A Small Needful Fact

“Burial” by Ross Gay (2013)

In this poem, the speaker describes pouring some of his father’s ashes into the ground to nourish trees. While “Burial” and “A Small Needful Fact” explore similar themes, including death and gardening, “Burial” takes a more personal approach. In “Burial,” Gay uses the lyric “I” and meditates on the death of someone he knew intimately: his father.

“The Tradition” by Jericho Brown (2015)

While “A Small Needful Fact” is written for Eric Garner, “The Tradition” is written for three Black men killed by the police: Garner, John Crawford, and Michael Brown. Like “A Small Needful Fact,” “The Tradition” includes a detailed description of planting. In “The Tradition,” however, the speaker and men like him record the flowers they planted on video tape, then watch the tape “for proof we existed” (Brown, Jericho. “The Tradition.” Poets.org, Line 10).

“Nightstick [A Mural for Michael Brown]” by Kevin Young (2018)

Weeks after Garner was killed by a police officer in New York City, an unarmed Black teenager named Michael Brown was shot and killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. Gay wrote “A Small Needful Fact” for Garner, and Young wrote “Nightstick” for Brown.

“Salutations in Search Of” by Patricia Smith (2020)

While “A Small Needful Fact” is written for Eric Garner, it does not address Garner directly. “Salutations in Search Of,” however, piles salutation upon salutation. This sonnet sequence addresses many Black people killed by the police (Eric Garner and many others); the people they left behind; slavery and the long history of institutional racism in the United States; and more.

“Would You Kill God Too?“ by W. J. Lofton (2020)

Like “A Small Needful Fact,” this visual poem responds to an unarmed Black person’s murder by white police officers. “Would You Kill God Too” was composed for Breonna Taylor, an EMT who was sleeping in her bed when Louisville police officers barged through her front door and fatally shot her.

Be Holding by Ross Gay (2020)

While “A Small Needful Fact” is informed by Gay’s experience gardening, Be Holding explores another of Gay’s hobbies: basketball. Like “A Small Needful Fact,” Be Holding is a single sentence. Unlike “A Small Needful Fact,” Be Holding is a book-length project.