3 1/2. Starts off exceptional for a dozen or so poems, but soon becomes thematically and linguistically repetitive. Clearly a very personal work for Smith, and there are a handful of 5-star poems in the early stretch, but it's ultimately a lot unnecessary and unchallenging filler to flesh out these 130 pages.

“My life is made possible by trillions of tiny mysteries. I exist because of so many things I’ll never see.”

Clint Smith is one of our best living writers. This collection of poems is about Smith’s journey to and through fatherhood, outlining his joys and fears and anxieties in both little moments and big.

This poetry collection is a beautiful rumination on fatherhood and ancestry. Although I am not a parent and never plan to become one, I appreciated these simple yet beautiful poems about his children. These are very accessible poems and would recommend them to non-poetry readers.

Beautiful poetry by Clint Smith. The imagery that he weaves into his text is amazing! Highly recommend.

Absolutely beautiful. Lines so soft they almost seem whispered straight into your soul. I found myself reading these early in the morning to set my mood for the day.

ABOVE GROUND by Clint Smith is a jubilant ode to parenthood. There are threads of mourning -- a lost city due to a devastating hurricane, the deaths of loved ones, the reality of cruelty in the world -- but joy seeps through the pages. Smith captures wonder at seeing the world anew, through the eyes of a child. Through the lens of parenthood, he also explores what it is to be a husband and a son. He weaves language adeptly, conveying truths in artfully constructed poems.

(I received a digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.)

This was so good! I never knew Clint had a funny side until I heard him read a few of these poems out loud. This new book of poetry reveals the angst a parent feels watching their black children growing up in pandemic America- how we worry for and about them. It is also filled withe some history of how we treat Black women. Loved this book. I got a signed copy and will be rereading it in the years to come.

This collection of poetry deals with racial divisions and social insecurities. Clint Smith is an amazing poet, each word and poem finds a way to pierce your heart and connect with you even if you can't fully relate to what is being said. Highly recommending this to everyone in sight!!!

This beautiful new book of poems by Clint Smith is a must-read. Accessible for even the most hesitant of poetry readers, Smith covers topics such as racism, parenting, and living with hope in a world filled with darkness. I’ll be going back to the poems time and time again.

I really enjoyed this collection! I enjoy every-day poetry about motherhood and really enjoyed reading about fatherhood. I also appreciated the vulnerability and honesty, especially the poems which talked about illness or hospital settings. Recommended.

Reading this after watching A THOUSAND AND ONE really was a one-two punch right in my emotional well-being.

I so strongly believe that poets have some sort of magical abilities in the way they're able to craft these pieces of art that will wrench the most raw and powerful emotions out of me. Clint Smith has gifted us with a beautiful collection of poetry on parenthood, fatherhood, ancestry, legacy, and the vitality of love. I've never really entertained the idea of having children as it has never appealed to me and yet this had no bearing on how much I enjoyed this work. There is beauty and joy as well as loss and grief in the relationship between a parent and child and these poems did an excellent job in reflecting on all those possibilities. Just as there are many types of loves, I strongly feel you don't need to be parent to connect to Smith's writing.

I look forward to revisiting this collection again and maybe this time not on the E train while trying to hold back my tears. Thank you to Little, Brown and Company for the advanced reader copy!

Clint Smith's collection Above Ground is spectacular. Several of these poems celebrate the seemingly-ordinary wonder of fatherhood. Many of these poems contemplate the symbiotic relationship between past and present—that which is below ground, and that which is above ground. I will be sharing this collection with my students.

This is so good. SO GOOD. These poems span fatherhood, being Black in America, and the human experience. I loved that the were not really sections and that all the experiences blended together. I will be revisiting this collection again and again.

I love Clint Smith's poetry and voice and this collection was wonderful to read and thought provoking

Clint Smith III is a reverent and revolutionary voice -- he always has been. But Above Ground is his most moving work yet. This collection was so unbelievably captivating, and I am so thankful for the opportunity to have read and meditated on this collection.

