Clint Smith's Poem 'Counterfactual'

In his poem, Counterfactual, Clint Smith recreates a scene from his childhood where his father lectured him on the danger of acting the same way as white boys at the time. Smith originally has a jubilant, playful outlook which then switches to a scene filled with fear and anger that ends with thankfulness and respect for his father. The poem begins with Smith setting the scene from his childhood memory. While not being perfectly descriptive and using the phrase “some place I can’t remember,” Smith shows us how long ago this event took place. By doing so he lets us know the importance of the time because he would not remember something that was that long ago unless it was significant. In this case it was an influential moment in his life. Additionally, he creates an atmosphere of merriment by describing his fun taking place in the “water-filled battlezone” that was filled with “boundless laughter.” This was a fond memory to him. He still remembers the joy that he was experiencing from long ago before his father came in and disrupted that. The vivid descriptions that he uses helps set up the contrast in the atmospheric shift that occurs. …show more content…
He makes his father seem very strict and aggressive by grabbing his forearm with an “unfamiliar grip“ and making him look foolish in front of his friends. His father lectures him about not not acting the same as white boys and that he “can’t be hiding behind anything other than [his] own teeth.” The metaphor his father uses is to tell him that he must always put on a smile and to put on a facade to show that he his not doing anything wrong. His father fears for his well being so he does all this so that he will never do anything that could put him in harm's way. He says all this to emphasise how people of their ethnicity must act in order to