A review by jbmorgan86
Promises of Gold by José Olivarez
3.0
I said this about Olivarez’s last collection, “Citizen Illegal”:
A short, entertaining collection of poems by Mexican-American poet, José Olivarez. Most of the poems read like text messages: short bursts without proper capitalization or punctuation. There’s no strict form, rhyme, or rhythm here. There are moments of laugh out loud humor . . . and moments of genuine insight of what it’s like living with feet in two different cultures.
That same review could work for this collection. The theme is a bit different here. The theme is love and why is it hard so hard for men to give it, receive it, and express it? Some poems are literally text messages. There’s some anger directed at capitalism and injustices in the world. There are some pandemic poems where the poet fears for his parents’ deaths. Whatever the topic, it folds back into the theme of love.
I have to admit that I enjoyed one poem about punching Jeff Bezos in the face.
A short, entertaining collection of poems by Mexican-American poet, José Olivarez. Most of the poems read like text messages: short bursts without proper capitalization or punctuation. There’s no strict form, rhyme, or rhythm here. There are moments of laugh out loud humor . . . and moments of genuine insight of what it’s like living with feet in two different cultures.
That same review could work for this collection. The theme is a bit different here. The theme is love and why is it hard so hard for men to give it, receive it, and express it? Some poems are literally text messages. There’s some anger directed at capitalism and injustices in the world. There are some pandemic poems where the poet fears for his parents’ deaths. Whatever the topic, it folds back into the theme of love.
I have to admit that I enjoyed one poem about punching Jeff Bezos in the face.