I'm Maggie Smith, and this is The Slowdown.

It's no secret that I'm divorced. I've written about the end of my marriage and poems,

and in my memoir, you could make this place beautiful. If you've been divorced or if you've experienced the

end of a long romantic relationship, you know how complex it is. Maybe you're heartbroken

that it didn't work out. Maybe you're relieved that you're no longer in that relationship.

Maybe you feel abandoned and discarded. Maybe you feel alive and happy and free. In my experience, more than one of these things can be true.

When I got divorced, I remember the mixed feelings. A big part of me was devastated that we hadn't made it work.

Another part of me was relieved because it hadn't been work. Another part of me was relieved

because it hadn't been working.

A part of me was terrified

because I had no idea what the future held

and a different big part of me felt excited and free.

I wrote in a poem once, The trick of the future is it's empty. That's where the

excitement and terror come in. The future is empty, and we get to fill it. The future is unwritten,

and we get to decide what the story will be.

We get to choose what comes next.

Today's poem captures the exhilaration and fear of falling in love again after divorce.

It's a poem that I think encourages us to stay open,

to have courage,

and to risk our hearts again.

The Terror of New Love by Tiana Clark for D.

I thought about taking a picture to capture what.

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