Podcast Summary: The Slowdown – Episode 1375: "Dear Absent" by Marcus Wicker

Host: Maggie Smith
Date: October 16, 2025
Duration: ~5 minutes

Overview

In this episode of The Slowdown, host Maggie Smith reflects on late-night habits and the small but powerful moments of hope found in unexpected places, using Marcus Wicker’s poignant poem “Dear Absent” as a focal point. The episode explores themes of insomnia, technological distraction, vulnerability, and the tender complexities of loss and compassion. Smith’s intimate commentary and the poem itself offer listeners a moment to be present with their own emotions—especially around absence and longing—while witnessing the possibility of grace and connection in the digital age.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Modern Sleeplessness and Phone Habits

[00:00–01:22]

• Maggie Smith confides in her listeners about her insomnia, noting a shift from reading physical books at night to doomscrolling on her phone.
  • Quote (Maggie Smith, 00:23): “I know better, but I don’t do better… So don’t be surprised if you see that I’ve responded to your email, or DM’d you a meme, or sent you a video of very cute puppies in the wee hours of the morning.”
• Smith acknowledges the dissonance between knowing the negative effects of technology at night and still succumbing to its pull, making her relatable to listeners with similar habits.

2. Relatability and Poetic Theme

[01:23–01:40]

• Smith introduces the day’s poem and prepares the audience for its emotional resonance, especially for those who have experienced pregnancy loss:
  • Quote (Maggie Smith, 01:28): “This poem will touch you deeply if you have experienced pregnancy loss.”
• She notes the poem’s relatability, highlighting how the speaker, like herself, seeks distraction online at night, before the piece takes a powerful emotional turn.

3. Poem: “Dear Absent” by Marcus Wicker

[01:41–04:00]

• The poem is read in full, beginning with the speaker’s attempts to avoid “the world’s scattershot awfulness” by scrolling the Internet, and culminating in a life-affirming moment where they witness a baby elephant rescued in a viral video.
  • Memorable lines (Marcus Wicker, 01:56 & 02:15):
    • “I scroll the Internet strapped, buckled in, ready to ride out anything disturbing to my cancer quintessence. That’s how I nearly missed it. The baby elephant hanging halfway off a steep cliffside… in a 1am World Star video threatening to swell or demolish my heart.”
    • “The elephant survives. Hand to God, an excavator arm careens across mountain and sky… lifting a giant shovel to the calf’s rear end… to higher ground. A glorious green forest clearing where the elephant coils its trunk around the machine’s arm in a stirring embrace…"
• The poem uses the rescue as a metaphor for hope and unexpected grace, drawing a parallel to the experience of pregnancy loss and the fleeting moments of joy or connection that can momentarily lift us from despair.
  • Quote (Marcus Wicker, 03:40): “…this unexpected gift I didn’t know to want for until it was offered. That’s what it felt like for at least a minute, peering through the crystal ball of an ultrasound screen.”

4. Themes of Absence, Grief, and Unexpected Connection

[Throughout]

• The “dear absent” to whom the poem is addressed is gradually revealed to be related to a lost pregnancy—poignantly depicted through the image of the ultrasound.
  • Quote (Marcus Wicker, 03:55): “Thimblerig, little elephant in the room that wasn’t vanished, though somehow present.”
• Smith gently frames the poem as an exploration of both personal and collective resilience, finding meaning in minor miracles ("the magic algorithm that delivered this sudden gladness") and the “kindness of strangers.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Maggie Smith [00:23]: “I know better, but I don’t do better.”
• Marcus Wicker [02:17]: “The elephant survives. Hand to God, an excavator arm careens across mountain and sky…”
• Marcus Wicker [03:40]: “…the magic algorithm that delivered this sudden gladness, this unexpected gift I didn’t know to want for until it was offered.”
• Marcus Wicker [03:55]: “Thimblerig, little elephant in the room that wasn’t vanished, though somehow present.”

Important Segment Timestamps

• 00:00 – 01:22: Maggie Smith’s personal meditation on midnight phone use
• 01:23 – 01:40: Introduction and emotional context for the poem
• 01:41 – 04:00: Full reading of “Dear Absent” by Marcus Wicker
• 04:01 – End: Closing remarks and credits (ads/outros not included)

Tone & Language

Maggie Smith’s narration is warm, candid, and gently humorous, effortlessly shifting into a more contemplative and tender atmosphere as she introduces and reflects on the poem. The language of both host and poet remains sensitive and evocative, inviting listeners to connect with the vulnerability expressed.

Summary

In a brief yet profound episode, Maggie Smith uses Marcus Wicker’s “Dear Absent” to probe the interplay of digital distraction, sleeplessness, and silent grief. She and Wicker invite the audience to pause and acknowledge both their digital habits and the deeper longings that such habits may mask. Through the metaphor of an elephant miraculously saved—the self’s own desperate grasp for hope in the face of loss—listeners are reminded of the solace and surprise that poetry and the world (even online) can offer, if only for a minute.