Ripon Public Library

Don't call us dead, poems, Danez Smith

eng

Includes bibliographical references (page 85)

no index present

poetry

Don't call us dead

965740795

Danez Smith

poems

Smith's unflinching poetry addresses race, class, sexuality, faith, social justice, mortality, and the challenges of living HIV positive at the intersection of black and queer identity. The collection opens with a heartrending sequence that imagines an afterlife for black men shot by police, a place where suspicion, violence, and grief are forgotten and replaced with the safety, love, and longevity they deserved on earth. "Dear White America," which Smith performed at the 2014 Rustbelt Midwest Region Poetry Slam, has as strong an impact on the page as it did on the spoken word stage. Smith's courage and hope amidst the struggle for unity in America will humble and uplift you

Summer, somewhere -- Dear white America -- Dinosaurs in the hood -- It won't be a bullet -- Last summer of innocence -- A note on Vaseline -- A note on the phone app that tells me how far I am from other men's mouths -- & even the black guy's profile reads "sorry, no black guys" -- O nigga O -- ...nigga -- At the down-low house party -- Bare -- Seroconversion -- Fear of needles -- Recklessly -- Elegy with pixels & cum -- Litany with blood all over -- It began right here -- Crown -- Blood hangover -- 1 in 2 -- Every day is a funeral & a miracle -- Not an elegy -- A note on the body -- You're dead, America -- Strange dowry -- Tonight, in Oakland -- Little prayer -- Dream where every black person is standing by the ocean -- Notes

Do not call us dead