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thepetitepunk's review against another edition
I’ve always struggled with poetry but I’m trying my best to get into it! This collection took me awhile to get into but I enjoyed it.
✧ ✧ ✧
≪reading 31 books for 31 days of january≫
╰┈➤ 1. all that's left in the world by erik j. brown
╰┈➤ 2. the female of the species by mindy mcginnis
╰┈➤ 3. the battle of the labyrinth by rick riordan
╰┈➤ 4. exit west by mohsin hamid
╰┈➤ 5. don't call us dead by danez smith
╰┈➤ 6. warm bodies by isaac marion
╰┈➤ 7. the other side of perfect by mariko turk
╰┈➤ 8. the last olympian by rick riordan
╰┈➤ 9. counting down with you by tashie bhuiyan
╰┈➤ 10. a matter of death and life by irvin d. yalom and marilyn yalom
╰┈➤ 11. the new hunger by isaac marion
╰┈➤ 12. dorothy must die by danielle paige
╰┈➤ 13. starfish by lisa fipps
╰┈➤ 14. one true loves by elise bryant
╰┈➤ 15. chlorine sky by mahogany l. browne
╰┈➤ 16. for every one by jason reynolds
╰┈➤ 17. fight night by miriam toews
╰┈➤ 18. shooter by walter dean myers
╰┈➤ 19. wade in the water by tracy k. smith
✧ ✧ ✧
≪reading 31 books for 31 days of january≫
╰┈➤ 1. all that's left in the world by erik j. brown
╰┈➤ 2. the female of the species by mindy mcginnis
╰┈➤ 3. the battle of the labyrinth by rick riordan
╰┈➤ 4. exit west by mohsin hamid
╰┈➤ 5. don't call us dead by danez smith
╰┈➤ 6. warm bodies by isaac marion
╰┈➤ 7. the other side of perfect by mariko turk
╰┈➤ 8. the last olympian by rick riordan
╰┈➤ 9. counting down with you by tashie bhuiyan
╰┈➤ 10. a matter of death and life by irvin d. yalom and marilyn yalom
╰┈➤ 11. the new hunger by isaac marion
╰┈➤ 12. dorothy must die by danielle paige
╰┈➤ 13. starfish by lisa fipps
╰┈➤ 14. one true loves by elise bryant
╰┈➤ 15. chlorine sky by mahogany l. browne
╰┈➤ 16. for every one by jason reynolds
╰┈➤ 17. fight night by miriam toews
╰┈➤ 18. shooter by walter dean myers
╰┈➤ 19. wade in the water by tracy k. smith
intorilex's review against another edition
5.0
Find this and other Reviews at In Tori Lex
These poems are reflect how minorities in America have grappled with racism. Each piece pulls at your senses and challenges you to think more deeply about the world around you. The history of how black people survived slavery and reconstruction is often overlooked. In the poem "Unwritten" the use of real correspondence of African Americans while fighting in the Civil War and surviving after, let's us glimpse into the deep cavern of history that has not been written about or retold. The author uses precise language to cut through our defenses and makes us think of where I our sympathies lie.
In "Theatrical Improvisation" the author uses excepts from Muslim women who were assaulted after the 2016 election and excerpts from a Nazi calling for a bloody civil war. In the poem the reader is granted a window into how people are acting out their hate to the detriment of everyone else. In this collection the poet laureate highlights her talent and uses her observations to create memorable and lasting art. Every poem packed a punch and some left me emotionally reeling.
Recommended for readers who
-want to think deeply about race relations
-enjoy poetry about African American history
-read contemporary poetry inspired by current events
I received this book from Graywolf Press in exchange for an honest review.
These poems are reflect how minorities in America have grappled with racism. Each piece pulls at your senses and challenges you to think more deeply about the world around you. The history of how black people survived slavery and reconstruction is often overlooked. In the poem "Unwritten" the use of real correspondence of African Americans while fighting in the Civil War and surviving after, let's us glimpse into the deep cavern of history that has not been written about or retold. The author uses precise language to cut through our defenses and makes us think of where I our sympathies lie.
"Can you imagine what will sound from us, what we'll rend and claim
When we find ourselves alone with all we've ever sought: our name?"
In "Theatrical Improvisation" the author uses excepts from Muslim women who were assaulted after the 2016 election and excerpts from a Nazi calling for a bloody civil war. In the poem the reader is granted a window into how people are acting out their hate to the detriment of everyone else. In this collection the poet laureate highlights her talent and uses her observations to create memorable and lasting art. Every poem packed a punch and some left me emotionally reeling.
Recommended for readers who
-want to think deeply about race relations
-enjoy poetry about African American history
-read contemporary poetry inspired by current events
I received this book from Graywolf Press in exchange for an honest review.
analyticalchaos's review against another edition
4.0
Originally, this book was a bit difficult to get into. I felt that the poems were very standard and lacking emotional connection. However, from Part III onward, I started to get into it. There were a few poems that were just beautiful and nuanced. Declaration was the poem that convinced me to pick up this collection, and I love the set-up and execution.
The other stand out poems centered around family and identity. Smith has a way of weaving so much love and care when discussing these topics. The poems Dusk, Charity, In Your Condition, and Refuge are filled with memorable imagery. These poems were intricate, yet easy to resonate with.
Smith's key innovative technique are her Erasure poems. In these poems, Smith takes existing documents and deletes portions of the writing to create a new message. Some of these were very impactful, like Watershed, a poem surrounding a company's mismanagement of toxic waste and the effects on a population.
