Alternate Names for Black Boys by Danez Smith
Alternate Names for Black Boys
Danez Smith1. smoke above the burning bush
2. nemesis of summer night
3. first son of soil
4. coal awaiting spark & wind
5. guilty until proven dead
6. oil heavy starlight
7. monster until proven ghost
8. gone
9. boy
10. phoenix who forgets to un-ash
11. god of shovels & black veils
12. what once passed for kindling
13. fireworks at dawn
14. brilliant, shadow colored coral
15. (I thought to leave this blank
but who am I to name us nothing?)
16. prayer who learned to bite & sprint
17. a mother’s joy & clutched breath
MARGINALIA
1.
Day 15 of The Sealey Challenge. Today’s offering is [Insert] Boy by Danez Smith.
2.
I love the honesty in this book. It talks about a world where identity is constantly in flux, where labels are imposed and how that creates wounds. Ultimately there is a desire to dismantle what has come before us.
3.
What an unflinching exploration of how it is to live in a world that is quick to pass judgment and misname and unname one’s being and becoming. The poet pulls no punches—his words hit hard, revealing the layers of pain, resilience, and complexity that come with navigating a society that often feels hostile and unwelcoming.
4.
What does it mean to move through our various identities, and do they all carry the same weight. The poet gives voice to who he is—Black, queer, son, lover—each title carrying its own set of expectations and challenges. The poems don’t shy away from the difficult truths, and in doing so, I feel the urgency and almost violent need to find and claim your space—to resist and persist against erasure.
5.
The poems are also shaped as conversations with the reader, with the world, with God—each line a question, a challenge, a plea. I always find vulnerability to be a strength, and oh how this book fiercely embraces that—a refusal to be silenced.
KEEP READING
![[Insert] Boy](https://readalittlepoetry.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/BOOKCOVER-InsertBoy.jpg "Alternate Names for Black Boys by Danez Smith • Read A Little Poetry")
SHARED WITH GRATITUDE
This poem appeared in [Insert] Boy by Danez Smith, published by YesYes Books, 2014. (Available direct from YesYes Books • Also on: Amazon • Bookshop)
DESCRIPTION
“Lambda Literary Award Winner, 2015
Poetry. LGBT Studies. African American Studies.
Winner, Lambda Literary Award, Gay Poetry 2015.
Chosen by Don Share for Boston Globe’s Best Poetry Books, 2014.
2016 Kate Tufts Discovery Award.
Finalist, Norma Farber First Book Award, Poetry Society of America.” (Source)
ABOUT DANEZ SMITH
Danez Smith is the author of four poetry collections: [insert] boy, Don’t Call Us Dead, Homie, and, most recently, Bluff. They are also the curator of Blues In Stereo: The Early Works of Langston Hughes. For their work, Danez was won the Forward Prize for Best Collection, the Minnesota Book Award in Poetry, the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry, the Kate Tufts Discovery Award, and have been a finalist for the NAACP Image Award in Poetry, the National Book Critics Circle Award,… (more)
Read more poems by Danez Smith • Find books by this poet on Amazon • Bookshop • Follow on Instagram • Twitter • Website • Or view my library
ENDNOTES
- This is Day 15 of The Sealey Challenge 2024—a community challenge to read one book of poetry a day for the month of August, named after Nicole Sealey.
- Explore other works in pursuit of: the self • being named • identity • Or browse the index
- If this work resonates with you, please consider supporting the archive. Thank you for reading.
