Detail
Title: Good Bones ISBN: 9781946482013Published October 2nd 2017 by Tupelo Press, Inc. (first published October 1st 2017) · Paperback 99 pages
Genre: Poetry, Nonfiction, Parenting, Literature, Environment, Nature, Family
Must be read
User Reviews
Ellie
I know I'm in a very small minority here but I was very disappointed in this collection. I didn't hate it but I found it ultimately not very interesting. I've been reading so much poetry this year that I loved, found exciting and challenging and this doesn't live up to what I've gotten used to.
It was at first a pleasure to read poetry that was so accessible and I enjoyed Smith's writing about motherhood. But when I finished, I found that it easily and quickly slipped away. I may sometimes get tired of wrestling with poems that elude easy interpretation but I love how they can make me feel even while I struggle with them. The richness of language, complexity of thought, striking images: that's what I've come to crave.
So this is my small voice of dissent. I'm sure it won't stop people from reading and enjoying this collection. For myself, this volume did not live up to my expectations (which were, perhaps, too high).
Ken
Four sections, 13 poems in each, 52 total (Hey, Mikey! He does math!)
I especially liked the first section and felt like a lot of the stronger stuff was placed there. Her topics are hometowns, nature, past/present/future, and especially motherhood. There's one thematic thread about a little girl shadowed by a hawk in the air. Also one about a father gone far away before returning many moons later to find a grown child and a changed mother.
The title poem opens the final section and is surely the most famous in this collection. You might recognize it:
Good Bones
Life is short, though I keep this from my children.
Life is short, and I’ve shortened mine
in a thousand delicious, ill-advised ways,
a thousand deliciously ill-advised ways
I’ll keep from my children. The world is at least
fifty percent terrible, and that’s a conservative
estimate, though I keep this from my children.
For every bird there is a stone thrown at a bird.
For every loved child, a child broken, bagged,
sunk in a lake. Life is short and the world
is at least half terrible, and for every kind
stranger, there is one who would break you,
though I keep this from my children. I am trying
to sell them the world. Any decent realtor,
walking you through a real shithole, chirps on
about good bones: This place could be beautiful,
right? You could make this place beautiful.
Like her stuff. Like her subject matter. Like the different angles she took on creativity. For a look at another poem from this collection, you can go to my website here.
D.A.
As if lost in the soft, bewitching world of fairy tale, Maggie Smith conceives and brings forth this metaphysical Baedeker, a guidebook for mother and child to lead each other into a hopeful present. Smith's poems affirm the virtues of humanity: compassion, empathy, and the ability to comfort one another when darkness falls. "There is a light," she tells us, "and the light is good."
Steven Peck
One of my favorite poetry books this year. Multifaceted, and layered, ‘Good Bones’ explored threads about the difficulties of existence, especially in motherhood and all its complexities. Nature and relationships provided the canvas for the things she explored and the themes she developed. I was often struck with how the poems captured the depth and terror of life, yet never became unanchored from hope. There is not a poem in this book that did not succeed on multiple levels. A wonderful book that I highly recommend.
M. Gaffney
These poems are the raw, quiet, beautiful light I needed.
Roisin Maeve
This is now my whole personality. Don’t talk to me unless it’s about Maggie Smith’s poetry (critique also strongly encouraged)
Victoria
I connected with these poems about motherhood and about loving the world that is both broken and beautiful. Glad to have this on my shelf.
Billy Jepma
There are some real gems in here—the poem the book is titled after is exceptional, and there are others that I couldn’t help but dog-ear the pages of—but there’s a lot of repetition as well. Smith writes a lot about motherhood, about watching her kids growing up and experiencing bits of the world for the first time, but there are only so many contexts you can say the same thing before it loses its edge. And that’s what happened with this collection.
Smith’s writing is lovely, and often sharp with its precision of language and imagery. But as pleasant to read as they were, very few resonated. I wish the subject matter had been more varied, or at least presented more dynamically, but as someone who isn’t a parent and can’t imagine being one anytime soon, it was difficult for me to resonate with much of the material collected here.
Monica
I’ve been meaning to read this whole book for a while, after having read several of her poems online. I’ve already texted one of the poems to a friend and re-read “At Your Age I Wore a Darkness” a bunch of times. Damn.
Phil J
Maggie Smith strikes the perfect balance of imagery, feeling, and theme. She has something to say, says it through a metaphor or turn of phrase, and puts it in a way that encourages reflection.
When you have children, it causes you to reflect on the world you brought them into, your own past, and your feelings about the future. Maggie Smith captures this with a contemplative, sometimes fearful, sometimes hopeful mood.
The poem "Good Bones" gets a big push from the publisher all over the book jacket. It's good, but a little more direct than the other poems in the book. There are at least five poems in here that I like better, my favorite being "Sky" or any of the other first six poems. Here's the end of "Sky":
When you walk,
the soles of your feet take turns on the ground,
but the rest of you is in the sky, enveloped in sky.
As you move through it, you make a tunnel
in the precise size and shape of your body.
Kristin Boldon
First read 2018: Beautiful, sad, sometimes funny, always achingly true poetry.
Second read 2021: bought this as a gift for someone who said they don't like poetry. Opened it. Started reading. Finished it. Still amazing.
Katherine Willis Pershey
One of the best poetry collections I’ve read. So raw and resonant.
Kirstine
There were a few poems that knocked me right out, but I know I will love this collection more if and when I have children of my own.
Emily
These are divine; their imagery and rhythm are beautiful. I read several to my daughter, particularly those inspired by Maggie’s daughter. (I suspect these two girls would get along very well if they met.) Julia was delighted by them. “Another, read another!” once I finished one.
Read Harder 2019: A book of poetry published since 2014
Kierstyn
Wonderful poet. The poem that this book is named for is one of my favorites. I’ve taught it in class, posted it to social media, and referred to it after numerous community tragedies. She’s a brilliant poet whose voice is terribly relevant right now. She also keeps an active Twitter account that has lead me to more poets and engaging content. Highly recommend.