Danez Smith and Guernica Talk Out Two Drafts of One Poem

For Guernica's "Back Draft" series, Ben Purkert talks to Danez Smith about two drafts of a poem, "waiting on you to die so i can be myself," that ended up in their newly released collection, Homie (Graywolf). The drafts are very different. "Yeah, the only thing that stayed consistent was the title," says Smith. More:

Guernica: How did you know that the title needed to stay the same?

Smith: Because the title was the only part that felt true. “waiting on you to die so I can be myself.” It’s a hard and honest statement. I needed a poem that could carry it, and I had to grow as a poet in order to stand up to it. It took me many, many years! When I look at the early draft, it reminds me of who I was. I see the voice from my first book, Insert Boy. It’s more performance-minded. I had to learn how to calm down, and to understand what patience can do in a lyric. Sometimes you have a truth that you have to do both the living and the reading in order to be able to say it right one day.

Guernica: On the topic of patience, one of my favorite moments in the poem is “i’m stalling.” I love how you’re calling out your own silence there.   

Smith: Right. And whenever I read this poem aloud, I’m very conscious of silence. 

Guernica: How so?

Find out at Guernica.