Dark Testament
Written by Crystal Simone Smith
Bibliography:
Smith, C. S. (2023). Dark testament blackout poems. Henry Holt.
Summary:
Dark Testament is a collection of blackout erasure poetry by Crystal Simone Smith that she found within the text of George's Saunder's book, Lincoln in the Bardo. Smith was reading Saunder's book for research when the George Floyd footage was released and the Black Lives Matters protests arose during 2020. In a conversation with Saunders, Smith says she was inspired to use his work for the erasure poems after reading the line, "we are tired of being nothing, and doing nothing, and mattering not at all to anyone." Some poems are dedicated to specific victims, while others focus on the the BLM movement and the collective feeling of being a black person in America during these events. The book itself is split up into three sections: Part I, In Memoriam, and Part II. Part I and Part II feature the erasure poetry, and In Memoriam spotlights memorial and movement artwork of the black victims and the Black Lives Matter Movement as well the artists behind them.
Analysis:
Smith begins the book by discussing the background of why she was inspired for this particular set of erasure poems. Unsurprisingly, it was during the BLM protests that started after the very publicized murder of George Floyd and the other recent murder of Ahmaud Arbery that happened in 2020. Smith herself is the mother to two black sons, which you can feel throughout the poems in Black Testament.
Every poem is only on the right side of the book. Without context, this may seem like an odd choice of formatting, but Smith has intentional left these blank pages as moment of silent remembrance. This choice makes each poem that more effective at deeply impacting the reader. Having been familiar with most of the victims and instances Smith has dedicated these poems to, this book re-sparked the outrage and disbelief that I kept feeling again and again during 2020 when it seemed like ever other day there was another innocent black person being murdered. But, as a white woman, I know that my shock and outrage can never compare to that of those that face this danger still. Smith addresses this by placing the poems White Witnesses and Black Witness next to each other (both poems are displayed below). The juxtaposition of the two poems together show how different the perspectives truly are during the same events, even for people who are in the same mindset.
The chosen form of erasure poem for this collection seems fitting as much of the media tries to use their own erasure to diminish the impact of these events on black communities and the nation as a whole.
Excerpt:
I think choosing just one excerpt from this poetry collection is the opposite message than what Dark Testament presents. Just one poem as an example would seem like it's about one single incident, which is not the case. Because of that, I have taken photos of the poems from the book so you can see a portion of the collection and have the impact on a smaller scale as well as keep the erasure form intact.
Activity Idea:
This collection of erasure poetry is not an easy topic, but it is a necessary one. Because of that, I do not think it would be possible to move on to a fun or easy going project after reading and experiencing such raw feelings. As Smith has built into the book, it would only be suiting to give a moment of silence for all of the victims she has listed as well as the ones she has not. After that, it would be prudent to have an open discussion about the emotions displayed within the poems as well as the social justice issues that inspired them. To take Smith's lead and turn such meaningful events into raw, emotional art, you could encourage students to find their own meaning and poetry through erasure.
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