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africanbookaddict's review against another edition
4.0
!!! https://africanbookaddict.com/2017/09/23/poetry-neon-soul-counting-descent/
In 56 poems, the realities of being a black boy in America are beautifully portrayed in this collection. Not only are the plights and queries of black boyhood portrayed, but black boy joy is an important component of these poems as well- so its pretty balanced, which I loved. This collection is personal, honest. Smith shares his loving family with us and sheds light on how he was raised. The titular poem - 'Counting Descent' is my absolute favorite. I read it 3 times before I proceeded to finish the book. Smith's way with words can make you freeze momentarily as you clearly picture all the nuances and truths he portrays. His writing is tangible - you feel the pain, you feel the joy and you feel less alone. I loved how he personified New Orleans through its unique foods, as a tourist attraction, as a high-risk flood zone and ultimately as his home.
Fave poems were: Counting Descent, Playground Elegy, Ode to the Only Black Kid in Class, The Protest Novel Responds to James Baldwin (this one gave me chills), Passed Down (this poem surprised me... never knew some light-skinned folk actually (and honestly) felt ashamed of their lightness. From all the books I've read/friends I know who are of a lighter hue, they consider it a 'privilege'), Lifeline, Each Morning is a Ritual Made Just For Us (I looved this! I think its a love poem dedicated to his wife), When Mom Braids My Sister's Hair and For the Hardest Days.
I'll definitely revisit this collection again. I've been following Clint on Twitter, so I'll be keeping an eye out for more of his work!
In 56 poems, the realities of being a black boy in America are beautifully portrayed in this collection. Not only are the plights and queries of black boyhood portrayed, but black boy joy is an important component of these poems as well- so its pretty balanced, which I loved. This collection is personal, honest. Smith shares his loving family with us and sheds light on how he was raised. The titular poem - 'Counting Descent' is my absolute favorite. I read it 3 times before I proceeded to finish the book. Smith's way with words can make you freeze momentarily as you clearly picture all the nuances and truths he portrays. His writing is tangible - you feel the pain, you feel the joy and you feel less alone. I loved how he personified New Orleans through its unique foods, as a tourist attraction, as a high-risk flood zone and ultimately as his home.
Fave poems were: Counting Descent, Playground Elegy, Ode to the Only Black Kid in Class, The Protest Novel Responds to James Baldwin (this one gave me chills), Passed Down (this poem surprised me... never knew some light-skinned folk actually (and honestly) felt ashamed of their lightness. From all the books I've read/friends I know who are of a lighter hue, they consider it a 'privilege'), Lifeline, Each Morning is a Ritual Made Just For Us (I looved this! I think its a love poem dedicated to his wife), When Mom Braids My Sister's Hair and For the Hardest Days.
I'll definitely revisit this collection again. I've been following Clint on Twitter, so I'll be keeping an eye out for more of his work!
tophat8855's review against another edition
5.0
I listened to the audiobook via Hoopla and thought, "I hope the author knows the reader did a really good job with his poems," to find out that the author is the reader. Definitely recommend as an audiobook. I normally listen to audiobooks at 2.5+ speed, but for poetry, I always listen at 1.
These poems cover a broad range of feelings and topics. I loved the recurring theme of "*thing* speaking to a black boy." The poetry to his partner is also lovely. And at times I teared up on the bus listening.
These poems cover a broad range of feelings and topics. I loved the recurring theme of "*thing* speaking to a black boy." The poetry to his partner is also lovely. And at times I teared up on the bus listening.
bickie's review against another edition
5.0
"I still have a habit of trying to make up
for things I can't understand
by removing all of the evidence." p. 29 - from poem Saturday Morning Routine
"...the audio
guide is telling me how so much
of archeology is conjecture
which is to say just a guess
I wonder how many things
the world has deemed fact
that are actually just presumptions
made by men in robes or glasses
or scrolls full of poems like this one..." p. 57-58 - from poem An Evening at the Louvre
"In their song,
'Last Days Reloaded,'
when Dead Prez said,
taking my own life/
into my own hands
it was the first time I understood line breaks.
It wasn't The Odyssey.
It wasn't Hamlet." p. 61 - from poem Line/Breaks
Many themes weave through this collection, including several poems addressed to "the Black boy" or similar, often from something like a cicada, window, or ocean. Also lineage and history both specific and (Counting Descent, Dissection, On Observing My Home After the Storm) and more general (For Charles, James Baldwin Speaks to the Protest Novel, The Protest Novel Responds to James Baldwin, On the Hardest Days). Many poems focus Black joy (When Mom Braids My Sister's Hair, No More Elegies Today, Each Morning is a Ritual Just for Us, Keeping Score). Many address incarceration, social justice, and the targeting of Black people (Playground Elegy, Counterfactual, For the Boys Who Never Learned How to Swim, For the Taxi Cabs that Pass Me in Harvard Square, From the Cell Block, The Men in Orange, How to Make an Empty Cardboard Box Disappear in 10 Steps). Several poems address the problematic nature of history as it is taught and the white male canon (Canon, An Evening at the Louvre, Line/Breaks, When They Tell You the Brontosaurus Never Existed).
The collection addresses "all of the complexity and mess and joy and distress of being a complex human being, which is to say a human being" (p. 43, from James Baldwin Speaks to the Protest Novel).
for things I can't understand
by removing all of the evidence." p. 29 - from poem Saturday Morning Routine
"...the audio
guide is telling me how so much
of archeology is conjecture
which is to say just a guess
I wonder how many things
the world has deemed fact
that are actually just presumptions
made by men in robes or glasses
or scrolls full of poems like this one..." p. 57-58 - from poem An Evening at the Louvre
"In their song,
'Last Days Reloaded,'
when Dead Prez said,
taking my own life/
into my own hands
it was the first time I understood line breaks.
It wasn't The Odyssey.
It wasn't Hamlet." p. 61 - from poem Line/Breaks
Many themes weave through this collection, including several poems addressed to "the Black boy" or similar, often from something like a cicada, window, or ocean. Also lineage and history both specific and (Counting Descent, Dissection, On Observing My Home After the Storm) and more general (For Charles, James Baldwin Speaks to the Protest Novel, The Protest Novel Responds to James Baldwin, On the Hardest Days). Many poems focus Black joy (When Mom Braids My Sister's Hair, No More Elegies Today, Each Morning is a Ritual Just for Us, Keeping Score). Many address incarceration, social justice, and the targeting of Black people (Playground Elegy, Counterfactual, For the Boys Who Never Learned How to Swim, For the Taxi Cabs that Pass Me in Harvard Square, From the Cell Block, The Men in Orange, How to Make an Empty Cardboard Box Disappear in 10 Steps). Several poems address the problematic nature of history as it is taught and the white male canon (Canon, An Evening at the Louvre, Line/Breaks, When They Tell You the Brontosaurus Never Existed).
The collection addresses "all of the complexity and mess and joy and distress of being a complex human being, which is to say a human being" (p. 43, from James Baldwin Speaks to the Protest Novel).
amynrader's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
nickburkaotm's review against another edition
5.0
important, impactful, and imperative words and verses for our time
ralphiereads76's review against another edition
5.0
Accessible, poignant, sometimes painfully truthful. I dog-eared five poems to go back to again and again. Tributes to his identity as a New Orleans native throughout. #readlivingpoets
whitneynoelwaller's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
fast-paced
4.25