Good Bones (2016) by Maggie Smith
In Episode 212, Rachel brings a more well-known poem.
Rachel: The writer of the Slate article said, "My brain replaced the actual meaning of the poem with the buoyant feeling being seen gave me, which is a lot like hope."
Griffin: Hmm.
Rachel: Which I feel like is a really—really precise way to kind of talk about this. Uh, Maggie Smith, in that article, said that she kind of still grapples with the legacy of that viral poem. She said, "What I'll always be known for is writing this poem about how bad things are, and maybe they could be better, but they're bad." [laughs]
It's a struggle to say anything at all about this poem -not only because everything that can be said about it has already been said- but because it's one of those poems (in my opinion) that need no further comment, nor explanation. The subject material is stitched so tightly into our lives, we´re familiar with the fabric's texture and its weight as we put it on every day. Reading Smith's poem feels like she's carefully covering us with this fabric as if it were a blanket, and saying to us: I know.
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