Podcast Episode Summary

Podcast: The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily
Episode: 1360 – "Wind, Blue Sky" by Susan Aizenberg
Host: Maggie Smith
Date: September 25, 2025

Brief Overview

In this episode, host Maggie Smith explores the challenge and importance of being present and grounded in the moment amidst daily distractions. Through her personal reflections and Susan Aizenberg’s poem “Wind, Blue Sky,” Smith delves into how memory and anticipation often pull us away from the present — and how practicing attention can deepen both our writing and our daily lives.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Nature of Attention and Being Present

• Personal Reflection on Attention
  • Maggie Smith discusses her belief that "attention is a form of love," describing how attentiveness both enriches creativity and fosters deeper human relationships.
  • She details her experiences as a parent, friend, teacher, and poet, emphasizing the value of sensory presence:
    • "So many of my poems were made possible only because I took the time to look at my surroundings, listen to the wind and the birds, touch leaves to know their textures, breathe deeply to describe what the autumn air smelled like." (03:37)
• The Challenge of Staying Present
  • Smith candidly acknowledges the struggle to remain attentive amid life’s distractions — emails, family, to-do lists, future plans, and past memories. She normalizes this struggle for listeners:
    • "The present is full of distractions. But it's more than that. One of the gifts and one of the burdens of being human is our ability to remember the past and also to look ahead to the future. We're reflectors and we're dreamers." (04:22)
• Intentional Practices
  • Smith shares her efforts to resist the pull of multitasking and documenting every moment:
    • "I'm trying to do better, to put my phone away when I'm out with friends and family, to resist documenting experiences by taking photos or taking notes, to just be." (05:00)

Introduction & Reading of the Poem

• Smith introduces Susan Aizenberg’s “Wind, Blue Sky” as a meditation on the effort of anchoring oneself in the here and now, even as memory intrudes.

[Poem Reading — 05:21 to 06:58]

• The poem follows the speaker's intentional practice of presence:
  • “I am practicing being in the moment to think. Wind blue sky Grandson singing in his stroller..."
• Sensory detail, family comparisons, and bodily awareness bring immediacy and intimacy.
• The poem's turning point: memory interrupts experience, triggered by an old photograph of the speaker's mother, introducing the theme of loss and longing.
• The final lines return the speaker’s attention to her grandson and the immediate world, suggesting how mindfulness is a continual, compassionate practice.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Poetic Attention:
  • "Being sensitive, attuned, observant — these things don’t just improve your writing, they improve your life. I know this. But knowing it doesn’t mean it’s easy for me to stay tuned in and attentive in the moment."
    — Maggie Smith (03:50)
• On Humanity's Dual Nature:
  • "One of the gifts and one of the burdens of being human is our ability to remember the past and also to look ahead to the future. We're reflectors and we're dreamers."
    — Maggie Smith (04:32)
• Aizenberg's Reflection on Presence:
  • “I am practicing at practicing. But here comes memory, insistent as the birds cry...”
    — Read by Maggie Smith (06:12)
• Poignant Imagery of Loss and Memory:
  • “...my smiling dead mother caught in the moment. He's made her laugh, their heads close together as they tread the shimmering water of a Lauderdale pool, her face wet and crinkled with joy.”
    — Read by Maggie Smith (06:33)
• Instruction to Gently Return to the Present:
  • “Bring your attention gently back.”
    — Read by Maggie Smith (06:55)

Noteworthy Segments & Timestamps

• Host’s Personal Reflection on Attention – 01:34–05:10
• Reading of "Wind, Blue Sky" by Susan Aizenberg – 05:21–06:58
• Reflection on Practicing Presence Despite Memory’s Pull – 06:12–06:55

Episode Takeaways

• Practicing present-moment attention is an ongoing, compassionate process — both enriched and challenged by memory and anticipation.
• Poetry can serve as both reminder and tool for deepening our awareness and gratitude for the now.
• Allowing attention to gently return to the present, again and again, is a meaningful act of care — for self and others.