First published 2025
Patricia Smith presents her finest poems from throughout her celebrated career in this comprehensive collection. The Poetry Foundation calls Smith a "masterful performer and poet of voices too little heard." These verses move through landscapes of pain toward redemption, face difficult historical truths, and reveal future possibilities. Smith writes with both lyrical grace and sly wit, creating meditative pieces alongside more volcanic expressions. The poems serve as careful witnesses to lived experience while delivering the particular pleasure that only poetry can provide. Danez Smith of The Guardian declares Patricia Smith "the greatest living poet" whose "every book is better than the last." This gathering demonstrates Smith's gift for insight and her ability to explore the complete spectrum of human experience. The collection confirms Smith's position among the most important poets working today, offering readers both embodied wisdom and the transformative power of verse.
Genres: literary-fiction, collections, african-american, contemporary, poetry
Vibes: intimate, lyrical, meditative, powerful, thought-provoking, transformative
Tropes: collection-of-voices, journey-toward-redemption, witness-testimony
Period: 21st-century
352 pages · Paperback · Scribner
Content warnings: death, racism