Paces the Cage

Interspersed with ambient sound, lighting and stage directions, Henry-Smith's poems read as an improvised performance fusing the literal and metaphoricalS*an D. Henry-Smith's second full-length book of poems, Paces the Cage, lifts off from their previous book by expanding an already-queered language to near breaking point. Through the complexities of Henry-Smith's personal experiences and the use of a poetically fragmented voice, the literal and metaphorical are remixed in real time. Henry-Smith's occasional inclusion of ambient sounds, stage directions, lighting cues and an environmentally musical language helps to build a rich auditory landscape that enhances the immersive quality of the poems, creating a deep and evocative experience by this adventurous and endlessly exciting poet. The spontaneous shifts in tone, style and subject matter offer a mirror to personal and historical narratives of oppression, adversity, the act of speaking and what it means to be truly heard by your community of fellow creators.S*an D. Henry-Smith (born 1992) is a poet and photographer. Their first poetry collection, Wild Peach (2020), was published by Futurepoem and shortlisted for the PEN Open Book Award. They are also the author of two chapbooks.