The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily

Episode 1416: "Nursery" by Kiki Petrosino

Host: Maggie Smith
Date: December 19, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode of The Slowdown centers on the enchantment and unease embedded in fairy tales, linking their magic and mystery to the poem "Nursery" by Kiki Petrosino. Host Maggie Smith reflects on how fairy tale motifs resonate in our lives, setting the stage for a close reading of Petrosino's poem—one that draws heavily upon the strangeness and allure of entering a magical world, only to be changed in the process.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Power and Duality of Fairy Tales

• Maggie Smith begins by recounting her childhood fascination with fairy tale books—one ornate and adult-like, one brightly illustrated—describing the lasting impression they made on her imagination.
• She recalls a touching moment when her literary agent gifted her a beloved, long-lost fairy tale book, calling it "as magical as I remember." ([02:07])
• Smith explores why fairy tales captivate so deeply: "Something about fairy tales captured my imagination… probably because in them, impossible things are possible." ([02:32])
  • Fairy tales offer a playground where:
    • "Girls become mermaids, and mirrors can tell the future. Birds become boys and boys become birds. Mountains open with keys and a kiss can wake you from a century of sleep." ([02:40])
    • Not all is harmless: "There are witches and evil queens and wolves that would swallow even a little old grandmother whole. There are good spells and bad spells… stories of beautiful transformations and stories of horrific ones. Very few things in fairy tales are what they seem, and that is both exhilarating and terrifying." ([03:00])
• Smith draws a parallel between the inexplicable events in fairy tales and the unpredictable, often inexplicable happenings in real life.

Introducing & Reading "Nursery" by Kiki Petrosino

• Smith introduces the poem, highlighting its invocation of fairy tale language and atmosphere, and the way it mirrors the experience of entering mysterious spaces—both literal and psychic—where not everything can be explained. ([03:27])
• She then performs a reading of "Nursery," inviting listeners to experience the poem’s magical yet haunting narrative.

Key Themes from the Poem

• The poem depicts the opening of "the door to the fairy house," a metaphorical threshold into the unknown.
  • Recurring motifs: transformation, uncertainty, lingering effects of encounters with magic.
  • Memorable line: "Somehow we got out of there alive, though something crystalline of us remains in that dark, growing its facets." ([04:02])
  • Ambiguity of safety and change: escaping the fairy house is possible, but not without permanent, sometimes unsettling change.
  • Interrogation of agency and responsibility: "Why did you open the door to the fairy house?" ([05:22])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the lure of fairy tales:
  "Not all of the magic in fairy tales is sweet and harmless either. There are witches and evil queens and wolves that would swallow even a little old grandmother whole… Very few things in fairy tales are what they seem, and that is both exhilarating and terrifying." — Maggie Smith ([03:00])

• Introducing the poem:
  "Today's poem draws on the language of fairy tales and the strange, sometimes inexplicable things that happen in these stories. After all, strange, sometimes inexplicable things happen in life, too." — Maggie Smith ([03:27])

• From the poem ["Nursery" by Kiki Petrosino]:
  "Somehow we got out of there alive, though something crystalline of us remains in that dark, growing its facets." ([04:02])
  "Inside, our hosts gave damn few answers. Who built that door? Is this a fairy house? They had no faces, yet we spoke into their quince bud ears." ([04:40])
  "Our life is different now. We've drunk the tea. They're alive. Somehow I got us out. Why did you open the door to the fairy house?" ([05:12])

Important Timestamps

• [02:07] – Maggie Smith’s story of childhood fairy tale books and reconnecting with them
• [03:00] – Reflections on the dual nature of magic and transformation in fairy tales
• [03:27] – Transition to and introduction of the poem "Nursery"
• [04:02] – Key image: the lingering, crystalline remnant left behind by magical experiences
• [04:40] – The unsettling, faceless hosts and unanswered questions in the fairy house
• [05:12] – Emphasis on lasting change, agency, and the lingering mystery of the fairy house

Tone & Style

Maggie Smith's tone throughout is warm, reflective, and tinged with both wonder and unease—themes mirrored beautifully in both her narration and the choice of Kiki Petrosino’s poem. The episode invites listeners to experience poetry not just as a literary artifact, but as an instrument for personal and communal reflection, especially in moments of transformation and uncertainty.

Summary

This episode uses the framework of fairy tales to examine what happens when we cross metaphoric thresholds and emerge changed, even if we survive the journey. Smith and Petrosino together invite reflection on how magical—or traumatic—encounters leave permanent marks, and how poetry helps us metabolize the enchantment and terror found both in stories and in life.