Good Bones Broadside

$49.99

A gorgeous, limited edition broadside of Maggie Smith’s “Good Bones,” from the book of the same title.

GOOD BONES
by Maggie Smith

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.

A gorgeous, limited edition broadside of Maggie Smith’s “Good Bones,” from the book of the same title.

GOOD BONES
by Maggie Smith

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.

“Good Bones” first appeared in Waxwing and is contained in Maggie Smith’s book by the same name, Tupelo Press, 2018. Printed by Josef Beery, 4th printing Summer 2022.

Designer Josef Beery: “These broadsides are printed one at a time from hand-set metal type (not the plastic plates used for most letterpress these days) and that my press is a small cottage industry in the mountains of Virginia. The paper is Rives, which is a French mould-made artist’s printmaking paper made of 100% cotton. I tear the paper down from large sheets and then print them on a handpress one at a time, each broadside requiring two passes through the press. You can read more about the broadsides I produce at josefbeery.com ”