what the ocean said to the black boy by Clint Smith
what the ocean said to the black boy
Clint Smithyou know how to swim boy?
i know you can float
felt you bobbing along my surface
before you even knew you couldthey say you just a conflagration
of bad intentions boy
they use me to put you out
don’t want you burning this place downagain
they see
a little too much l’ouverture in you
a little too much turner
a little too much of what they already had enough ofwhat you see when you look at me?
you know how many of y’all I swallowed?
you just a drop of ink
on this canvasboy
they call me blue because
they don’t understand how the sky work
they call you black because
they don’t understand how god work
MARGINALIA
1.
Day 11 of The Sealey Challenge. Today’s offering is Counting Descent by Clint Smith.
2.
How do we talk about the pain that is stitched into our lives as we come of age? How do we reckon with the heartbreak that comes with discovering that the world we used to find wonder in as a child is also the same world that is callous and brutal and unkind? How do we keep true to the self whose fulcrum should be hope instead of anguish? These are the conversations that I find myself having with the poems in this book.
3.
The poet’s voice is earnest as it is urgent: he writes about power, injustice, and history—big stakes that have demarcated one’s identity as a Black person in America. Can one ever escape the tension of the opposites—to celebrate the colour of your skin is to also be made aware of being othered, and what of the gestures we make with our bodies and how the rest sees them? How do we keep ourselves safe, and most of all, alive?
4.
The way Smith delves into language and form—and explores life and movement is so striking to me. From page to page, from poem to poem, I am perhaps given a map of how one grows up and tries to survive in a country rife with violence and a kind of frenzied fury.
5.
Ultimately, the task for us readers is to participate in the ceaseless confrontation of the truth, of the reality of tyranny, bigotry, and prejudice. What else can I do but read and be swept by it—and recognise that the narratives we have been given are colossally different from what people actually endure?
KEEP READING
SOURCE
This poem appeared in Counting Descent by Clint Smith, published by Write Bloody Publishing, 2016. Shared here with profound gratitude.
DESCRIPTION
“Clint Smith’s debut poetry collection, Counting Descent, is a coming of age story that seeks to complicate our conception of lineage and tradition.
“Do you know what it means for your existence to be defined by someone else’s intentions?”
Smith explores the cognitive dissonance that results from belonging to a community that unapologetically celebrates black humanity while living in a world that often renders blackness a caricature of fear. His poems move fluidly across personal and political histories, all the while reflecting on the social construction of our lived experiences. Smith brings the reader on a powerful journey forcing us to reflect on all that we learn growing up, and all that we seek to unlearn moving forward.”
ENDNOTES
- Read more poems by Clint Smith • Find books by this poet • Or view my library
- Explore other works in pursuit of: being black • being named • water • Or browse the index
- This is part of The Sealey Challenge.
DEAR READER
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