1558: Late Work by Andrés Cerpa

Summary

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The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily

Episode 1558: “Late Work” by Andrés Cerpa
Date: July 14, 2026
Host: Maggie Smith (with guest reflections by Megan Elizabeth Kelly)
Producer: American Public Media in partnership with the Poetry Foundation

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Episode Overview

This episode departs from the usual format of host Maggie Smith’s reflection and instead features a listener-selected poem and a personal reflection from Megan Elizabeth Kelly, a community member from Philadelphia. The poem of the day is “Late Work” by Andrés Cerpa, chosen for its engagement with grief, joy, hope, and the interconnectedness of these emotions. The episode centers on how poetry can serve as a companion through turbulent times, acting as both witness and catalyst for presence, resilience, and transformation.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Listener Reflection on Poetry in Difficult Times

• Megan Elizabeth Kelly shares candidly about recent intensity in her personal life and the wider world, stating how poetry demands presence and helps bear witness to both suffering and beauty.
• She describes the intertwining of past and present tensions, underlying the episode’s theme of carrying inherited griefs and experiences:
  • “The past, I think, is part of the present in a lot of our lives, and I think sometimes things happen too quickly, too soon, and they become our past, but they never really leave us.” (01:29)

2. Art and Presence as Resistance

• Megan highlights the act of making art as a courageous resistance amid societal and personal hardships:
  • “I feel in awe of people that are determined to make art and make things right now, especially when there is so much that is pushing back against doing that. Destruction is here and present. And still there is a way to reimagine a life, and there is a way to move forward.” (02:53)
• She emphasizes valid ways to move toward hope, not as a denial of violence or grief but as an acknowledgment of their coexistence with joy.

3. Poetry’s Unique Power

• Megan articulates how poetry compresses and holds multiple truths—a space where grief and joy are not mutually exclusive:
  • “Poems have this ability to hold multiple truths at once in this really compressed way, and to do it in a way where the reader or the listener can feel both those things together, sort of the grief and the joy and shows how they're intertwined and the joy part isn't an antidote to the grief, and it's not in spite of the grief.” (03:30)
• She introduces the poem “Late Work” as one that is “determined to be hopeful in a way, and it's a kind of hope that seems to exist among all of it.” (03:46)

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Poem Reading: “Late Work” by Andrés Cerpa (03:50)

A meditative piece, “Late Work” balances weariness with resilience and transformation. Key images include:

• The act of promising hope against despair, even through everyday gestures (“as simple as falling in love”)
• Navigating landscapes both literal (another city, cane fields) and metaphorical (the world of destruction; interior puzzles)
• Self-invention and survival: “I held the machete / I built myself a life.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On presence and grief:
  • “Poetry demands a kind of presence. And so I think the choice to be here is also the choice to be witness to what is happening in the world.”
    — Megan Elizabeth Kelly (01:47)
• On art and hope:
  • “And maybe the beginnings of that are in these moments of intense presence.”
    — Megan Elizabeth Kelly (03:16)
• On holding truths:
  • “Poems have this ability to hold multiple truths at once in this really compressed way… the grief and the joy and shows how they're intertwined and the joy part isn't an antidote to the grief...”
    — Megan Elizabeth Kelly (03:30)
• Line from “Late Work”:
  • “I feel compelled to give you an ending, a promise of hope to move against despair, even if the act is simple as falling in love.”
    — Andrés Cerpa (03:51)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:30 – Introduction of community-selected poems and special “community selections” week
• 01:29 – Megan Elizabeth Kelly’s personal reflection on the role of poetry in her life and the context for her selection
• 03:50 – Full reading of “Late Work” by Andrés Cerpa
• 05:32 – (Outro/Call for support – excluded per prompt)

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Tone & Style

The episode maintains a gentle, contemplative tone, mirroring the reflective style of both the host and the guest. Megan’s heartfelt reflection interweaves vulnerability and resolution, while the poem anchors the episode with tangible images and subtle hope. The language is poetic, introspective, and compassionate, designed to invite the listener into a space of shared presence and possibility.

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For more poems and reflections, visit slowdownshow.org and follow The Slowdown on social media.

Transcript

[A]

This podcast is supported by Raymond James, a financial firm offering wealth management, banking and capital markets services that are inspired by people before Raymond James. Financial Advisors build plans. They build relationships so they can craft individual strategies designed to achieve priorities and pursue what's possible. That's the power of personal [e-mail] Raymond James Associates, Inc. Member NYSE SIPIC we invited you, our

[B]

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.

[C]

I'm Micah Kielbon, and this is the Slowdown. We asked you, our listeners, to help us select poems for the show today. Instead of hearing a moment of reflection from Maggie, you'll hear from a member of our Slowdown community. Enjoy.

[D]

My name is Megan Elizabeth Kelly and I live in the Philadelphia area. The past, I think, is part of the present in a lot of our lives, and I think sometimes things happen too quickly, too soon, and they become our past, but they never really leave us. We inherit lots of different things, and there are ways in which, with the weight of the world and the weight of uncertainty, that we can turn those violences toward our ourselves. The last couple years have been really intense for me personally and in the world, and poetry demands a kind of presence. And so I think the choice to be here is also the choice to be witness to what is happening in the world. There is an incredible amount of violence, there's an incredible amount of grief and demand from myself a witnessing of joy, a witnessing of beauty, of wonder. I feel in awe of people that are determined to make art and make things right now, especially when there is so much that is pushing back against doing that destruction is here and present. And still there is a way to reimagine a life, and there is a way to move forward. And maybe the beginnings of that are in these moments of intense presence. Something that I love about poems is I think poems have this ability to hold multiple truths at once in this really compressed way, and to do it in a way where the reader or the listener can feel both those things together, sort of the grief and the joy and shows how they're intertwined and the joy part isn't an antidote to the grief, and it's not in spite of the grief. Now I feel joy. It's all intertwined together. Today's poem is determined to be hopeful in a way, and it's a kind of hope that seems to exist among all of it.

[C]

Late work by Andres Serpa I feel compelled to give you an ending, a promise of hope to move against despair, even if the act is simple as falling in love. Another city, a long day casting shadows in the park I lost something and can't get over the fact the most powerful world was the world of destruction and high and or I ran through the cane fields in splendor when the interior puzzled with the physical world I cut myself down the way and I became brothers. Not blood, not sugar, not rust, snow and calichosa in the too soon and always I held the machete I built myself a life. 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, LoadownShow 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.

[E]

Hi, it's Maggie. The Slowdown is the only poetry podcast in public media. That means your support is vital to keep us going. No matter how much you give, your contribution makes a real difference. Head to slowdownshow.org donate today to power. More Poems into the Future.