Summary4 min read

Podcast Summary: The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily

Episode 1557: “All Trains Are Going Local” by Timothy Liu
Date: July 13, 2026
Host: Maggie Smith (American Public Media)
Notable Voice: Micah Kielbon (Guest Host)
Listener Reflection: Prerna Barwa
Poem Featured: “All Trains Are Going Local” by Timothy Liu

Episode Overview

This episode continues The Slowdown’s tradition of weaving poetry and personal reflection into daily life. Today, listener Prerna Barwa from Assam, India, shares her thoughts on trains, nostalgia, and the connective tissue between daily routines and poetry. Her selection, Timothy Liu’s “All Trains Are Going Local,” anchors the reflection, exploring themes of stillness, pain, and unexpected connection.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Community-Driven Selections

(00:19–00:54)
The episode is part of a week spotlighting poems chosen by listeners along with their personal reflections. The host encourages listeners to participate and stay connected through the newsletter.

2. Prerna Barwa’s Reflection: The Life of Trains

(01:18–04:19)
Personal History with Trains:
- Prerna recounts growing up in Jorhat, Assam, where trains were central to visiting family and exploring the city.
- Emphasizes the cultural importance of trains in India:
  
  “Trains are a very big part of the commute in India, even if it’s not a daily commute.” (01:23)
Liminal Spaces and Imagination:
- Prerna shares her love for the ‘in-between’ feeling of metro rides:
  
  “Like something about the liminal space place of a metro. Like I knew the city better than my friends from the city because I spent so much time just going around on the trains.” (01:39)
Childhood Poetry & Adult Resonance:
- Reminisces about “Father Returning Home” by Dilip Chitre, recalling its world-weariness and its greater impact as she matured:
  
  “It was about the journey of a father who works away from home all day and travels home by train… I didn’t really get it until I grew up.” (02:08)
Daily Life & The Pandemic Influence:
- Describes her current life with freelancing, gardening, and pets.
- Started a personal newsletter named after today's poem, using it as a monthly anchor to reflect and document small joys—garden blooms, poetry, and music discoveries:
  
  “If I have nothing else going in my life... tomorrow at least there will be this day in the month that I will have to sit down and think, so what did I do last month?” (03:37)
  “It’s been six years. I can't believe I'm still writing it.” (04:15)

3. Featured Poem: “All Trains Are Going Local” by Timothy Liu

(04:19–05:35)
The poem reflects on pausing, bodily awareness, pain, and unexpected kindness in public spaces.

Memorable lines read on air:

“Slowing down your body enough to feel
Thought you were at a standstill, but you were only slowing down enough to feel the pain
There are worse things than running to catch the train…” (04:21–04:30)
“Just want the pain to go away, you say
Surprised to find yourself reaching for for someone else's hand.” (05:13–05:19)

Interpretation & Tone:

The poem’s lines, coupled with Prerna’s story, evoke vulnerability, the physical and emotional pauses of everyday life, and how periods of “slowing down” grant us access to deep feeling and human connection.

Notable Quotes & Moments

Prerna Barwa on trains & reflection:

“I think a lot of my imagination of traveling has to do with trains.” (02:00)
On the lasting impact of poetry:

“It’s another one of those things you read as a child and you don’t really grasp completely, but it stays with you.” (02:04)
On the personal newsletter and its origins:

“Nothing in particular. It’s like a very meandering little email. And I started it like thinking, you know… I will have to sit down and think, so what did I do last month? What did I listen to? What did I read? What the hell happened to my plants?” (03:38–03:56)
Timothy Liu’s poem closing reflection:

“Surprised to find yourself reaching for for someone else's hand.” (05:18)

Timestamps for Significant Segments

00:19 — Community call for poem selections and newsletter invite
01:18 — Prerna Barwa introduces herself and shares train reflections
02:08 — Childhood poetry and adult understanding
03:30 — Starting the personal newsletter inspired by today’s poem
04:19 — Poetry reading: “All Trains Are Going Local”
05:19 — Poem’s emotional climax (reaching for someone else’s hand)

Closing

This episode uplifts the quiet, reflective power of everyday experiences—whether it’s the cadence of local trains or monthly journaling—and how poetry helps us name and cherish these moments. By interlacing listener voices with carefully chosen poems, The Slowdown continues to be a gentle companion for daily contemplation and connection.

