A review by ajsterkel
Don't Call Us Dead: Poems by Danez Smith

4.0

Don’t Call Us Dead by Danez Smith is a poetry collection. I’m not the smartest person, so some of the poems are too abstract for me and zoomed right over my head. The ones I understood are brilliant. The people in the poems are extremely conscious of their own mortality and are searching for joy in their short lives. The collection tackles depressing subjects (like gun violence and disease), but it’s a hopeful book. The author imagines happy futures for people with unhappy pasts and illustrates how important it is for Black children to see healthy, cheerful Black characters in movies. If you’re new to poetry, this is a good place to start. There’s a variety of poetry styles in this book.



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