Podcast Summary: The Slowdown, Episode 1333
Poem: "Crossing the Line" by E. Ethelbert Miller
Host: Maggie Smith
Date: August 19, 2025
Episode Theme: The Enduring Power of Long Friendship
Overview
This episode of The Slowdown explores the profound and sustaining nature of long-term friendship through Maggie Smith's heartfelt reflection and a moving reading of E. Ethelbert Miller's poem “Crossing the Line.” Smith draws parallels between her own cherished experiences and the intimate emotional landscape created by Miller’s poetry, emphasizing how friendships shape our identities across time.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
Lifelong Friendship as a Source of Joy and Continuity
[01:07]
- Maggie opens with a personal story about her annual summer trip from Ohio to Illinois with her children to visit her oldest friend and their family. She highlights how these brief reunions bring immense laughter and joy that carry through the year.
- “I haven’t laughed this hard since we were all together last year.”
- Smith describes the deep significance of these long-standing bonds, noting how the people who've known us through multiple life stages help us understand ourselves in new ways.
Inside Jokes and Shared Histories
[02:10]
- The mention of her daughter's “trip lore” — a running list of inside jokes from their time together — serves as a testament to how friendships accumulate memories that act as touchstones long after the moments have passed.
- “Months from now, she’ll pull out her phone…and she’ll crack me up by reading from the list of hilarious things that happened...”
The Gift and Bittersweetness of New vs. Old Friends
[02:55]
- Smith reflects on the contrasting feelings between new and old friendships. While grateful for new kindred spirits, she notes that new friends can’t know every past version of ourselves the way old friends do. This brings a “little melancholy,” underscoring how shared history deepens intimacy and understanding.
- “They can’t know everyone I’ve already been, and I can’t know everyone they’ve already been.”
The Poem as a Tribute to Friendship
[03:22]
- Smith introduces "Crossing the Line" as a love poem to long friendship, aligning it with the episode’s reflections on change, memory, and deep knowledge.
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
On the Meaning of Long Friendships
- “What a gift long friendships are; those people who have known multiple iterations of us.”
— Maggie Smith [02:40]
On the Melancholy of New Friendships
- “Sometimes I get a little melancholy when I make new friends…it’s hard not to feel like we’ve missed out on a lot.”
— Maggie Smith [02:56]
From the Poem, “Crossing the Line” by E. Ethelbert Miller
[03:34]
- “You break a cookie in half like bread / and this sharing is what we now both need. / That which breaks into crumbs are memories.”
- “How can I tell you that Bolivia will always be beautiful / and everything I notice is you and yes, is you?”
- “Our napkins folded in our hands folded as if our meeting / now is prayer.”
- “Did I ever tell you that your eyes are a map and I would lose myself if you ever turned away?”
Timestamps of Important Segments
- 01:07: Maggie Smith’s personal account of annual trips to visit a childhood friend
- 02:10: The power of inside jokes and shared history
- 02:55: Contrast between old and new friends; reflection on memory and identity
- 03:22: Introduction to the poem “Crossing the Line”
- 03:34: Full reading of E. Ethelbert Miller’s poem
Tone and Language
Maggie Smith speaks with warmth, wistfulness, and genuine affection, relating her own life experience to the resonance she finds in Miller’s poem. The episode’s tone is contemplative, gentle, and grateful, inviting listeners to reflect on the preciousness of long friendships and the way poetry gives words to these deep connections.
Conclusion
In this episode, Maggie Smith intertwines a personal meditation on lifelong friendship with the evocative power of E. Ethelbert Miller's poem, offering listeners a moment of gratitude, nostalgia, and recognition for the friendships that anchor and shape us through change. The episode stands as a gentle reminder of how poetry, memory, and the people who walk alongside us give life its deepest meaning.