African American Poetry: The Way A Door Closes

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Smith, Hope Anita. 2003. The way a door closes. Ill. by Shane W. Evans. New York: Square Fish. ISBN 9780312661694

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Hope Anita Smith’s The Way A Door Closes follows a young boy’s roller coaster family experience. C.J. undergoes moments of contentment, joy, dread, anger, relief, and restoration in 52 pages of verse.

The majority of the page-long poems tell literal accounts of the occurrences in C.J.’s world.  Mostly written in free verse, each poem has distinguishing qualities, including the length, mood, and embedment of well-known lyrics or literature allusions such as lines from the old hymn “I Shall Not Be Moved." Smith transforms catchy sayings like “Only you can prevent forest fires” into the metaphoric lines “Family fires / only you can prevent them.”

Smith loads sound and emotion into the poems. The entire premise of the book is based on the sound of a door closing and all that implies. Descriptions of the various door sounds, depending on the closer of the door, inform readers of the sentiments felt by the characters.  Onomatopoeia is sprinkled throughout the book, from “Daddy’s razor roars” (“Golden”) to “Rap, rap, rap” (“Little Man”). No matter the mood—as they are ever-changing—the sounds support the reader in participating in a total sensory experience as they hear the poems.

C.J. and his family face emotional valleys and peaks throughout the book. Readers feel “golden” (“Golden”) right along with the family when all is well. They understand the “vacuum-sealed” feeling the kids face when Dad closes the door (“The Way a Door Closes”). Smith’s words have the power to transfer feelings from text on a page to a tug at one’s heart as she describes Sister’s weeping and Brother’s anger in “When a Daddy Goes." Grandmomma’s love and support can be felt as she carries on her singing to God. Regardless of the readers’ familial backgrounds, they will be welcomed into the devoted bond that makes up C.J.’s family.  

The topic of the book hits close to home for many young people. Families who love each other madly cannot always hold it together during tense economic times. Parents leave with little or no notice—abandoning their families who must pick up the pieces and keep on subsisting. Readers will relate to this book of poems, because a vast number of them are living proof that Smith writes about truth.

Smith’s conglomeration of poems is organized chronologically, each dependent on one another for full contextual meaning. Each poem gets a page (or two or three—depending on length) devoted to it with a complementary illustration that neither distracts from the words nor compromises the intended meaning with too many details. Should the reader wish to focus on a single poem, a table of contents is provided. However, to fully comprehend the poems, readers will want to read them as a whole.

The Way A Door Closes recounts personal conditions of many young readers. Infiltrated with allusions and familiar sayings, Smith’s lyrical rhythm and occasional rhyme will spur readers to share in the temporarily broken family’s fluctuating emotions.

POETRY SPOTLIGHT

“The Way a Door Closes”

When Grandmomma comes through a door

it closes quietly.

It is whispered shut

by the breath of God—

who acts as a doorman for

one of His good and faithful servants.

When my brother and I

go out the door,

it closes like a clap of thunder.

We are always in a hurry

to be somewhere.

My little sister closes the door

just so.

As if there were a prize for
getting it right.

My momma likes doors open.

It’s her way of inviting the world in.

But last night

Daddy said,

“I’m going out,”

and he stood buttoning his coat

just so.

As if there were a prize for
getting it right.

Then he looked at each of us

a moment too long.

And when he went out the door

he held on to the knob.

The door closed with a

click.

I felt all the air leave the room

and we were vacuum-sealed inside.

I shook it off.

I told myself it was nothing

but

somewhere deep inside

I knew better.

I can tell a lot by

the way a door closes.

Enter & exit the room repeatedly, each time closing the door differently. Once you have the students’ attention, discuss what can be inferred by the way a door closes. (Feelings of anger, shyness, neutrality, etc.) On sheets of construction paper, list the feelings attributed to the many ways to close a door—one feeling per piece.

Read the poem aloud a couple times. Allow students the opportunity to add more feeling words to paper.

Divide the class into small groups so that each cluster has its own construction paper feeling. All around that feeling word have students generate onomatopoeia words that would describe how that feeling sounds as a door closes. For example, if closed in anger, the door would sound like BANG! or SLAM!

Give students the opportunity to share & role-play the onomatopoeia words they’ve produced.