Breathing Clouds

by J.A. Peña Fernández

«Poetry is the genre of ultimate and irreversible sincerity», as Benedetti warned, so it hangs over the mind and soul of the reader as a hurricane of sensations that provoke the intimate reflection and knowledge of the world, of the life, of the others, of ourselves.

This anthology of poems perfectly addresses these fundamental aspects with a selection of texts by J. A. Peña Fernández around different universal feelings and love, anger, doubt, nostalgia, sadness or joy.

104 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 16, 2017

Reviews

[Rosetta Yorke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bleak, gritty and uncompromising poetry, ‘Breathing Clouds’ is not for the faint-hearted or the rosy-spectacled romantic. There is little in the way of comfort to be found here. Most of the poems are vivid snapshot images of life as it really is and, indeed, the author himself was in a dark place – mourning the loss of a beloved grandmother – when he wrote them. This loss permeates the book, and is even reflected in the evocative cover, which commemorates her handwriting.

‘Breathing Clouds’ is divided into four thematic groups of poems: ‘Stormy’, ‘Cloudy’, ‘Clarity’ and ‘Clouds of Reality’. My favourite section is ‘Clarity’, because here the tone feels generally lighter and there is a suggestion of hope, albeit the merest hint. I enjoyed being able to compare the Spanish and English versions of each poem, which is particularly effective in the parallel text paperback edition, even though I have only a basic understanding of Spanish. I found it fascinating to observe, mainly on a visual and structural level, how the author exploits each language for maximum effect.

This book is a thought-provoking read. I recommend it.

[Kim Walton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful

Soulful, his poetry pulls at your