1542: What We Wanted by Carol Moldaw - The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily

Summary4 min read

Episode Overview

Title: 1542: "What We Wanted" by Carol Moldaw
Host: Maggie Smith
Date: June 22, 2026
Theme:
This episode of The Slowdown centers around the human tendency to follow familiar paths—both literally and metaphorically—and the courage, curiosity, and care needed to forge new trails. Host Maggie Smith reflects on the comfort and “muscle memory” of routine, leading into a reading and consideration of Carol Moldaw’s poem, “What We Wanted.” Through the poem, listeners are invited to examine the process, uncertainty, and subtle beauty of creating new ways forward.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Familiar Paths & Comfort (01:06–02:15)

Maggie Smith opens by relating her daily habits—walking familiar routes with her dog, traveling to familiar places by car—to a universal human desire for comfort and routine:
- “Like most people I know, I tend to travel the same paths and over and over—the same walk to the coffee shop, or to my children’s school, or to the post office…”
She draws a parallel between her own routines and her old dog’s preference for familiar sights and scents, noting how familiarity soothes both people and animals.
Smith muses on the role of “muscle and sense memory” in our lives:
- “Maybe humans have muscle and sense memory, not unlike my dog on her walk around the block. We instinctively know the way and we are most comfortable traveling the paths we've traveled before. It becomes a part of who we are, of how we know ourselves.”

Breaking the Mold: The Need for New Trails (02:16–02:40)

Smith suggests that, occasionally, necessity or desire compels us off the beaten path:
- “But sometimes we want or need to travel off the beaten path, as they say. Sometimes, as we see in today's poem, we have to find or create a new way.”

Featured Poem: “What We Wanted” by Carol Moldaw (02:41–04:47)

Maggie Smith reads Moldaw’s poem, which traces both the longing and the practical labor involved in creating a trail through difficult terrain.
The poem is rich in imagery, describing the physical challenges and the patience required:

“What we wanted was a trail that would lead sufficiently far away to make it a good walk by the time we got back.

We wanted its footprint to be light enough to escape notice,

but deep enough to follow…”
The discovery and creation of the path is a communal process, involving repeated attempts, small markers (“snipping strips of neon orange or pink… tying, untying, retying”), and accidental innovations (creating the “first switchback”).
The poem ends on a note of quiet triumph and wonder:

“Blazing our trail back up, we often found ourselves guided by the hoof prints of crisscrossing deer paths, each delicate stamp on the dirt a seal, a heraldic fleur de lis.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On Routine and Comfort:
- “We are most comfortable traveling the paths we've traveled before. It becomes a part of who we are, of how we know ourselves.” (Maggie Smith, 01:58)
On Venturing Beyond the Known:
- “Sometimes…we have to find or create a new way.” (Maggie Smith, 02:22)
On the Labor and Beauty of Trail-Making: (Carol Moldaw’s poem, 03:10–04:47)
- “It took much retrapsing of the same ground to suss it out, snipping strips of neon orange or pink from the reels at our waists, tying, untying, retying.”
- “Blazing our trail back up, we often found ourselves guided by the hoof prints of crisscrossing deer paths, each delicate stamp on the dirt a seal, a heraldic fleur de lis.”

Key Segment Timestamps

01:06 – Maggie Smith’s reflections on familiar routes and comfort
02:16 – The impulse and necessity of forging new paths
02:41 – Introduction of the featured poem
03:00-04:47 – Reading of Carol Moldaw’s “What We Wanted”
04:47 – Closing remarks and transition to credits

Flow & Tone

The episode embodies The Slowdown’s gentle, contemplative tone, blending Maggie Smith’s introspective narration with Moldaw’s evocative poetry.
The language is direct, warm, and immersive, inviting listeners to reflect on their own routines and the metaphorical “trails” of their lives.

Summary

This episode invites listeners to notice the ways in which we construct our lives on habitual routes and to appreciate the courage and community required to deviate, explore, and create new trails. Through Smith’s musings and Moldaw’s beautifully detailed poem, the episode becomes a meditation on discovery, the beauty in the deliberate act of wandering, and the small evidences of progress and meaning along the way.

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Transcript3 lines

[00:00]
A
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[00:30]
B
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[01:06]
C
I'm Maggie Smith and this is the Slowdown. Like most people I know, I tend to travel the same paths and over and over the same walk to the coffee shop or to my children's school or to the post office. The same familiar route around the block with my old dog because she's comforted by familiar sights and scents and will stop confused if I try to lead her another way, even by car. Many of us drive the same way to work or to school every day. Influenced by traffic patterns and timing, we have our preferred routes to run errands or to visit friends and family. When you live in a place long enough or visit a place enough times, you learn the most efficient or most scenic ways to travel. I often feel like I'm on autopilot, as if my car has driven itself to a familiar destination. Maybe humans have muscle and sense memory, not unlike my dog on her walk around the block. We instinctively know the way and we are most comfortable traveling the paths we've traveled before. It becomes a part of who we are, of how we know ourselves. But sometimes we want or need to travel off the beaten path, as they say. Sometimes, as we see in today's poem, we have to find or create a new way. This is a poem by Carol Moldau. What we wanted was a trail that would lead sufficiently far away to make it a good walk by the time we got back. We wanted its footprint to be light enough to escape notice, but deep enough to follow its route not known, its end site and turning back point not yet glimpsed, but its mouth had to be where the easement on the property above met undeveloped sea city land to scurry straight up the pinon studded shale was to slide, scrambling backwards in one long gasp, arms needles scratched and palms shale scraped. It took most of summer's Sunday morning dog walks to construct a less direct and better course, tracking the barbed wire fence line both north, left and right, south, seeking openings in the ponderosa pines to climb up at a slight incline. It took much retrapsing of the same ground to suss it out, snipping strips of neon orange or pink from the reels at our waists, tying, untying, retying. At first I typed retyping ribbons every few trees. When we reached the gulch that further on crosses under our shared road, we veered back from it and up, inadvertently creating our first switchback. Later we came to tack away well before the drop off. By that time, we knew where we were headed, a vista point we'd stumbled upon. Coming up a saddle from the north, it was already marked by cairns. In the sun, the city below was a blur, while the mountain peaks across the valley glinted like arrowheads. Blazing our trail back up, we often found ourselves guided by the hoof prints of crisscrossing deer paths, each delicate stamp on the dirt a seal, a heraldic fleur de lis. 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, LowdownShow and BluesKylowdownShow.org. Summer is starting, meaning graduations, wedding season and annual holidays where we come together to celebrate. We are also marking a less rosy milestone. One year ago, federal funding for public media like the Slowdown was cut. Listeners like you stepped up to keep this program going as our budget year comes to a close. Your support helps to make sure a daily moment of poetry stays a part of your routine. Donate now@slowdownshow.org or click the link in the show notes.