Homie is Danez Smith’s magnificent anthem about the saving grace of friendship.

Rooted in the loss of a close friend, Smith's poems acknowledge that in a country overrun by violence, xenophobia, and disparity, and in a body defined by race, queerness, and diagnosis, it can be hard to survive, even harder to remember reasons for living. But then the phone lights up, or a shout comes up to the window, and family—blood and chosen—arrives with just the right food and some redemption.