I used to read a bunch of poetry, but I gave up on it years ago because so much of it was just frustrating to read. A few weeks ago, I listened to an interview between Ezra Klein and Tracy K. Smith that convinced me to give her work a try. I think what I've realized, having now read this book, is that poetry really has to be read well aloud to land for me. I tune in more to the sounds than the meanings. And this is why I sort of gave up on poetry so long ago, after my college days when I had a lot more opportunities to hear it aloud. The poems Smith read in that interview sounded marvelous, and the way she and Klein talked about poems really brought me in and made me want to give these poems a try. But so many of them fell flat for me; in spite of trying to be mindful about reading carefully, I'd fine myself kind of scanning lazily down the page and feeling unmoved. A few really did speak to me, though. I think Smith is a good poet, and I've merely become a bad reader of poetry. Some of the stronger work in this collection is the more recent work. The found poems and the erasure poem in the final collection worked especially well for me. I'd love to hear Smith deliver a reading; I don't think I've converted back to a daily poetry reader myself. ( )