Wade in the Water: Poems
Written by Tracy K. Smith
Narrated by Tracy K. Smith
4/5
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About this audiobook
Tracy K. Smith
Tracy K. Smith, guest editor, served as United States Poet Laureate from 2017–2019 and is the author of four acclaimed collections of poetry, including, most recently, Wade in the Water and Life on Mars, which received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 2012. Her memoir, Ordinary Light, was a finalist for the National Book Award for Nonfiction in 2015. Educated at Harvard, Columbia, and Stanford, she is the Roger S. Berlind ‘52 Professor in the Humanities at Princeton University.
More audiobooks from Tracy K. Smith
Life on Mars: Poems Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Duende: Poems Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Body's Question: Poems Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ordinary Light: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
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Reviews for Wade in the Water
94 ratings4 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Five days a week, I love to open my email and read and hear the poetry that Tracy K. Smith has chosen for the listeners of her Slowdown podcast. Each segment is five minutes long and includes a most personal and thoughtful introduction to the day’s poem by poets living and dead. Like watching a band who looks like they’re having a great time playing, you can feel Smith’s enthusiasm coming through in her smooth, soothing voice. All that said, I would say that I appreciated the way she did the podcast a little more than I did this latest collection of her poetry. Maybe my lifelong whiteness didn’t relate well to her poetry about slaves relating to Lincoln. Someday, I will read her previous collection, Life on Mars, which won the Pulitzer Prize and garnered almost universal praise. Looking at 250 years of the American experience and how that relates to the black experience could just be more than I’m looking for in some poetry. Though I’m sure to read more of her work, having the joy of poetry through the Slowdown is a wonderful fallback position.Update: 1) She grew up in nearby Fairfield, California and has spoken about it several times on the podcast. 2) With great sadness, I report that Tracy K. Smith has stopped doing her excellent work on the Slowdown, and the podcast has been on a hiatus for many months. Hopefully, it will resume with another spokesperson at some future date. I miss her sensitivity, humor, and voice greatly. [For those interested, all the podcasts are still available on the Slowdown site online.]
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Broken into three parts; this stunning collection of poetry is lyrical and deep in intensity. From motherhood to slavery to contemplation each poem sucks the reader in and deserves to be savored. Tracey K. Smith is master of contemplation and care and this slim volume of poetry conveys deep meanings. Fans of poetry will eat this up and those new to prose will find themselves in love with the written word anew.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is the best book yet from our poet laureate [[Tracy K. Smith]], even better than her Pulitzer Prize-winning [Life on Mars]. Trumpsters will want to avoid it, as she burns the pages with tales of racism and dismay with the current regime. The worst in us having taken over And broken the rest utterly down.(From "An Old Story).They plundered her youth, then moved on.These awful, awful men. The onesWhose wealth is a kind of filth.(From "The World is Your Beautiful Younger Sister"). Her amazing "Angels" poem, with two "grizzled" angels in "leather biker gear", is one you're going to want to read.. This book also features a number of found poems based on heavily researched letters and other documents from African-American Civil War soldiers and their families (complete with original spellings).From, "I Will Tell You the Truth About This":Mr abarham linconI wont to know sir if you pleasewhether I can have my son relestfrom the arme he is all the subportI have now his father is Deadand his brother that wase allthe help I had he has been wondedtwise he has not had nothing to send me yetnow I am old and my head is blossamingfor the grave and if you do I hopethe lord will bless you and metha say that you will simpethisewith the poor he be long to theeight rigmat colard troopshe is a sarjentmart welcom is his nameSome poems are wonders from her childhood, including this one, "Urban Youth", that ends with her learning to ride a bike:But it was you and Dad and Mike teaching me to ride,Running along beside until you didn't have to hold on.Who was afraid? The hedge thrummed with beesThat only sang. Every happy thing I've known,You held, or ran alongside not having to hold.****This is a beautifully composed book; I loved it.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This collection of poems was very approachable, the sections were easily understandable, and all would make for great discussion.