[encore] 499: Leaving Tulsa by Jennifer Elise Foerster

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily Episode: [Encore] 499: Leaving Tulsa by Jennifer Elise Forrester
Host: Tracy K. Smith
Release Date: April 24, 2025

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Introduction

In this encore episode of The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily, former host Tracy K. Smith takes the helm to present Jennifer Elise Forrester's evocative poem "Leaving Tulsa." This episode revisits the profound themes of history, memory, and heritage, resonating deeply with the show's mission to illuminate the complexities of the human journey through poetry.

Host's Commentary

At [01:10], Tracy K. Smith sets the stage by reflecting on the multifaceted nature of American history. She emphasizes that history is not a single, unbroken narrative but a tapestry woven from diverse, often overlooked stories. Smith remarks:

"The myth of a central history of America is damaging to those whose stories have been left untended, overgrown." [01:30]

She underscores the importance of recognizing and listening to these divergent narratives as essential for the nation's survival and collective understanding.

Poem Overview: Leaving Tulsa

Leaving Tulsa delves into themes of familial legacy, displacement, and the inexorable march of progress. Through vivid imagery and personal anecdotes, Forrester paints a poignant picture of a family's connection to their land and the subsequent loss inflicted by urban development.

Key Themes:

• Heritage and Legacy: The poem highlights the grandmother's teachings and the preservation of family traditions, such as gardening and fishing, symbolizing a deep-rooted connection to the land.

• Displacement and Change: The encroachment of bulldozers and pipelines signifies the loss of ancestral land, reflecting a broader commentary on environmental and cultural displacement.

• Memory and Remembrance: The act of stowing away the grandmother's jewelry and the promise to return exemplify the enduring bonds of memory and the longing to preserve one's heritage amidst change.

Notable Quotes

Throughout the episode, several lines from Leaving Tulsa resonate with the overarching themes discussed by Smith:

• [02:00]

  "Once there were coyotes, cardinals in the cedar. You could cure amnesia with the trees of our back 40."

  This line evokes a sense of nostalgia and the healing power of nature, emphasizing the importance of preserving one's natural and cultural environment.

• [03:15]

  "Grandma fell in love with a truck driver, grew watermelons by the pond on our Indian allotment, took us fishing for dragonflies."

  Here, the grandmother's character is fleshed out, showcasing her resilience and the nurturing of family bonds through simple, yet meaningful activities.

• [04:45]

  "They tell the story of our family, Cosetta's land flattened to a parking lot."

  A stark portrayal of loss, this line underscores the impact of modernization on personal and communal histories.

• [05:30]

  "I understand how to keep from looking up. Small plains trail overhead as I kneel in the Johnson grass, combing away footprints."

  This reflection illustrates the internal struggle of reconciling with loss while striving to maintain one's identity and connection to the past.

Conclusion

Tracy K. Smith's presentation of Jennifer Elise Forrester's Leaving Tulsa serves as a compelling reminder of the intricate layers that compose individual and collective histories. By highlighting the poem's exploration of heritage, displacement, and memory, Smith invites listeners to engage deeply with the narratives that shape our understanding of place and identity.

This episode encapsulates The Slowdown's dedication to offering moments of reflection and connection through poetry, encouraging listeners to pause, contemplate, and appreciate the diverse stories that enrich the human experience.

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Production Credits:
The Slowdown is produced by APM Studios in partnership with The Poetry Foundation and supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Transcript

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[Unknown Host]

The slowdown is on a break right now, but we'll be back soon with a new host. In the meantime, we're bringing you some of the best episodes from our archives. Today we revisit an episode from Tracy K. Smith's time at the helm. Enjoy.

[Tracy K. Smith]

I'm Tracy K. Smith, and this is the Slowdown. History is a worn path. Deep ruts eaten into earth make up a road, but there are additional routes, footprints and wheel grooves and grassy straits few have traveled. The myth of a central history of America is damaging to those whose stories have been left untended, overgrown. And it is damaging for those who believe the one heavily trafficked road is the only road. It has become clear to me that the work of survival for this fraught nation is the work of stopping to listen to the many divergent narratives of America. Today's poem is Leaving Tulsa by Jennifer Elise Forrester 4. Cosetta Once there were coyotes, cardinals in the cedar. You could cure amnesia with the trees of our back 40. Once I drowned in a monsoon of frogs. Grandma said it was a good thing, a promise for a good crop. Grandma's perfect tomatoes, squash. She taught us to shuck corn, laughing. Never spoke about her childhood or the faces in gingerbread tins stacked in the closet. She was covered in a quilt the creek way, but I don't know this kind of burial. Vanishing toads thinning pecan groves, peach trees choked by palms, new neighbors tossing clipped grass over our fence line, griping to the city of our overgrown fields. Grandma fell in love with a truck driver, grew watermelons by the pond on our Indian allotment, took us fishing for dragonflies. When the bulldozers came with their documents from the city and a truckload of pipelines, her shotgun was already loaded under the bent chestnut, the well where Cosetta's husband hid his whiskey, buried beneath roots, her bundle of beads. They tell the story of our family, Cosetta's land flattened to a parking lot. Grandma potted a cedar sapling I could take on the road for luck. She used the bark for heart lesions doctors couldn't explain to her. They were maps, traces of home, the Milky Way. Where she's going, she said. After the funeral, I stowed her jewelry in the ground, promised to return when the rivers rose on the grassy plain behind the house, one buffalo remains. Along the highway's gravel pits, sunflowers stand in dense rows. Telephone poles crook into the layered sky, a crow's beak broken by a windmill's blade. It is, then I understand my grandmother when they see open land, they only know to take it. I understand how to walk among hay bales looking for turtle shells, how to sing over the groan of the county widening to four lanes. I understand how to keep from looking up. Small plains trail overhead as I kneel in the Johnson grass, combing away footprints. Up here, parallel to the median with a vista of mesa's weavings, the sky a belt of blue and white beadwork, I see our hundred and sixty acres stamped on God's forsaken country. A roof blown off a shed beams like bent matchsticks, a drove of white cows making their home in a derailed train car. The Slowdown is a production of American Public Media in partnership with the Poetry Foundation. This project is supported in part by by the National Endowment for the Arts on the [e-mail] this Old House has.

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