Above Ground: Poems

Why I recommend it

I recommend this tender collection for the way it holds parenthood, Black life, history, fear, wonder, and the ordinary astonishments of being alive in the same frame. Smith’s poems remain attentive to a violent world without allowing violence to become the only story available.

What stayed with me

Care is both intimate and historical. To raise children is to delight in who they are becoming while knowing they will inherit a world shaped by forces far beyond the household.

Who it’s useful for

Readers of contemporary poetry, parents, and anyone drawn to writing that keeps joy and grief, vulnerability and endurance, in honest proximity.

A tension or limitation

The collection’s family-centered poems may resonate differently for readers depending on their relationship to parenthood. Its emotional force comes through accumulation and return rather than a single linear argument.