The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily 1400: The Eulogy I Didn’t Give (I) by Bob Hicok
Nov 20, 2025
This discussion highlights how poetry serves as a vital tool for expressing complex emotions like grief, love, and gratitude. Maggie shares the transformative power of daily poetry and its role in significant life events, from weddings to funerals. She emphasizes that poetry can articulate feelings that words alone often fail to capture. The spotlight is on Bob Hicok's poignant poem, exploring the challenges of articulating grief and the necessity of poetic expression in such times.
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Poetry Names The Unsayable
- Poetry helps express emotions we cannot fully articulate in everyday speech.
- Maggie Smith argues poems often say what we cannot and serve rituals of grief and celebration.
Turn To Poems For Ritual Moments
- Use poems for occasions like weddings and funerals when ordinary words fall short.
- Maggie Smith suggests letting poets or selected poems take the reins to speak for us.
The Failed Eulogy And A Handful Of Dirt
- Bob Hicok recounts trying to speak a profound eulogy at his father's funeral and only offering a handful of dirt.
- He left the funeral to return to life as his father's child when all he wanted was to hold his hand.