Homicide, drug abuse, and AIDS-related deaths have forced black male life expectancy into a steady decline. In New York City, black males have long been considered expendable. Young men who feel they have run out of options, whose bravado indicates they are no longer afraid to die, wear baseball caps emblazoned with C2D, for close to death. This chilling cry comes from those who expect to lose their lives violently without ever having a chance to live. Close to Death, a book of poems amplifying the voices and souls of black men at various stages of their lives, is a poetic requiem for those who struggle against the odds, for those who have resigned themselves to death, and for those already gone.
This book of poetry by one of the best Slam poets has a way of shaking the complacency of so much that passes for poetry, from stale imitators of the Beats to the constipated stasis of High-Modernists. Smith's eminence in the Academy of American Poets is well earned; her verse delivers, and will never disappoint.
another spoken word diva
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 24 years ago
first saw her read at the gathering of poets festival at louisiana state university at baton rouge many years ago..she recited her stuff from memory without a mike and just came at the audience hard...some of her poems read like stories..her voice can be soft as rose petals or echo the throb of african drums...also get her book life according to motown
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