Podcast Summary

Podcast: The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily
Episode 1398: A dead whale can feed an entire ecosystem by Rachel Dillon
Host: Maggie Smith
Date: November 18, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, Maggie Smith reflects on the role of poetry and art as a form of help and healing in difficult times. Through her personal commentary and the reading of Rachel Dillon’s poem, "A dead whale can feed an entire ecosystem," Smith explores the concept of “helpers” in society and what it means to contribute meaningfully—even through art. The episode asks profound questions about bearing witness, dealing with powerlessness, and finding ways, large or small, to help.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Concept of "Helpers" in Troubled Times

• Fred Rogers’ quote as inspiration ([00:50]):
  Smith opens with the oft-cited wisdom from Mr. Rogers:
  • “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”
• Smith explains the importance of looking for helpers in times of societal anxiety and distress.
• Enumerates various professions and vocations—legislators, doctors, nurses, professors, climatologists, and more—who are “helpers” the world needs.

2. Questioning the Power of Art

• Maggie Smith reflects on her own roles and limitations ([02:01]):
  • “But here's the thing. I'm not any of these. I'm a poet...and now the host of the only poetry podcast on public media.”
• She asks:
  • “To ask what can a poem do—to help—is to gesture toward a bigger question. What can art do?” ([02:32])
• Smith advocates that art can make us “feel seen and understood and therefore less alone,” and that it can “bear witness to what our planet is enduring.”

3. The Poem: Bearing Witness and Articulating Help

• Maggie frames today’s poem as “wondering aloud about what it can do to be a helper,” suggesting that the poem itself, by bearing witness, becomes a form of help ([03:03]).
• She reads Rachel Dillon’s poem, A dead whale can feed an entire ecosystem, which explores vulnerability, helplessness, and the yearning to help amid forces beyond one’s control.
  • Memorable imagery: dolphins, hurricanes, algal blooms—interwoven with personal vulnerability.

4. Grappling with Limitations and the Desire to Help

• The poem’s narrator admits to the inability to control life and death, expressing the need to “stow my brain, to hold each moment close as a sand flea caught in my knuckle hairs.”
• The plea:
  • “Please, someone tell me a poem can coax oil from a sea bird's throat. Tell me what to do with my hands. My hands. What can my hands do now?” ([03:57])
    Emphasizes the longing for meaningful action in the face of overwhelm and environmental tragedy.
• Maggie interprets these lines as the core question for artists: “What can our hands do now?,” echoing the broader societal question of how anyone can help.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On being a helper as a poet:

  “I want to use [my skills] to be a helper in my own way. I think we all want to do good with the skills, talents, and resources we have.” — Maggie Smith (02:07)

• On the power of art:

  “Art can articulate the beauty and horrors of being alive. I think it can make people feel seen and understood and therefore less alone. I think it can bear witness to what our planet is enduring.” — Maggie Smith (02:35)

• Poem’s climactic plea:

  “Please, someone tell me a poem can coax oil from a sea bird's throat. Tell me what to do with my hands. My hands. What can my hands do now?” — Rachel Dillon, read by Maggie Smith (03:57)

Important Timestamps

• 00:50 — Maggie Smith introduces the theme of helpers with Fred Rogers’ quote and reflections on current global concerns.
• 02:01 — Smith describes her own roles and wonders about the efficacy of poetry and art.
• 03:03 — Transition to the reading of Rachel Dillon’s poem, including context and reflection.
• 03:57 — The poem’s emotional apex: questions of helplessness and the power of poetry to heal.

Episode Tone & Reflection

Smith’s language is gentle, contemplative, and sincere. She speaks as both a witness and a participant—an artist longing to matter, eager to use the small, daily act of sharing poetry as a tool for comfort and connection. The poem and Smith’s framing together remind listeners of the subtle yet vital ways creativity can sustain individuals and communities, even when direct action feels elusive.

For more poems and reflections, visit slowdownshow.org or follow @slowdownshow on Instagram.