juxtaposing the black boy & the bullet

This poem’s power comes from what it doesn’t say. Smith careful does not state to what any description is actually referring; each description either literally or figuratively works and either for the bullet or the boy. By placing two seemingly unrelated things together and using descriptions that can apply to both and either, Smith makes a powerful political point about how society views both guns and the lives of Black boys. And in a sign of restraint, Smith does not offer any commentary about where their beliefs lie on these topics. This allows the reader to come up with their own interpretation and to subjectively absorb this poem the way they want. Smith lays out a problem and shows readers how absurd it is; by doing so, they are making a political point without explicitly stating it.

To understand how this works, it is essential to analyze the way each description is both specific and vague—how each description can apply to guns and to Black bodies. But Smith does not open the poem with this complex, confusing use of juxtaposition; instead, they slowly build from clear contrasting descriptions to descriptions that merge.

The difference between the first line and the final stanza is a great example of this.