Summary4 min read

Podcast Summary: The Slowdown Ep. 1361

Title: "Earth, Sometimes I Try to Play It Casual" by Catherine Pierce
Host: Maggie Smith
Date: September 26, 2025

Overview

In this episode, host Maggie Smith reflects on unabashed wonder for the natural world, using Catherine Pierce’s poem “Earth, Sometimes I Try to Play It Casual” as a gateway into themes of awe, longing, and the bittersweet relationship with our planet. Maggie shares her own joyful engagement with nature, sets the tone for the poem, and then reads it aloud—inviting listeners to revel in both beauty and vulnerability.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Maggie Smith’s Personal Connection to Nature

(03:37 – 05:04)

Childlike Wonder: Maggie describes her uninhibited delight in nature: gasping at clouds, marveling at the moon, calling out hawks, and texting videos of hummingbirds.
- “I have zero chill when it comes to the natural world. My son and daughter would probably tell you I'm like a little kid. I gasp audibly at the clouds, the moon, the light coming through the leaves of trees.”
Collecting Moments: She confesses to having more cloud photos than people photos, always choosing a window seat on planes to marvel at the view.
Appreciation Societies: Jokingly, Maggie calls herself a “card-carrying member” of the Cloud Appreciation Society, with an imaginary wallet full of similar memberships: “I can imagine my wallet being overstuffed with these cards. Cards I'd never need to flash for entry or acceptance, though, because all we have to do is look up or down or around to marvel at these parts of the world we live in.”
Invitation to Wonder: She frames appreciation as accessible—an open invitation: “All we have to do is look up or down or around to marvel.”
(05:04)

Introduction to the Poem’s Theme

(05:11 – 05:40)

Bittersweet Love for Earth: Maggie sets up the poem’s speaker as someone deeply in love with the natural world, yet painfully aware of its impermanence. This love is described as “bittersweet,” knowing it can’t last but being “deeply in love and in awe.”
Emotional Honesty: The speaker in the poem, she hints, wants desperately to play it cool, but is always pulled back to awe and vulnerability.

Poem Reading: “Earth, Sometimes I Try to Play It Casual” by Catherine Pierce

(05:40 – 07:12)

Highlights & Notable Lines

Attempting Nonchalance:
- “Sometimes I try to play it casual, like hey Mercury, hey Malachite. I'm busy today, can't stop to marvel. But always my blood is saying oh God, you star sprung miracle.”
Everyday Distraction vs. True Importance:
- “It's self-preservation letting myself believe laundry matters, … there's anything other than egrets and oceans and vast moss carpets and the finite heart of every single person I love.”
Earth As Terrifyingly Beautiful:
- “Earth, you terrify me. You are fierce green and honeysuckle. You are herds of wild ponies and you are leaving always.”
Difficulties of Facing Reality:
- “Is it any wonder some days I look at my laptop instead of out the window? Every time I glance up there you are quaking me with your fern fronds and silver frost.”
Litany of the World:
- “O you of the Rhyolite mountains, you of the dew hung web, you are lemon quartz and quicksand, muskrats and starfish. How could I be any way but staggered? O blue spruce, O white fir, oh green forever.”
Vulnerability Exposed:
- “You know my nonchalance is a sham. It's so hard to admit our real desires.”
Desire and Acceptance of Endings:
- "Earth, what I want is to sit gentle under your twilight purple, watch your bats hunt and dive. What I want is to know about endings and still love each bat, each shade of the boundless darkening sky.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On Genuine Delight:
“I'm delighted by what I see and hear and experience. And I don't try to hide or downplay that delight. Why play it cool?” (03:58, Maggie Smith)
On Finding Wonder:
“All we have to do is look up or down or around to marvel at these parts of the world we live in.” (04:46, Maggie Smith)
On Earth’s Ephemeral Beauty:
“Earth, you terrify me. You are fierce green and honeysuckle. You are herds of wild ponies and you are leaving always.” (06:11, Catherine Pierce)
On Honest Desire:
"It's so hard to admit our real desires." (06:45, Catherine Pierce)
On Wanting to Stay Present Despite Loss:
"What I want is to know about endings and still love each bat, each shade of the boundless darkening sky." (07:01, Catherine Pierce)

