Title: Little Anodynes: Poems

Author: Jon Pineda

Year: 2015

Pages: 72

Date Read: March 25, 2017

Format: Paperback

Genres: poetry

Rating: 4/5

Summary: A collection of poems covering biracial identity, loss, and fatherhood.

Favorite Poems: "Umpteenth," "Kundiman," "Ellipses," and "Little Anodynes"



Review: This book of poetry was a happy, little, unexpected find for me.  Our library recently got a copy of it, and I recognized the name because Pineda currently teaches at my alma mater.  I was like, "Oh, look at that!  I have to read it!"  So I read it today during my lunch break at work.

Contemporary poetry can be a bit tricky for me.  I tend to read mostly older poetry: typically modern (1900-1945-ish), Victorian, and Romantic.  But luckily, I really liked this one!


I find it interesting to try to figure out how poets decide on the length of lines in free verse.  I've written some poetry myself, but I'm not the best at it.  Since the text of the poems in this book are justified, rather than centered or left-aligned, I wonder if there ever was any distinction in the lines, or if it was always meant just to flow off the tongue almost ceaselessly.

I like it when poetry makes me stop and compose myself after reading it.  These poems did that.









You can find this in print at The Book Depository and on Kindle at Amazon.
You can read more about it and find similar books on Goodreads.
You can read more about Jon Pineda here.