Today’s poem is I Want to Die by Tariq Luthun. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual.

In this episode, Major writes… “Dining at a new restaurant, me and a group of friends landed on the topic of fears. I was kind of listening, but I was more into the food being set before us. Then it was my turn; I said I feared loneliness, that I would never experience the joy of friends, that I would lose out on moments like this, taking in the pleasures of the world. I was surprised by my expressiveness. I hear that same fear in today’s poem, against the backdrop of violence as the speaker wavers between joy and oblivion.”

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