A review by jakekilroy
Looking for the Gulf Motel by Richard Blanco

5.0

I absolutely, truly, sincerely adored this collection. Richard Blanco’s poems are so rich and colorful, yet so unfathomably breezy. He speaks of his past, of his family, of his loves, all as if over coffee or tea after dinner. There’s no profound declaration, as if to push for attention; he just writes in a way that immediately has you curious without need of page-turner antics. It’s earnest and appreciative/adoring, and he honors his Cuban heritage (the cooking especially), his Florida upbringing, his move to Maine for true love, and most of all his relatives, whom he captures with such detail, from their trinkets to their quietest quirks. He’ll write about a night on the coast or a moment in a living room and you are there, as enamored with life as him, without overpromising what can be. You are accepting of what has been and what is, and you are grateful for the chance to be a part of this existence, despite the tragedies of death, heartbreak, and the like. This was just a wonderful read, from start to finish.