The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily

Episode 1336: I Find Myself Defending Pigeons by Keith S. Wilson
Host: Maggie Smith
Date: August 22, 2025
Duration (excluding ads/credits): ~6 min

Brief Overview

In this episode, host Maggie Smith invites listeners to reconsider everyday wonders often overlooked, introducing Keith S. Wilson’s poem “I Find Myself Defending Pigeons.” Through reflection and reading, Smith encourages listeners to notice, appreciate, and empathize with even the most common city creature—the pigeon. The episode champions poetry’s power to expand perspective and connect us to the beauty and complexity of overlooked lives in our midst.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Value in Overlooked Things ― Observing the Pigeon

• Maggie Smith opens (00:28) by highlighting why she loves poetry:
  • "One thing I love about poems is how they give us the opportunity to take our time, to dial in, to look and listen closely. Not everything screams to be noticed. Some things barely whisper, or they might just squawk or coo now and then."
• She frames pigeons as creatures emblematic of the things many people ignore, inviting the audience to see wonder in the mundane.

Reading of “I Find Myself Defending Pigeons” by Keith S. Wilson

• Smith reads the poem in its entirety (~00:46–06:07), which functions as both celebration and defense of urban pigeons.
• The poem explores:
  • Their resilience (“underestimation never stopped a pigeon from unlatching itself or being old”)
  • Their oddness and omnipresence (“bridges that are half sigh and half pigeon”)
  • Their history and relationship with humans (“I love the pigeons’ place in history, their obsession with living in the letters of our signs”)
  • The beauty in their ordinary existence and their “bad reputation,” juxtaposed with angelic imagery.

Notable lines & images from the poem:

• “Rats adorned with angel wings and the children down the street are free to chase their drag.” (05:02)
• “I want still life with pigeons, since not a one has ever been portrayed with a soul.” (04:38)
• “You can never know a language until you quiet your own.” (03:28)
• “Let the pigeon speak. Ask the closest pigeon for his number, for her middle name.” (05:23)

Reflections on Attention and Compassion

• By giving poetic attention to pigeons, Wilson—and Smith in her curation—models the practice of noticing, of caring, and of pushing past surface-level judgments.
• The poem and Smith’s setup suggest that reflecting on the mundane attunes us to beauty and complexity everywhere, even in “rats with angel wings.”

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• Maggie Smith (00:28):
  "Not everything screams to be noticed. Some things barely whisper, or they might just squawk or coo now and then. Today's poem is a celebration of creatures we tend to overlook or even disdain. It invites us to reconsider our perspective."

• Keith S. Wilson (read by Maggie Smith, 03:28):
  "You can never know a language until you quiet your own."

• Keith S. Wilson (read by Maggie Smith, 04:38):
  "I want oils and watercolors and inks. I want still life with pigeons, since not a one has ever been portrayed with a soul."

• Keith S. Wilson (read by Maggie Smith, 05:02):
  "They're rats adorned with angel wings and the children down the street are free to chase their drag."

• Keith S. Wilson (read by Maggie Smith, 05:23):
  "Let the pigeon speak. Ask the closest pigeon for his number, for her middle name."

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:28–00:46 | Host's Reflection: Poetry as a tool for attention; setting up today's poem
• 00:46–06:07 | Poem Reading: “I Find Myself Defending Pigeons” by Keith S. Wilson
  • 03:28 | Poignant Insight: "You can never know a language until you quiet your own."
  • 04:38 | On Artistic Representation: "I want still life with pigeons, since not a one has ever been portrayed with a soul."
  • 05:02–05:23 | On Reputation and Difference: "Rats adorned with angel wings..." & "Let the pigeon speak...."

Tone and Language

• The language throughout is contemplative, open-hearted, imaginative—a blend of Smith’s reflective introduction and the poem’s lyrical, empathetic voice.
• Both Smith and Wilson center on compassion, imagination, and the act of seeing—inviting the listener to attune to their world in new ways.

Summary

This episode of The Slowdown uses Keith S. Wilson’s “I Find Myself Defending Pigeons” as a lens for exploring empathy and the unnoticed beauty in daily life. Through Smith’s thoughtful introduction and Wilson’s layered poem, listeners are prompted to look again at what they might overlook or disparage, and to practice the poetic attention that makes compassion possible.