that captured my imagination," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in episode 1478. "Today’s poem references this myth — this cautionary tale — in beautiful, unexpected ways." Read "If Night You Were a City" by Adam Wiedewitsch: bit.ly/4uABIyY

"When we return to our rituals, we bring whoever we are that unique day, and we link it with whoever we’ve been before," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in episode 1479. "In our rituals, we can find our own wholeness in a fractured world." Read "After Dinner" by James Ciano: bit.ly/3PILbEs

“Today’s poem inspired me to learn more about requiems — what they are, how they’ve evolved, and how we might think of them more broadly and metaphorically," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in episode 1480. Read "Reverse Requiem" by Ina Cariño and our full episode transcript: bit.ly/4cXBE6m

A gift to be read by @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social (thank you!!), whose words about this poem feel intimately true to the way I think about poetry: a way of memorizing moments. ❤️

"Sometimes I just want to sit and live the experience without trying to find language for it yet," @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social shares in episode 1477. Read "Surety" by @annazum.bsky.social and our full episode transcript here or wherever you listen to podcasts: bit.ly/3Ns4LnR 🎧