Turtles!

Turtles!

From Remote Pep Talks with Ryan Millar by Ryan Millar

June 26, 2025 · 14 min · Episode 35

About this episode

This episode explores themes of memorization, persistence, and meaning making through the lens of a poem about turtles.

This is not just about turtles, it's about memorization, persistence and meaning making. Also, here's the poem Turtle, by Kay Ryan Who would be a turtle who could help it? A barely mobile hard roll, a four-oared helmet, she can ill afford the chances she must take in rowing toward the grasses that she eats. Her track is graceless, like dragging a packing-case places, and almost any slope defeats her modest hopes. Even being practical, she's often stuck up to the axle on her way to something edible. With everything optimal, she skirts the ditch which would convert her shell into a serving dish. She lives below luck-level, never imagining some lottery will change her load of pottery to wings. Her only levity is patience, the sport of truly chastened things.

People in this episode

Host: Ryan Millar

Topics covered

  • memorization
  • persistence
  • meaning making
  • poetry
  • turtles

Keywords

  • turtles
  • memorization
  • persistence
  • Kay Ryan
  • poetry

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Turtle

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