Episode Overview

Podcast: The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily
Host: Maggie Smith
Episode: 1384: I do not mention the war in my birthplace to my six-year-old son but somehow his body knows by Julia Kolchinsky
Date: October 29, 2025

In this poignant episode, host Maggie Smith contemplates the unique role poetry plays in navigating difficult conversations with children—particularly about mortality, trauma, and the realities of the world parents bring their children into. The centerpiece is Julia Kolchinsky’s moving poem, which explores the unspoken legacies of violence and war as they linger across generations, even when never directly shared. Smith reflects on her own experiences as a parent faced with heavy questions, underscoring how poetry becomes a vessel for complexities and unanswerable truths.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Children’s Big Questions and Parental Challenges

• Parental Perspective on Children’s Inquiries
  Maggie Smith opens with reflections on her daughter's philosophical and existential queries from a young age.
  • "Children are so talented at asking unanswerable questions, questions that cut you to the quick." (00:51)
• Examples of Difficult Questions
  Ranging from the innocent, “How do leaves fall off the trees?” to the profound, “Are you going to die before me?”
  • "Are you going to die before me? And where will you be when you die?" (02:10)
• Navigating Honesty and Protection
  The challenge for parents: telling the truth without overwhelming or frightening their children.
  • "No matter how old you are as a parent, it feels like an impossible task, telling the truth, or at least the truth as you know it, and not saying anything that will sadden or flat out terrify your children." (02:31)
• Role of Poetry in Parental Reflection
  • "As a poet, I often ended up writing my way through those big ideas. Poems are the perfect containers for questions without easy answers." (03:17)

The Poem: Unspoken Trauma and Generational Resonance

• Julia Kolchinsky’s Poem
  The host introduces the poem “I do not mention the war in my birthplace to my six-year-old son but somehow his body knows,” highlighting its resonance with parental anxieties and untranslatable histories. (03:37 onward)
• Key sections of the poem:
  • A child, unknowing of his mother's trauma, asks about division in simple, childlike terms:
    • "If I cut you in half, will you be even?" (recited at 03:48)
  • The parent’s silent reckoning with the invisible wounds of war:
    • "Expecting mothers in Mariupol are cut by invisible hands, children cut off from water."
  • The child seeks logical certainty (“You divided by two equals two even yous”), but the parent faces the truth of mortality:
    • "If you cut me in half, I tell him, I’d be dead." (05:29)

Poetry as a Vessel for Unanswerable Questions

• Smith’s Response to the Poem
  • She shares the poem "made my breath catch in my throat because it captures so well these beautiful and sometimes heartbreaking conversations that parents have with their children." (03:35)
• Poetry Holds Unspoken Truths
  • She concludes that poetry becomes essential for giving shape to the intangible—serving as both reflection and survival.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Children are so talented at asking unanswerable questions, questions that cut you to the quick.” – Maggie Smith (00:51)
• “No matter how old you are as a parent, it feels like an impossible task, telling the truth, or at least the truth as you know it, and not saying anything that will sadden or flat out terrify your children.” – Maggie Smith (02:31)
• “Poems are the perfect containers for questions without easy answers.” – Maggie Smith (03:17)
• [Poem—child’s question:] “If I cut you in half, will you be even?” – Julia Kolchinsky, as recited by Maggie Smith (03:48)
• [Poem—parent’s answer:] “If you cut me in half, I tell him, I’d be dead.” – Julia Kolchinsky, as recited by Maggie Smith (05:29)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:51 – Opening reflection: Children’s existential questions
• 02:10 – When questions turn personal and difficult for parents
• 03:17 – The role of poetry in responding to life’s complexities
• 03:37 – Introduction and reading of Julia Kolchinsky’s poem
• 05:29 – Poem’s emotional conclusion and Smith’s commentary

Tone and Style

Intimate and reflective, Maggie Smith’s delivery weaves personal anecdotes with poetic insight, fostering a gentle, contemplative mood. Both the poem and Smith’s interpretation embrace vulnerability, emphasizing the power of poetry to carry, hold, and sometimes articulate what everyday language cannot.

This episode of The Slowdown is a heartfelt meditation on generational memory, the challenges of honest parenting, and the singular place of poetry in helping us face what cannot be easily said—reminding listeners of the small but vital space poetry creates for hope and understanding.