For more or to share your own reflection, visit slowdownshow.org.

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Transcript6 lines

[00:00]
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[00:19]
Podcast Host
Download Today we invited you, our community of listeners, to share poems that inspire the way you move through your daily life. And you shared so many thoughtful recommendations with us. This week we're featuring five of your selections, along with a reflection from the person who chose each one. If you'd like to participate in the next round of community selections, sign up for our newsletter. We'll be sending a special Slowdown postcard to new subscribers that sign up this week. Find the link in the show Notes.
[00:55]
Micah Kielbon
I'm micah kielbon and this is the slow. Sharing poetry is a two way street, so today you'll be hearing a poem selected by one of our listeners. Enjoy.
[01:18]
Prerna Barwa
My name is Prerna Barwa and I live in a small town called Jorhat in Assam in India. Trains are a very big part of the commute in India, even if it's not a daily commute. Especially when I was growing up, I would have to take the train to go visit my grandparents every six months. I felt like I grew up on trains and when I was away for college definitely I didn't have to use the train. It's funny, like we had a metro, but I lived close to the college but I loved going on the metro. Like something about the liminal space place of a metro. Like I knew the city better than my friends from the city because I spent so much time just going around on the trains. Unlike an express train, which is a super fast train and only stops at really big stations, a local train stops very often. It's a short distance train, but it has a lot more life in it. I think a lot of my imagination of traveling has to do with trains. There's this childhood poem I loved by an Indian poet. It's called Father Returning Home. It's by this bilingual poet called Dilip Chitre. It's another one of those things you read as a child and you don't really grasp completely, but it stays with you. It was about the journey of a father who works away from home all day and travels home by train. It just had so much pathos and like weariness and and just it felt like I didn't really get it until I grew up. I think even though I loved the poem back then as well, now I kind of feel the energy of that poem, which is complete world weariness. Because I'm freelancing currently, there's no set hours. It's up to me. So I live with my parents now. Again, my day mostly consists of running after my dogs and checking on the garden. I have a fairly big garden. Most of my daily updates consist of bougainvillea status, rain lily status, what's the status of this plant or that plant and my dogs. Essentially, today's poem takes me back to the timelessness of the pandemic. After reading this poem, I started like my own little newsletter for my friends, which is named after this poem, actually. And it's just like updates about my garden and about poetry that I've read every month and music that I've listened to. Nothing in particular. It's like a very meandering little email. And I started it like thinking, you know, if nothing else, if I have nothing else going in my life, and I forget today, from tomorrow at least there will be this particular day in the month that I will have to sit down and think, so what did I do last month? What did I listen to? What did I read? What the hell happened to my plants? And I'm still doing it. It's been six years. I can't believe I'm still writing it.
[04:20]
Micah Kielbon
All Trains are Going Local by Timothy Liu Slowing down your body enough to feel Thought you were at a standstill but you were only slowing down enough to feel the pain There are worse things than running to catch the train Twisting your ankle the afternoon fucked Running to get to or away from the stranger who helps you up Wants to know you who are so used to anything Scribbled on a prescription blank Just want the pain to go away, you say Surprised to find yourself reaching for for someone else's hand. The Slowdown is a production of American Public Media in partnership with the Poetry Foundation. To get a poem delivered to you daily, go to slowdownshow.org and sign up for our newsletter and find us on Instagram lodownshow and blueskylowdownshow.org want to participate in this project and share a poem on the Slowdown. Stay tuned to our feeds for our next call for selections.
[06:13]
Maggie
Hey, it's Maggie. Every weekday, the Slowdown delivers the creativity and care of poetry to all free of charge, and your support makes it possible. Donating to the Slowdown is easy. Just go to slowdownshow. Org Donate to Make your gift in less time than it takes to listen to an episode.