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[encore] 9: Portrait of the Alcoholic with Withdrawal by Kaveh Akbar
Jun 03, 2025•5 min
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Episode description
Today’s poem is Portrait of the Alcoholic with Withdrawal by Kaveh Akbar.
The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on December 6, 2018.
In this episode, Tracy writes, “One day I was a drinker; the next, I was an ex-drinker. A braver person would say: one day I came to understand I am an alcoholic. I consider myself lucky. The best way I can describe the change is to call it an unburdening.”
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