1380: Like Apple from Seed by Molly Johnsen - The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily

Summary4 min read

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily

Episode 1380: Like Apple from Seed by Molly Johnsen
Host: Maggie Smith
Date: October 23, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode of The Slowdown is a meditation on the evolving roles that personal storytelling and poetry play in family and daily life. Host Maggie Smith reflects on her experiences of becoming both a parent and a storyteller, using these roles as a lens through which to introduce and contemplate Molly Johnsen’s poem, “Like Apple from Seed.” The episode gently explores how stories, much like seeds, carry the potential for growth, nurturance, and transformation through generations.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. On Parenting and Multiplicity of Roles (01:07–02:26)

Maggie shares how parenthood comes with a constant layering of new, unanticipated roles—ranging from nurse, personal chef, and repairwoman, to storyteller and cheerleader.
She humorously admits feeling “underqualified for most of these positions,” letting listeners in on the universal humility and improvisation involved in family life.

“Let's be real, I'm underqualified for most of these positions.”
— Maggie Smith (01:25)

2. The Comfort of Stories and Lullabies (02:27–03:29)

Smith reflects on the everyday use of songs and stories as instruments of comfort and stability for children: from lullabies at bedtime to tales spun on demand in stressful moments.

“So much of parenting small children is providing comfort and routine, and songs and stories are part of that.”
— Maggie Smith (02:31)
She recounts her daughter’s growing insistence on original, improvised stories, pushing Smith beyond familiar fairy tales.

“‘No mommy, make up a story. A new one.’ No pressure, right?”
— Maggie Smith (03:11)
- Maggie describes inventing fables tailored to her own life quirks, like birds afraid of heights or forgetful squirrels—a light, relatable touch that connects parent and child on their own everyday terms.

3. Stories as Seeds, Stories as Growth (03:30–03:58)

The central metaphor emerges: stories as seeds, from which so much potential can grow in family and in life.

“Stories themselves are like seeds in our lives. So much can grow from them. There is so much potential waiting inside.”
— Maggie Smith (03:52)

4. Reading of the Poem: “Like Apple from Seed” by Molly Johnsen (03:59–05:17)

Smith reads Johnsen’s poem, beginning with the comforting tales the speaker’s father told about the moon and evolving into the speaker's own stories for a new generation.
The poem blends memory, imagination, and change: from a comforting image of the moon “hooked and hanging on a bamboo fishing pole” (04:26), to the speaker’s own tale of the moon being consumed, then growing new, “like apple from seed.”
Generational change and the cyclical nature of storytelling are woven through the poem, as the speaker and her child now stand under the tree where “the moon will weigh down the branch till it cracks.”
The poem closes with a gesture of support and interdependence: “I have to save it, I say, and you make of your hands a stirrup.” (05:14)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On parenting’s many hats:

“I'm underqualified for most of these positions.”
— Maggie Smith (01:25)
On creative storytelling for children:

“‘No mommy, make up a story. A new one.’ No pressure, right?”
— Maggie Smith (03:11)
On stories as potential:

“Stories themselves are like seeds in our lives. So much can grow from them. There is so much potential waiting inside.”
— Maggie Smith (03:52)
From the poem, on transformation:

“So the moon came back new and grew like apple from seed, like me and you and the tree where we now stand.”
— Molly Johnsen, read by Maggie Smith (04:46)
On interdependence and generational support:

“I have to save it, I say, and you make of your hands a stirrup.”
— Molly Johnsen, read by Maggie Smith (05:14)

Timestamps for Important Segments

01:07 — Maggie reflects on the expanded identity of parenthood
02:31 — On the rhythms of comfort and bedtime stories
03:11 — Children’s demand for imagination and tailor-made stories
03:52 — Central metaphor: stories as seeds
03:59–05:17 — Full reading of “Like Apple from Seed”

Tone and Delivery

Maggie Smith’s style—gentle, self-reflective, slightly humorous—sets the tone for deep yet accessible contemplation. The reading of Johnsen’s poem continues this warmth and intimacy, inviting listeners to consider both the comforting and weighty responsibilities of tending narrative legacies within families.

Summary

This episode offers a brief, meaningful meditation on the way stories are passed, adapted, and grown within families, using the rhythms of daily life and poetry as both subject and vessel. Through Maggie Smith’s relatable storytelling and the quiet beauty of Molly Johnsen’s poem, listeners are invited to reflect on their own roles as creators, transmitters, and caretakers of stories—seeds from which futures may flourish.

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Transcript7 lines

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Hey Chihuahua. Holy schnauzers.
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I'm Maggie Smith and this is the Slowdown When I became a parent, I became a lot of other things too. A nurse, a personal chef, a housekeeper, a laundress, a chauffeur, a special occasion baker, a bicycle repair person, an organizer, and a sidelines cheerleader. Home ownership added the roles of lawn care specialist, emergency plumber, general handy woman, and personal banker to that list. Let's be real, I'm underqualified for most of these positions. Singer and storyteller have been jobs of mine too. Certainly they were daily roles when my kids were younger. So much of parenting small children is providing comfort and routine, and songs and stories are part of that. Lullabies for bedtime or little songs to calm a fussy baby or toddler during a doctor's appointment or in line at the grocery store. And of course, bedtime stories. I remember my daughter saying, tell me a story each night, and I had no idea what to tell her other than short, simplified versions of the fairy tales I knew by heart. All of them began once upon a time and ended. They all lived happily ever after. After she'd heard my CliffsNotes version of Goldilocks and the Little Mermaid and any other story I could recall the basic plot of, she became more demanding. No mommy, make up a story. A new one. No pressure, right? I would ad lib little fables about birds who were afraid of heights, or squirrels that misplaced their acorns or caterpillars that were nervous about becoming butterflies. They still began once upon a time, for the most part, and they ended happily with a newly brave bird, a better organized squirrel, and a triumphant butterfly. What can I say? These are the stories you get when your mom is afraid of heights, constantly losing her car keys, and a little nervous about transitions. Today's poem begins with a beautiful story that the speaker's father would tell her and transforms as she becomes the family storyteller. Stories themselves are like seeds in our lives. So much can grow from them. There is so much potential waiting inside. Like Apple from Seed by Molly Johnson when nights were still scary, our father used to tell us about the moon, hooked and hanging on a bamboo fishing pole held by a man drifting in a space boat. He reeled it in only in daylight when storytime became my job. I told you the moon man was slowly consuming his catch, mouth full of cool white on those nights made only of black. So the moon came back new and grew like apple from seed, like me and you and the tree where we now stand. You're a head and neck taller than me and you say it's beautiful, But I see that the moon will weigh down the branch till it cracks, then rots away. Or maybe I can climb up toward where it's stuck. The rain starts and we're here getting sucked up and swallowed. I have to save it, I say, and you make of your hands a stirrup. 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 @downdownshow and blueskylowdownshow.org hello Slowdown listeners. Poetry Magazine has a special offer just for you. Subscribe to one year of Poetry Magazine today and receive their limited edition tote bag for $39. That's the cost of one Loboo. You'll receive 10 beautifully curated print magazines of contemporary poetry, unlimited digital access via the Poetry Magazine app and a tote bag to carry it all. Subscribe today@poetrymagazine.org Slowdown25 to receive this special offer.