“Homie” by Danez Smith

I got this book recently at a slam poetry event. The group Dark Noise Collective was invited to share their work. It was absolutely incredible and so much fun! I ended up buying two books afterwards, both this one and a different one that I’ll post about next week.

Homie is by Danez Smith. I can’t really separate the book from the performance, so I’ll just add that Smith is a Black queer man and super owns it. I can’t remember seeing that much confidence and just love for their fellow artists on stage before. They just exuded positivity and warmth and made you want to hang out with them.

Reading this book was really more of the same. So much of it is unapologetically Black and queer, and just filled with love for other humans. Even the poem about getting beat up is somehow about love! Smith also has a really beautiful way of writing, where they’ll never directly address what the poem is about but you feel it before you put two and two together.

This was a really lovely read, I’ve been trying to get back into reading poetry and I super enjoyed the energy coming from this one. Pick it up if you get the chance!