A review by rquickly
Anodyne by Khadijah Queen

4.0

What a lovely poetry collection. An incredibly dense one at that, but I absolutely adored the opening poem and the sense of thematic work it does for the rest of the book. A collection that begs the question of what does loss truly look like? It's a tough question, it really is. But in all of my experiences, it is a loss that intrinsically comes with the feelings we desire most: joy, love, and passion. Every moment of our days is filled with this sense of what we would like to have something we will inevitably lose. Creating a book that soothes rather than harms, despite its dark subject matter is truly a triumph. I can imagine myself reaching for it again and again.

Favorite poems: The Rule of Opulence, Dementia Is One Way to Say Fatal Brain Failure, In the Event of the Apocalypse, Be Prepared to Die