Review: Helium

Helium by Rudy Francisco
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Helium is another title to add to the modern school of poetry. It's an analysis of what makes up a young person, from personal relationships to the poet's larger role in society. It tells stories through simple language and doesn't muddy the waters with hidden meanings or complicated metaphors. It tells it like it is, and gets to the point where it needs to.

There's a vast difference when reading the first half of the collection and the second. The more personal poems that deal with love and personal relationships really didn't resonate with me. It was sort of the same old lamenting that poets often grow out of. However, the second half of the poems that speak more to race, class, and what it's like to live today with a dozen labels on you before you utter a word does make more of an impact when reading it--enough to want to see more from this poet in the future.

*Book provided by NetGalley


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