Episode Flow & Structure

[03:37] Maggie’s nature fandom & lens on delight
[05:11] Framing the poem’s themes: longing, awe, bittersweet love for earth
[05:40] Full poem reading
[07:12] Credits and closing message

Tone & Closing Reflection

The episode embodies wide-eyed gratitude and vulnerability. Maggie’s personal anecdotes set an earnest, playful mood, making the listener feel welcomed into a shared “appreciation society.” The poem deepens this open-heartedness, facing the difficulty of both loving and losing, and naming the longing we feel in fleeting moments of beauty.

For listeners, this episode is an invitation to pause, notice, and appreciate unabashedly—knowing that being “staggered” by beauty is itself a form of hope and honesty.

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Transcript7 lines

[00:00]
A
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[01:03]
B
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[01:11]
A
Crushed it.
[01:12]
B
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[01:38]
C
I'm Maggie Smith and this is the Slowdown. I have zero chill when it comes to the natural world. My son and daughter would probably tell you I'm like a little kid. I gasp audibly at the clouds, the moon, the light coming through the leaves of trees. I shout hawk when I see one on a walk or in the car. I take videos of hummingbirds in my neighbor's mimosa tree and text them to people I care about. I call the albino squirrels in my neighborhood by name. Sugar, rest in peace, Flower and Cloud. I'm delighted by what I see and hear and experience. And I don't try to hide or downplay that delight. Why play it cool? If you follow me on social media, it won't surprise you to know that I probably have more photos on my phone of clouds than of people in my life. I always book window seats on planes for this reason, to marvel at the view. Why would I give that up for the convenience of the aisle? You might know that I'm a card carrying member of the Cloud Appreciation Society. In my mind, I'm also an unofficial member of the Hawk Appreciation Society, the Moon Appreciation Society, the Light through the Leaves Appreciation Society. I can imagine my wallet being overstuffed with these cards. Cards I'd never need to flash for entry or acceptance, though, because all we have to do is look up or down or around to marvel at these parts of the world we live in. The speaker of today's poem would be a member of these appreciation societies too, but the love affair she has with the natural world is bittersweet. This speaker knows this affair can't last, but still she is deeply in love and in awe. This is a poem by Katherine Pierce Earth Sometimes I try to play it casual like hey Mercury, hey Malachite. I'm busy today, can't stop to marvel. But always my blood is saying oh God, you star sprung miracle. It's self preservation letting myself believe laundry matters, Letting myself believe there's anything other than egrets and oceans and vast moss carpets and the finite heart of every single person I love. Earth, you terrify me. You are fierce green and honeysuckle. You are herds of wild ponies and you are leaving always. Is it any wonder some days I look at my laptop instead of out the window? Every time I glance up there you are quaking me with your fern fronds and silver frost. O you of the Rhyolite mountains, you of the dew hung web, you are lemon quartz and quicksand, muskrats and starfish. How could I be any way but staggered? O blue spruce, O white fir, oh green forever. You know my nonchalance is a sham. It's so hard to admit our real desires. Earth what I want is to sit gentle under your twilight purple, watch your bats hunt and dive. What I want is to know about endings and still love each bat, each shade of the boundless darkening sky. 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 sign up for our newsletter and find us on Instagram atdowndownshow and blueskylowdownshow.org.
[07:16]
B
Foreign.
[07:26]
C
Maggie here, host of the Slowdown Listening to and reading poetry helps us find our footing in an uncertain world, especially during challenging times. You can help keep these moments of poetry and reflection going by making a gift today. Visit slowdownshow. Org Donate.