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.