Tracy K. Smith

The mentor poet I have chosen is Tracy K. Smith, her quote “Be open and inquisitive. Climb into the atmosphere of a poem and experience it in a very curious way”, which appeared on the slides in class today, convinced me to look further into her poems. Smith was born in Massachusetts and raised in Northern California. She earned a BA from Harvard University, an MFA in creative writing at Columbia University, and held a Stegner fellowship at Stanford University. Along with her many academic achievements she has also published four poetry books, The Body’s Question (which won the Cave Canem prize for best first book by an African-American poet, 2003), Duende (2007), Life on Mars (2011), and Wade in the Water (Pulitzer Prize for Poetry winner, 2018). Smith now teaches creative writing at Princeton University and hosts American Public Media’s daily radio program and podcast, The Slowdown.

I had decided to annotate two poems of hers that had really caught my attention, both touching on topics that are very obvious in our modern day to day life.

    The first poem I had chosen was, The United States Welcomes You. This poem addresses the many racial issues and injustices that people of color have to face when entering the United States. She speaks on the dangerous stereotypes placed on many different people based on their skin color or religion, inserting allusions towards the stereotypes formed after 9/11, systematic racism in the PD, and systematic racism in our justice system, and many more instances. This poem is written from the perspective of the many stereotypes voicing suspicion of those who are POC, suspicion that has been formed from internalized racism and close-mindedness.

    The second poem addresses our society's obsession with money and “stuff”. She speaks on the simplicities of life and it’s benefits. Smith mentions how she feel’s nostalgic for the days when she lived off of coffee and bread, a time when the luxuries of life held so much more meaning and specialty. As we grow as a society, so does our need for things and money and these “things” start to lose their meaning when it becomes too much. Smith wishes to remind her audience to stop and enjoy life as it is, without materialistic need.