Duende

Poems

By: Tracy K. Smith

Narrated by: Tracy K. Smith

Duende, that dark and elusive force described by Federico Garcia Lorca, is the creative and ecstatic power an artist seeks to channel from within. It can lead the artist toward revelation, but it must also, Lorca says, accept and even serenade the possibility of death. Tracy K. Smith's bold second poetry collection explores history and the intersections of folk traditions, political resistance, and personal survival. Duende gives passionate testament to suppressed cultures, and allows them to sing.

©2007 Tracy K. Smith (P)2018 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Critic reviews

"Pulitzer Prize winner and Poet Laureate of the United States Tracy K. Smith has a voice that is almost as beautiful as the imagery in this second collection of her work.... If you already know her work, this is a chance to hear her interpret it; if you don't, this is a chance to discover something wonderful." (AudioFile)

A Respite for the Mind

Her images leap off the page. The voices of her people linger in the heart.

“Trees scratching at the Moon”, the vision of a little boy stolen from his Mother’s home in her poem, Theft. The laborers whose eyes are fixed not on their Future, but Uphill to their Past.

So many beautiful lines in a very slim volume. Worth reading over and over. I’ll be checking out her other works but this one was filled with Duende!

Nothing stood out in this volume.

I did not like this volume of poetry at all. The author is trying and that is appreciated, but what can I say: It’s just not good poetry, and I am sorry for that.