Homie: Poems

This astonishing collection never flags. Its inventive colloquial sometimes made-up language and percussive rhythms are deliciously exhausting. Rage-flecked (or maybe drenched) but overwhelmed with love for the poets’ homies (the poet uses a different word), the poems treat sex, suicide, disease, poetry as weapon, gaybashing, farts, cops, and a host of other topics currently raw in America but forever raw in the narrator’s consciousness. It has particular resonance in the nation’s unrest and rage after the killing of George Floyd.

Shipped super fast, in perfect condition. You can find entire book online for free, but a great price if looking for the hard copy.

I gave my copy to a student, so I bought another right away.

A collection of poems about being Black, queer, survival, racism, love, and hope. from fall poem: "no one // wants to hear a poem about fall; much prefer the fallen / body, something easy to mourn, body cut out of the light / body lit up with bullets. see how easy it is to bring up bullets? // is it possible to ban guns? even from this poem?" from ode to gold teeth: "gangster grill before gangsta grillz // marked my granddaddy OG of the gin / sermon & front-porch pulpit / made everything he said sound gold-rimmed" from happy hour: "my grandma a night // sky of moles on her face, dark stars glowing in the honey / a mole per friend, per friend of friend who now feeds the worms / & speaks to her thru the swell of tomatoes, the exact yellow / of the tulips in the garden, each bloom a gonelove saying hello // just stopping by for a summer & then, again, come winter, they go / to the funeral early & count the living"

Danez Smith is nothing short of magic. From the second I saw the bright neon cover and the disclaimed about the title on the next page, I knew this book was something special. Smith‘s play with form is incredible, their language is evocative, and they can craft poems part-charm and part-heartbreak with ease. This book made me laugh, cry, and think deeply about the topics presented. I would recommend this to everyone.

Danez will have you rolling laughing and in tears from one poem to the next. Your head will spin, and these poems will get stuck in your mind and heart. Sometimes when I'm outside, for example, I just hear Danez's voice in my head exclaiming: "Trees!" This is essential stuff. Thank you Danez. You are a gift and your poems are life.

For most of my life I didn’t pay much attention to this world, but now I follow the work the brilliant Danez Smith pretty closely. This new book from Smith is perhaps even better then Don’t Call Us Dead. I found myself saying “wow” out loud at the end of one of the poems here. Gorgeous language, gut-wrenching honesty and style approachable to a non-expert like me. Smith moves from the playful to the heartbreaking, sometimes in a single poem. Even if contemporary poetry isn’t really your thing, Smith’s is a voice worth hearing.

A hugely powerful collection of poetry that impacted the way I see race, love, the world. Amazing language and softness throughout. Thank you.

I bought the kindle version when it came out but then I love the book so much had to get a paperback also