This book was deeply amazing to read in text, and then transcendent to listen to Clint Smith being the narrator reading each of his own poems aloud on his audible copy. I was so incredibly pained and moved by every poem in this collection. ( )

Poignant, personal, powerful prose.
Makes you think, feel, contemplate, and want to take action.
Thank you Clint Smith!
Looking forward to hearing you speak in Chelmsford, Ma on Monday, January 28, 2019.

One Book - Chelmsford REACTs - Author Clint Smith Speaks
http://bit.ly/chelmslibOnebook2019

2019 One Book pick for Chelmsford Public Library. ( )

“I don't remember the last time police
sirens didn't feel like gasping for air.
I don't remember what it means not
to be considered something meant
to flounder, to flap against
the surface while others watch you
until the flailing.......stops.”

“When the sixth cab passes you,
imagine yourself a puddle
existing as both transparency
& filth. Something that won't be there
by the afternoon.”

“...We've got to protest
on these pages. This ink be our picket line.
How can we write about
the soil and not the blood?
How can we write about the tree
and not talk about the noose?”

-This is a powerful collection, addressing the racial issues that continue to plague
our country. Highly recommended. ( )

What a wonderful expression of what it means to be a young black man in the United States today! This should be required reading in high school English classes. His words are carefully chosen and his images so well drawn. He will become on of our great American poets. I bought copies for my daughter to use in her Reading Resource class and gifted a young graduate student in my department with my copy. Now I have to get another one. I will watch for his next book. He is a treasure.