Transcript
A (0:00)
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B (0:36)
I'm Major Jackson and this is the slowdown in my 30s, I did not have the courage to tell my thin wife about the great days ahead when we moved to Burlington, Vermont. On average, Queen City gets 58 days of sunlight and 101 partial days of sunshine. That's a lot of darkness and gloom. Throughout the year we met in Portland, Oregon, we were used to long stretches of gray skies. The combination of frigid temperatures and such little light in the day tested our inner resources, especially that first winter. But we found ways to endure. We made sure the house was tastefully lit with candles. We started each day by feeding wood into the fireplace. The crackling smell of the logs made for epic coziness. We made sure to bundle up in layers and take a walk before the gloaming, which began just after my children's school let out. We cooked stews and tested new soup recipes that warmed our bodies. Coffees, teas, hot cider. Just about any hot drink that steamed up our faces helped to stave off the winter blues. We even concocted hot mead. This was long before we heard of the word hygge, the word in Danish and Norwegian that can mean coziness, but is more so an untranslatable ethos of finding joy in simple things against the bleak and harsh realities. We didn't know the word, but we were certainly finding the vibe. But for those of us who want to hold on to the light as long as we can, we make sure to embrace more than the material comforts. We can make sure to surround ourselves with family, friends and song. So we must schedule dates in cafes and dinner outings because the nights do get lonely and cold. Today's poem reveals another method of staring down the darkness, of converting despair into light, of staying rooted in an affirming, resilient spirit. The Gift to Sing by James Weldon Johnson Sometimes the mist overhangs my path and blackening clouds about me cling but oh, I have a magic way to turn the gloom to cheerful day I softly sing and if the way grows darker still shadowed by sorrow's somber wing with glad defiance in my throat I pierce the darkness with a note and sing and sing. I brood not over the broken past Nor dread whatever time may bring. No nights are dark, no days are long While in my heart there swells a song and I can sing the Slowdown is a production of American Public Media in partnership with the Poetry Foundation. This project is also supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. On the web@arts.gov to get a poem delivered to you daily, go to slowdownshow.org and sign up for our newsletter and find us on Instagram @downdownshow. The slowdown is written by me, Major Jackson. Our lead producer is is Micah Kilbon and our associate producer is Maria Wartel. Our music is composed by Alexis Quadrado, engineering by Josh Savageau. Our digital producer is James Napoli. Additional production help by Susanna Sharpless, Jess Miller and Lauren Humpert. Our executives in charge of APM Studios are Chandra Kavati and Joanne Griffith.