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MAGGIE SMITH “GOOD BONES”
Life is short, though I keep this from my children.
Life is short, and I’ve shortened mine
in a thousand delicious, ill-advised ways,
a thousand deliciously ill-advised ways
I’ll keep from my children. The world is at least
fifty percent terrible, and that’s a conservative
estimate, though I keep this from my children.
For every bird, there is a stone thrown at a bird.
For every loved child, a child broken, bagged,
sunk in a lake. Life is short, and the world
is at least half terrible, and for every kind
stranger, there is one who would break you,
though I keep this from my children. I am trying
to sell them the world. Any decent realtor,
walking you through a real shithole, chirps on
about good bones: This place could be beautiful,
right? You could make this place beautiful.
The poem Good Bones was written at a time when there had been killings in a gay club in Orlando (Mongeon). At this time, the poet had two children. The theme that prevails in the poem is love, motherhood, and reality. The world is cruel, wicked, and distressing. The poem is a message to prepare her children of what the world is like, and what they expect out of it. Maggie Smith uses the phrase “Life is short” repeatedly to emphasize what the world is. That is, filled with crimes, hatred, and violence. Motherhood is a task that requires has so many hinges that need to be fixed. However, it is worrying and impossible to make the whole world a safe haven for your little ones. The whole poem depicts the state the world is in with a caring mother trying to raise her kids in the most subtle way possible. Her definition of this is hiding the reality from her siblings, “I keep this from my children.” However, this leaves a few queries with the narrative. Is this the best practice? Will the practice of hiding the world from the children make these children very fragile?
Good Bones as the title of the poem might be misinterpreted unless one takes note to read the poem. That, in a way, is the definition of the world we live in. Inconsistency, with what we expect to what is in reality. When a child is born, they are clueless of where they are, what they will grow up to be, and whom they will meet. Hence, the difference in themes of the poem with its title. There are contrasting pieces of information being passed in the title and the poem. Taking the title meaning literary one might assume the poem will talk about health and fitness, that is to keep your bones in good shape. However, when one dives into the piece, a different theme is realized. A theme of womanhood and raising children. Generally, talking about the world in a nutshell.
On motherhood and love, the poet talks of the world undisguised. A true mother would tell her children the reality and prepare them for the same. This is not exactly what the poet has done. Revealed what the world is in truth. “The world is at least fifty percent terrible, and that’s a conservative estimate.” Her love is seen here as she truly depicts the situation in the world. Crime rates are alarming; the number of deaths due to insecurities around the neighborhoods is also alarming. There is rape, abduction, child labor, exposure to ruthlessly content on the internet, among other worrying substances in the real world we live in. The distressed mother, in the end, is optimistic about what might be the future. “You could make this place beautiful” The statement demonstrates how the poet is optimistic that the future will be better if only the next generation, children, can see the good in the world. From her point of view, there is a possibility of the world being a better place again.
Realism and livelihood are depicted in the poem. Maggie is realist in the events of life. The first line, “Life is short, though I keep this from my children.” Life itself is short. At the time, 49 people lost their lives in a gay club, none of them knew that they would not make it another day (Mongeon). That is the sad reality with life. Our lives are filled with uncertainties, and sadly, that is bound to happen. Though I keep this from my children is repeated in the poem three times. This is to show the emphasis of the statement. Maggie Smith uses repetition for the readers to get a gist of her ideas. Evaluating the practice might be first, because of fear and two children being exposed to the harsh realities of life. The fear of exposing too much information to children who have not yet grown to see the sad realities. Furthermore, the fear of them trying to escape from the realities of life. A mother is troubled by bringing a generation forth amid all the cruelty. It is worrying for her to tell her children that the world is losing its dignity, as she does not know how the children will react. There are two responses to this concern. Either they accept the situation at hand and try making the situations work for the betterment of their future, or they join the world in compromising the state of the world. Those can be the reasons behind the statement, “I keep this from my children.”
Line 3 of the poem is “in a thousand delicious, ill-advised ways” from line 1 and 2, Maggie Smith emphasizes on how life is short meaning she’ll live it with an extraordinary difference. Line 3, further elaborates how she plans in living her life. “in a thousand delicious, ill-advised ways.” She is going to make many misguided, imprudent, and daft decisions on the way. To emphasize this decision, the same has words that have been repeated in line 4. Delicious is the use of imagery to exhibit taste in the unwise decisions that prevail.
For every bird there is a stone thrown at a bird.
For every loved child, a child broken, bagged,
sunk in a lake. Life is short and the world
is at least half terrible, and for every kind
stranger, there is one who would break you,
The lines suggest that for every action, there is a reaction. Depicting that everyone’s presence is felt and there is at least one thing that would react to it. Case in point, a stone is thrown to a bird, so is a loved child, being exposed to violence that results in the child being broken. Terrible events are likely to happen more than pleasant experiences in a lifetime. The two shows are descriptive that have engaged a human sense of sight to aid in a better understanding of how the real world is. People are constantly attacking other people and things that are the human nature of always attacking. The world is at least half-terrible is a turn of phrase from what Maggie states in the sixth line of the poem, deciding not to put a percentage could be interpreted as loosening up the phrase not to sound so harsh. There is an appeal for one to be careful in the statement, “for every kind stranger, there is one who would break you.” Not everyone must be trusted, as they may be the ones disloyal to you.
though I keep this from my children. I am trying
to sell them the world. Any decent realtor,
walking you through a real shithole, chirps on
about good bones: This place could be beautiful,
right? You could make this place beautiful.
A contradiction is seen in lines 13 and 14. The sentiment I am willing to try sell them to the world contradicts her early decisions to keep them from the world. This statement shows that despite the many worrying occurrences, she is now loosening up to let her children interact with the world. There is the use of metaphor; for instance, the word “sell,” “any decent realtor,” and “chirps on.” Humor, as a figure of speech, is detected in the phrase decent realtor. In this case, the realtor is only decent for the job he is interested in, and as depicted earlier, no one can be trusted with her children, and yet she is now selling them to a decent realtor. Consequently, about good bones could have been used to a show that relates to real estate (Sandra). On the two last lines, hope is revived. Some optimism is seen in a brighter environment. With the promise of a good only if an effort to change, it will be put. In essence, Maggie shows a world where parents have the feel of the real and are scared for their children to see the reality in the same perception.
The good bone poem best elaborates the general feel of the collection of poems from the book Good Bones all written by Maggie Smith (Appleton). In the collection, she is trying to illustrate how the world has been invaded by danger but struggling to change to be a better place. Love, motherhood, and life are what the whole collection is about as she talks about his son and the struggles she is facing bringing him up in the world full of cruelty. She tells stories through the poems, reminding the audience of what the past was and in this relieving the tension of how the world would turn out. The title good bones best describe the possibility for the world to be safe again.
Works Cited
Appleton, Sarah. “Review: Good Bones by Maggie Smith.” The Los Angeles Review (2014). <http://losangelesreview.org/review-good-bones-by-maggie-smith/>.
Mongeon, J. “Analysis of a poem Good Bones by Maggie Smith.” Medium, (2019). <https://medium.com/@mongeonj/analysis-of-a-poem-good-bones-by-maggie-smith-d802f24cafe5>.
Sandra. “Talking About “Good Bones.” Chicks Dig Poetry (2017). <http://sbeasley.blogspot.com/2017/05/talking-about-good-bones.html>.