Good Bones stands as one of the most well-known poems by contemporary American poet
Maggie Smith (b. 1977) and serves as the title poem for her acclaimed 2017 poetry collection. First published in 2016, the poem artfully reflects on life’s darker aspects, such as its brevity and inherent difficulties, and portrays a speaker striving to shield her young children from these harsh truths.
Good Bones by Maggie Smith Poem Text
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.
Summary of Good Bones by Maggie Smith
The poem’s speaker contemplates the fleeting nature of life but chooses to shield her children from this realization. She also keeps them unaware of various ways she has personally curtailed her lifespan, perhaps through poor lifestyle choices, as suggested by repeated phrases like ‘
delicious’ and ‘
deliciously’. Although the speaker admits that the world is, at best, only half-good – or
‘fifty percent terrible’ – she believes it may actually be worse. She hides this fact from her children as well.
The speaker expands on her assessment, pointing out that for every well-cared-for child, another may face neglect or harm. Similarly, for every kind stranger we encounter, there exists another who may cause harm. Attempting to ‘sell’ a rosier version of reality to her children, she likens herself to a realtor who enthusiastically shows a potential buyer a less-than-perfect home while emphasizing its
‘good bones’ – a basic soundness that could become beautiful with effort and care.
Analysis of Good Bones by Maggie Smith
Maggie Smith’s poetry frequently explores darker themes within the world while delivering an underlying message of hope. In
‘Good Bones’, Smith reflects on life’s challenges and harsh truths, juxtaposed against the innocence and optimism that children naturally possess. Although life is at least
fifty percent terrible, Smith’s speaker believes kindness and potential exist, and that humanity can actively work to improve the world.
The poem’s central message highlights that the truth about the world can wait; children are not prepared to face harsh realities, and maintaining their innocence fosters hope for a kinder, brighter world. Smith suggests that children don’t need to bear the weight of the world’s darkness, allowing them to grow up with the belief that the world can indeed be a more beautiful, hopeful place.
Echoing the words of
T.S. Eliot, who once remarked that
‘humankind cannot bear very much reality’, Smith’s speaker appears to reinforce the idea that children especially cannot – nor should they have to – bear the burdens of adult worries. Thus, the adult world’s more painful truths can wait for them.
Interpretation of Lying in ‘Good Bones’
In a way, the speaker acknowledges her ‘deception’ of her children as necessary for preserving their innocence. She compares herself to a realtor promoting a property, fully aware of its faults, yet seeking to persuade potential buyers of its worth. This metaphor encapsulates her desire to cultivate her children’s hope in a world that holds hidden flaws. While the realtor conceals the property's cracks, so too does the speaker wish to obscure life’s harsher realities from her children.
By
‘selling’ the world as a good place, Smith suggests that the speaker, and perhaps all adults, benefit. When children grow up believing in kindness, it fosters a generation that might indeed make the world better.
Comparison with Smith’s Other Work
Smith’s
‘Good Bones’ shares thematic similarities with another poem of hers,
‘First Fall’, in which she takes one of her young children outdoors to experience the autumn landscape. She describes the leaves and trees as they change, introducing her child to nature’s cycle. Like
‘Good Bones’,
‘First Fall’ juxtaposes the fleeting beauty of life with the hope that children will grow up seeing the world’s beauty as enduring.
Form and Structure
‘Good Bones’ is structured in unrhymed free verse, with no consistent meter. Although lacking formal rhyme, Smith’s lines share a conversational rhythm that draws readers into the speaker’s world. This is heightened by Smith’s subtle use of repeated phrases such as
‘life is short’ and
‘though I keep this from my children’, imitating the natural cadence of thought and dialogue.
Although the poem is free verse, it includes moments of repetition, as seen in phrases like
‘ways’ and
‘beautiful’. The closing lines, with their repeated use of
‘beautiful’, create an air of both assertion and ambiguity. Does the repetition reinforce the speaker’s conviction, or reveal her hesitation? The final question
‘right?’ suggests that, while the speaker wants to believe in the world’s beauty, she harbors doubts about its realizability.
Conclusion
Maggie Smith’s
‘Good Bones’ eloquently captures the tension between shielding young minds from reality’s harshness and fostering hope in a world that often falls short. Through this delicate balance, Smith’s poem resonates as both a reflection on the difficulty of parenting and a plea for optimism in an imperfect world.
