Liquid Paper: New and Selected Poems

by Peter Meinke

Peter Meinke was a master of traditional poetic forms long before the current interest in “the new formalism.”  His work is, in turn, witty, comic, sane, deeply moving, and always readable. Liquid Paper collects the best of his previously published poems from the late 1960s on with a generous selection of new work.

Genres: Poetry

120 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[Jonathan Tennis · Rating 5 out of 5]

There’s a lot of poetry out there, but not a lot of good stuff like Meinke brings. His work isn’t stuffy or inaccessible. He writes about life and does so beautifully. My favorites from this collection are: Atomic Pantoum, Byron v. DiMaggio, Fifty on Fifty, Myrtle the Turtle, Myth, Ping-Pong, Robert Frost in Warsaw, The ABC of Aerobics, The Poet to His Tongue, This is a poem to my son Peter, & Uncle Jim

“It worked like Liquid Paper in his head / until he’d glide across the streets of Heidelberg / hunting for the house in Boise, Idaho, / where he was born…If I were God / I’d authorize Celestial Liquid Paper / every seven years to whiten our mistakes: / we should be sorry and live with what we’ve done / but seven years is long enough and all of us / deserve a visit now and then / to the house where we were born / before everything got written so far wrong.” (p. 3, Liquid Paper)

[FirnMamaMakes · Rating 5 out of 5]

You could say this is a re-read of a re-read of a re-read and so on and so forth. I love this collection of poetry. I love the images it evokes, the memories. I love the stories, the wit, the honesty, the humor. Among my tippy top favorites are Liquid Paper, The Shell, Because, untitled 2, The Heart's Location, World Within World, Myrtle the Turtle. There's a lifetime here; from boyhood, to soldiering, to marriage, family, fatherhood, teaching, vacations, the mundane, travel...it's wonderful.

[CAG_1337 · Rating 1 out of 5]

I like Meinke's short fiction, but his poetry just wasn't to my taste. These are the very bland, unremarkable musings and remembrances of some privileged white dude. Simply put, these poems just don't have anything important to say. Also, there were far too many Christian allusions and images.

[Brian Wasserman · Rating 1 out of 5]

Personal poems, Peter Meinke wrote poems to himself and didnt consider that there would be audience. The poetic form (indentation) is non-existent, nebulous paragraphs that are more like buzzing swarms of self reflecting boredom. Alot of allusion porn.. -oh, I'll mention Newton and Frost in a poem, how smart!

[Chase L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meinke is captivating.

[Frankie · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite poet, includes my favorite poem (advice to my son)

[Shannon Burton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poetry that can make skeptics believe in poetry.

[Amelia · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite volumes of poetry.