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A review by jdscott50
Above Ground by Clint Smith
challenging
emotional
slow-paced
5.0
New York Times Best Selling author and winner of the National Books Circle Award Clint Smith returns with a new book of poetry. In Above Ground, Clint Smith explores the joys and possibilities of fatherhood with the slow realization of the terror that can accompany it. Finding strength through family, he looks to the future with clear eyes.
There is nothing like the fragility of being a parent. One moment, you are living the dream you never thought would come. At other times, you can feel like a fool bringing a child into this world. Its building community, family, and strong bonds that can see us through.
Favorite Passages:
“But some days, I worry
that we are welcoming you into the flames
of a world that is burning.
Some days, I am afraid that I am
more kindling than water.”
“I believe there is a better future
to fight for, I simply accept the possibility that I may not
live to see it. I have grown weary of telling myself lies
that I might one day begin to believe. We are not all left
standing after the war has ended. Some of us have
become ghosts by the time the dust has settled.”
“the drone was once a scrap of metal the drone looks as if it might be a toy the drone is not a toy the drone could have been something else something other than a killing machine the drone could have been a house the drone could have been a spoon the drone could have been a swing the drone does not know who it is going to kill next the drone is going to kill next the drone has learned to disguise itself as a shard of sky the drone’s hum is a disembodied echo the drone was mistaken for a star once the drone renders itself celestial the drone scoffs at sovereignty the drone asks what is a border if you can fly right over it? the drone was built by a man the drone killed a man and a woman and a child the drone killed a child and did not see her face the drone does not see a face the drone sees a body and then the body is gone”
“I’m not sure what it means for us,
not to be the one to fire the bullet
but to behave as if the bullet always belonged
in that chest, and not our own.”
“It’s not that I don’t want people to tell me
I’m doing a good job it’s just I am praised for the sorts
of things no one ever thanks my wife for. I am adorned
in a garland of gold stars for simply being in this body.”
The Gun
the gun heard the first shot the gun thought it was a bursting pipe the gun heard the second shot and the third and the fourth the gun realized this was not a pipe the gun’s teacher told everyone to get on the ground the gun’s teacher went to lock the door the gun saw glass break and the teacher slump and bleed and fall silent the gun texted its parents and said i love you i’m so sorry for any trouble i’ve caused all these years you mean so much to me i’m so sorry the gun thought it would never leave the classroom the gun moved to a closet filled with several other shaking guns the gun texted its best friends in the group chat to see if they were okay the gun waited on a response the gun received one the gun did not receive another the gun waited for an hour the gun heard the door kicked open the gun was still in the closet and didn’t know who had entered the room the gun thought this was the end the gun thought of prom and graduation and college and children and all the things the gun would never have the gun heard more bullets the gun heard he’s down! the gun climbed out of the closet the gun put its hands on its head the gun walked outside the gun saw the cameras the gun hugged its sobbing mother and cried into her arms the gun heard thoughts and prayers the gun heard second amendment the gun heard lone wolf the gun texted its friend again the gun waited for a message the message never came
There is nothing like the fragility of being a parent. One moment, you are living the dream you never thought would come. At other times, you can feel like a fool bringing a child into this world. Its building community, family, and strong bonds that can see us through.
Favorite Passages:
“But some days, I worry
that we are welcoming you into the flames
of a world that is burning.
Some days, I am afraid that I am
more kindling than water.”
“I believe there is a better future
to fight for, I simply accept the possibility that I may not
live to see it. I have grown weary of telling myself lies
that I might one day begin to believe. We are not all left
standing after the war has ended. Some of us have
become ghosts by the time the dust has settled.”
“the drone was once a scrap of metal the drone looks as if it might be a toy the drone is not a toy the drone could have been something else something other than a killing machine the drone could have been a house the drone could have been a spoon the drone could have been a swing the drone does not know who it is going to kill next the drone is going to kill next the drone has learned to disguise itself as a shard of sky the drone’s hum is a disembodied echo the drone was mistaken for a star once the drone renders itself celestial the drone scoffs at sovereignty the drone asks what is a border if you can fly right over it? the drone was built by a man the drone killed a man and a woman and a child the drone killed a child and did not see her face the drone does not see a face the drone sees a body and then the body is gone”
“I’m not sure what it means for us,
not to be the one to fire the bullet
but to behave as if the bullet always belonged
in that chest, and not our own.”
“It’s not that I don’t want people to tell me
I’m doing a good job it’s just I am praised for the sorts
of things no one ever thanks my wife for. I am adorned
in a garland of gold stars for simply being in this body.”
The Gun
the gun heard the first shot the gun thought it was a bursting pipe the gun heard the second shot and the third and the fourth the gun realized this was not a pipe the gun’s teacher told everyone to get on the ground the gun’s teacher went to lock the door the gun saw glass break and the teacher slump and bleed and fall silent the gun texted its parents and said i love you i’m so sorry for any trouble i’ve caused all these years you mean so much to me i’m so sorry the gun thought it would never leave the classroom the gun moved to a closet filled with several other shaking guns the gun texted its best friends in the group chat to see if they were okay the gun waited on a response the gun received one the gun did not receive another the gun waited for an hour the gun heard the door kicked open the gun was still in the closet and didn’t know who had entered the room the gun thought this was the end the gun thought of prom and graduation and college and children and all the things the gun would never have the gun heard more bullets the gun heard he’s down! the gun climbed out of the closet the gun put its hands on its head the gun walked outside the gun saw the cameras the gun hugged its sobbing mother and cried into her arms the gun heard thoughts and prayers the gun heard second amendment the gun heard lone wolf the gun texted its friend again the gun waited for a message the message never came