I’ll admit the overall topic of these poems -parenthood and raising kids in today’s world- wasn’t really for me, but as I read them I realized that although Smith discusses many anecdotes of his experience as a parent, he also critically evaluates issues in America through the lens of how will our actions today impact future generations? Not gonna lie, this just made me even more set in my desire to not have kids but I also think this could be very comforting for those who do have kids!

Using stunning imagery, references to historical events, and a confessional style of poetry, Smith delivers a heartfelt critique of America's issues and leaves the reader hopeful.

I loved this. I had not read Smith’s prior work but live poetry and was so excited to get an ARC. His work is vibrant, complex, and honestly lovely. Dance party was my favorite. I loved this so much I purchased a hard cover copy!

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for an ARC. This book will be published on March 28, 2023. The subject of these beautiful poems range from the everyday mundane to racial and social issues. There is much to be learned from each.

Clint Smith’s new poetry collection captivated me from beginning to end. This collection of poetry has many poems focused on family. I love how Smith plays with white space in “Ode to the Infant Hiccup” and expresses tenderness in “Today We Took You to the Beach for the First Time”. These poems about family are juxtaposed with more serious entries like “When People Say ‘We Have Made It Through Worse Before’” and “Your National Anthem”. Smith captures serious moments from the past few years and provides space for the reader to think.

Many poems from Smith’s previous collection Counting Descent have had a regular rotation in my classroom. I am excited to share poetry from Above Ground with my students.

Thank you NetGalley and Clint Smith for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Above Ground by Clint Smith is a collection of poetry and prose that gives insight into both the parental and existential perspectives of a man simply trying to take life one step at a time. Using images of naturalism and beauty, Smith demonstrates the significant pleasures and miseries that lie in every person’s life and how, despite the value and impact they have on them, they often mean nothing to others.
In the first piece, titled "All at Once," Clint Smith uses various blunt statements to demonstrate the concept of synchronicity—that events can occur simultaneously and still have no relation to one another. Indicating that at one moment in time, travesties, such as floods submerging quiet neighborhoods and bombs ending the lives of soldiers, can coexist dimensionally with victories, such as a soldier returning from war and meeting his son for the first time and a scientist finding a vaccine that could save countless lives. Moreover, in any given moment, a single person's life could be affected in either a negative or positive way, and another person's life could remain the same, without any sort of remorse or knowledge of the occurrences occurring in the former’s.
"Waiting on a Heartbeat" carries a similar theme, discussing the small treasures in life that are often neither heard nor seen, such as the development of a baby or the growth of a tree. In "When people Say ‘We Have Made It Through Worse Before’," Smith analyzes the rare moments in which communities share a single feeling of despair after an event defies the principle of synchronicity and affects many. Smith also considers the external demons that he fears he would be introducing to his child after previously relishing in happiness at his unborn child’s health.
Throughout the middle section of the collection, Clint uses a series of pieces, which he calls ‘odes,’ to showcase the life-altering milestones in his child’s and his own development that dispelled the thoughts of hesitation and cynicism he often bore to the world.
About a third of the way into the collection, Smith separates himself from the beauty of his life and focuses on the external racial implications that, he anticipates, will plague his child’s life. Discussing how one day his "Black boy" will become a "Black man," Smith considers the ways in which his child will mature and perceive the world around him. He then continues, intertwining historical, social, cultural, and natural elements to give a discourse on how he grapples internally with being a father as well as a witness to the atrocities that occur in the world; furthermore, he anticipates the way in which these experiences will mold him and force him to wear various hats he never intended to display.
Smith concludes the collection with the prose piece "Look at That Pond." In this piece, he beckons readers to look at a "fish swimming under its silver surface" and pay close attention to the way in which its body, "bending like a harp," interacts with its surroundings. In what Smith considers a natural mystery, this pond and its various components will inevitably become a marsh, then a swamp, and then a forest big enough for his children and their children to roam and explore. To him, it is this pond, a treasure that has endless yet unknown potential, that keeps him humble and is a reminder that he exists due to so many efforts and elements he’ll never see.
All in all, this wonderful anthology of poetry and prose is a dynamic, brilliant window into the soul of every father, man, African American, and human indulging in the highs and lows the world never ceases to offer.