1356: The Song of Songs of Songs of Songs by Jeremy Radin

Summary

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The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily

Host: Maggie Smith
Episode: 1356: "The Song of Songs of Songs of Songs" by Jeremy Radin
Date: September 19, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode, hosted by Maggie Smith, centers on the magic and accessibility of poetic thinking—specifically, the ability to draw similes and metaphors from everyday experience. Maggie encourages listeners to embrace the childlike curiosity that fuels poetic comparisons, setting up Jeremy Radin’s poem “The Song of Songs of Songs of Songs” as an exuberant example. The poem itself is a lush, cascading series of similes that celebrate the bridges built by imagination and attention.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Paying Attention Like a Poet

• Maggie opens with anecdotes about her children’s natural poetic inclinations, illustrating how everyone possesses the ability to think metaphorically.
• She underscores that poetry isn’t about innate talent, but about "the ability to pay attention, to approach the world with curiosity and to make connections." (03:12)

The Bridge of Simile and Metaphor

• Maggie explores how similes serve as connections between disparate things, a process she compares to children "building these bridges all the time, making sense of what they newly encounter by comparing it to what they already know." (04:05)
• Examples from her children:
  • Her daughter compares an elusive dream to “a hawk circling your head.” (03:40)
  • Her son sees a squirrel traversing roofs, trees, and wires, describing it as “a secret sidewalk in the sky.” (04:00)

Poetry as Accessible Creativity

• Maggie demystifies poetry, encouraging listeners:

  "What we have is something that everyone has—the ability to pay attention, to approach the world with curiosity and to make connections. That’s all." (03:24)

• She invites listeners to try building a list of their own similes after hearing the featured poem.

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Poem Reading: "The Song of Songs of Songs of Songs" by Jeremy Radin

[05:12] Full Poem Read Aloud

Maggie introduces the poem as “one of my favorite kinds of poems. A list and not any list, but a list of similes.” The poem is celebrated for its imaginative leaps and boundless comparisons.

Notable Lines (Selected for Imagery)

• “your eyes are like a sisterhood”
• “your lungs are like a pear tree split in a storm”
• “your shoulder is like the negation of a grave”
• “your shadow is like being held inside a cello as it is played”
• “your laugh is like a wedding of dragonflies”
• “your hair is like the sound of someone learning”

Each simile acts as a tiny bridge—an embodiment of the episode’s main theme.

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On childlike wonder and poetry:

  “Children naturally know how to do this. They’re building these bridges all the time, making sense of what they newly encounter by comparing it to what they already know.” — Maggie Smith [04:05]

• On the universality of metaphor:

  “A metaphor or simile is a connection. You see something and it reminds you of something else. You build a little bridge in your mind.” — Maggie Smith [03:50]

• Prompting creativity in listeners:

  "But maybe, just maybe, after listening to this poem, you'll be inspired to make a list of your own. I wonder what bridges you might build." — Maggie Smith [05:00]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:36] — Maggie Smith begins reflecting on childhood poetic observations.
• [03:40] — Daughter’s dream simile quote.
• [04:00] — Son’s squirrel simile and question about poetry.
• [05:12] — Reading of "The Song of Songs of Songs of Songs" by Jeremy Radin.
• [06:44] — Episode transitions to closing credits and music.

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Tone and Style

Maggie’s style is warm, encouraging, and gently inquisitive, embodying the spirit of reflective creativity. She elevates everyday observations to poetic potential, making listeners feel capable of poetic thinking.

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Summary

In this episode, Maggie Smith celebrates the poetic impulse in everyone by sharing childlike metaphors and introducing Jeremy Radin’s exuberant list poem. The episode is an invitation to pause, observe, and dare to compare—reminding all of us how poetry helps us see the world, and ourselves, anew through wonder and attentive connection.

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

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[C]

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[B]

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[C]

I'm Maggie Smith, and this is the Slowdown. I remember once making my morning coffee. I said to my daughter, I know I had a dream last night, but I can't quite remember it. And Violet, then only about six years old, said, like a hawk circling your head. I'm sure my eyes widened. What a beautiful simile for that feeling of something just beyond your reach. Another time, my son, watching a squirrel hop from the roof of a house to the limb of a tree to a power line, remarked, like a secret sidewalk in the sky. And then he looked up at me and asked, is that a poem? I laughed. He was only about 4 years old. I told him it wasn't a poem, but it was the start of one, one that he could write someday if he wanted to. I wasn't about to steal his material. I'm not telling you these stories because I think my children are prodigies or that they have some sort of poetry gene. They don't, and I don't either. What we have is something that everyone has the ability to pay attention, to approach the world with curiosity and to make connections. That's all. A metaphor or simile is a connection. You see something and it reminds you of something else. You build a little bridge in your mind. Children naturally know how to do this. They're building these bridges all the time, making sense of what they newly encounter by comparing it to what they already know. A dandelion looks like the sun, the top of an acorn is like a little hat, a crescent moon is like a smile. Today's poem is one of my favorite kinds of poems. A list and not any list, but a list of similes. This poet builds bridge after bridge, line after line. Don't worry, I won't give you homework. But maybe, just maybe, after listening to this poem, you'll be inspired to make a list of your own. I wonder what bridges you might build. The Song of Songs of Songs of Songs by Jeremy Radin and your eyes are like a sisterhood and your lungs are like a pear tree split in a storm and your ankle is like a hospital, and your shoulder is like the negation of a grave, and your shadow is like being held inside a cello as it is played, and your wrist is like the Moses of wrists, and your voice is like someone giving someone the sea, and your hand is like a lamp that is whispering and your knee is like a snow leopard's face in the snow, and your ears are like a pair of golden radios, and your nose is like a planet fallen in a forest, and your legs are like the edges of sleep, and your laugh is like a wedding of dragonflies, and your tongue is like the sabbath inside of the sabbath and your neck is like a secret month, and your hair is like the sound of someone learning. 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 and sign up for our newsletter and find us on Instagram, lodownshow and blueskylowdownshow.org the slowdown is written by me, Maggie Smith. Our lead producer is Micah Kielbon, and our associate producer is Maria Wurtel. Our music is composed by Kyle Andrews, engineering by Derek Ramirez. Our editor is Joanne Griffith. Additional production help by Susanna Sharpless, Cece Lucas, Marcel Malikibu and Lauren Humpert. Our executives in charge are Chandra Kavati and Mark Crowley.

[D]

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[C]

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[D]

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