The other stand out poems centered around family and identity. Smith has a way of weaving so much love and care when discussing these topics. The poems Dusk, Charity, In Your Condition, and Refuge are filled with memorable imagery. These poems were intricate, yet easy to resonate with.
Smith's key innovative technique are her Erasure poems. In these poems, Smith takes existing documents and deletes portions of the writing to create a new message. Some of these were very impactful, like Watershed, a poem surrounding a company's mismanagement of toxic waste and the effects on a population.
htoo's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
4.5
A wonderful collection that explores motherhood, religion, and history. Tracy K. Smith writing style is more accessible than other contemporary poets. There’s just the right amount of complexity. My favorite poems are the more political ones like “I WILL TELL YOU THE TRUTH ABOUT THIS, I WILL TELL YOU ALL ABOUT IT” which was written using historical documents. I love the idea of reclaiming erased history through art.
mepresley's review
dark
emotional
reflective
3.5
While this collection was not a favorite of mine, probably because I have a tendency to prefer deeply personal, confessional poems, of which there were only a few (in Section IV), I saw not only its importance, but also its incredible ambition and skill.
Tracy K. Smith focuses a lot on racial violence past and present. This collection contains several erasure poems: "Declaration" (drawn from The Declaration of Independence), "The Greatest Personal Privation" and "Unwritten" (drawn "from correspondence between members of the Mary and Charles Colcock Jones family regarding the sale of slaves Patience, Porter, and their children"), and "I Will Tell You the Truth about This, I Will Tell You All about It" ("composed entirely of letters and statements of African Americans enlisted in the Civil War, and those of their wives, widows, parents, and children"). Also see "Ghazal" and "Unrest in Baton Rouge," which aren't erasure poems.
"Theatrical Improvisation" is about hate-based rhetoric and attacks on immigrants, particularly Muslims, and also draws material from real-life sources (the Southern Poverty Law Center, the neo-Nazi Daily Stormer website, Reuters, and the US v. Curtis Wayne Allen, Patrick Eugene Stein, and Gavin Wayne Wright). Another poem that highlights the immigrant experience is "The United States Welcomes You."
Along the same lines as the above-referenced poems that draw heavily or completely from other source material, though without the same focus on race, "Watershed" is about DuPont & PFOA, is a found poem composed from a New York Times Magazine article and "narratives of survivors of near-death experiences as catalogued on www.nderf.org."
Some of my favorite lines:
...If he tries--if he holds his mind
In place and wills it--he can almost believe
In something larger than himself rearranging
The air. ... ("Hill Country")
There was still a here, but that's not where we were, continually turn-
ing our backs to something unseen, speaking with just our eyes, getting
on with work. What was our work? Our doors wouldn't lock. We rigged
them, hung windows with sheets that broadcast our secrets after dark. ("Realm of Shades")
Looking into the distance
Blotted out by hills that give way
Sometimes suddenly to silos
Or the teetering barns of a past
That's gone, but won't lie down
and let us grieve it. ("Driving to Ottowa")
...I love you,
The angles of it scraping at
Each throad, shouldering past
The swirling dost motes
In those beams of light
That whatever we now knew
We could let ourselves feel, ... ("Wade in the Water")
Bodies speak, each dragging something dark,
Perceptible. A burden given or chosen. Even
The empty, the bereft--they're saddled
With it, can't without assistance put it down. ("Theatrical Improvisation")
Tracy K. Smith focuses a lot on racial violence past and present. This collection contains several erasure poems: "Declaration" (drawn from The Declaration of Independence), "The Greatest Personal Privation" and "Unwritten" (drawn "from correspondence between members of the Mary and Charles Colcock Jones family regarding the sale of slaves Patience, Porter, and their children"), and "I Will Tell You the Truth about This, I Will Tell You All about It" ("composed entirely of letters and statements of African Americans enlisted in the Civil War, and those of their wives, widows, parents, and children"). Also see "Ghazal" and "Unrest in Baton Rouge," which aren't erasure poems.
"Theatrical Improvisation" is about hate-based rhetoric and attacks on immigrants, particularly Muslims, and also draws material from real-life sources (the Southern Poverty Law Center, the neo-Nazi Daily Stormer website, Reuters, and the US v. Curtis Wayne Allen, Patrick Eugene Stein, and Gavin Wayne Wright). Another poem that highlights the immigrant experience is "The United States Welcomes You."
Along the same lines as the above-referenced poems that draw heavily or completely from other source material, though without the same focus on race, "Watershed" is about DuPont & PFOA, is a found poem composed from a New York Times Magazine article and "narratives of survivors of near-death experiences as catalogued on www.nderf.org."
Some of my favorite lines:
...If he tries--if he holds his mind
In place and wills it--he can almost believe
In something larger than himself rearranging
The air. ... ("Hill Country")
There was still a here, but that's not where we were, continually turn-
ing our backs to something unseen, speaking with just our eyes, getting
on with work. What was our work? Our doors wouldn't lock. We rigged
them, hung windows with sheets that broadcast our secrets after dark. ("Realm of Shades")
Looking into the distance
Blotted out by hills that give way
Sometimes suddenly to silos
Or the teetering barns of a past
That's gone, but won't lie down
and let us grieve it. ("Driving to Ottowa")
...I love you,
The angles of it scraping at
Each throad, shouldering past
The swirling dost motes
In those beams of light
That whatever we now knew
We could let ourselves feel, ... ("Wade in the Water")
Bodies speak, each dragging something dark,
Perceptible. A burden given or chosen. Even
The empty, the bereft--they're saddled
With it, can't without assistance put it down. ("Theatrical Improvisation")