The Killing Tree Paperback – 14 October 2016

I learned of JD Smith from his excellent poem Interstate which appeared in Modern Age magazine. I was drawn in by its wistful contemplation of a facet of the modern contemporary world, so his poem stood out to me against a backdrop of the poetry in Modern Age, which along with the poetry which appears in Chronicles Magazine, tends to be the best contemporary poetry that appears in periodicals, at least. So I ordered this recent collection of his poems, the killing tree. I certify that each poem in this book lives very closely up to the standard set by Interstate! The poems, which are formal in format, ie use meter and rhyme, each examine some aspect of contemporary american life. The Poet is supposed to interpret our age for us and express our deepest feelings in artful and ringing language, and Smith is one of the few contemporary poets to achieve this. Each poem is simply very very original in idea and explicated with superb wit. Smith is the only living poet whose poems literally make me, well, as an amateur poetaster, i have to admit JEALOUS. Each poem is great, no filler, so to speak, but some personal favorites include Cool of 94, Agenda, and the title poem. Smith explores many different forms, including the villanelle and kyrielle, but most of the poems are sonnets, i think. Smith obeys and executes the form quite well, with proper structure and the volta in the right place and all that.The only weak poem was the one about George Floyd, which was misplaced artistry, in my opinion. This is largely a question of politics, however. I simply cannot understand why such a fine poet is virtually unknown. He doesn't even have a Wikipedia page! I imagine it has something to do with being a white male...