Thunderbird

by Jane Miller

Our childhood such a large cellar with no bulb. Jane Miller brings a painterly eye to the elegiac in an ambitiously linked sequence that explores ecstasy and desire, memory and loss, the ancient and the ultramodern. Suggesting the thunderbird of Native American lore as readily as modern American warfare, Thunderbird is a book of mourning and loss redeemed by the body and the mind. Jane Miller is the author of nine books of poetry, including A Palace of Pearls (Copper Canyon Press, 2005), which won the Audre Lorde Prize. Miller teaches at the University of Arizona and lives in Tucson, Arizona.

Genres: Poetry

96 pages, Paperback

First published July 16, 2013

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. This is Jane^^^^^Miller

Reviews

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book of linked poems explores the two polarities we are all pulled into: love and loss. Jane Miller masterfully follows that 'thread' through her own life; but it is the same thread that we all have running through our shared existence. A deeply moving examination of why we should take time to appreciate our given here and now - now and here.

[Don · Rating 5 out of 5]

a fantastic collection of poetry, as is the case with Jane Miller she has a different perspective and style common to each book she publishes. some poems are personal and intriguing as her life must be. it's meant to be an elegy for her parents, and references to old Yiddish terminology are a beautiful addition to this great work. there is a short clip on the internet of her reading from this book.

[Lisa M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a latecomer to getting a smartphone. When I used to explore the world, it was blindly - I only had my wits and intuition to guide me (and sadly, both are rather lacking!) When I went to my used bookstore and saw this volume, I got a little excited. I knew I had a collection of poetry called "Thunderbird" on my to-reads list, but I wasn't sure who the author was. I didn't think it was Jane Miller, and I didn't recognize this cover. But, it was only four dollars and Copper Canyon put this out, so what could be bad about it?

It turns out that this isn't the book I wanted to read. This book was very slow to start and did not draw me in; I regretted my decision for a few poems, until I reached "Accident." Then I knew I was in for something good. Jane Miller is very talented. These poems are short - sometimes even only one line - and many of them are interconnected. As you finish one poem, you notice a phrase at the end of it is the title of the next poem. Images, themes, and characters slowly shift throughout the collection as well. If handled indelicately, this could create a cheesy, heavy-handed collection. Yet Jane Miller knows how to handle her topics with grace.

This collection deals with death. According to the back it is a eulogy for her parents, but I found it to be a study of death overall. Death is scary and it can be gory, and Miller is not afraid to face it head on. There are some images in this book that are disturbing and will stay in my mind for a long time - her father scratching at the lid of his coffin, a head hacked open like an overripe melon at market - and again, this wasn't overdone or a bad thing. It accurately portrayed how I assume many feel while watching those around us die, or thinking about death. Beyond the gore, I found this collection to be so honest. Miller is not afraid to say that it is not always easy to handle death, that she is stubborn and would like to stay in the now vs thinking about what occurs after death. Overall I really enjoyed Miller's honesty. Her views on death and the afterlife aren't happy ones but they are honest and very compelling.

Again, the style of writing did not draw me in at first. Miller very rarely uses punctuation; in the beginning this was bothersome, but I came to realize that it slowly draws you into the connected nature of the poems. Nothing stops, none of these poems stops when you read the next title on this page, life doesn't stop as neatly as we think it does - all what I took from this book. Her poetry and language can be at times abstract until you've read other parts of the collection, giving you a foundation of the imagery in it. I know this one can be difficult at first but give it some time - it's very good stuff.

[Leonard · Rating 2 out of 5]

I only read the first few pages and then, not very impressed, returned it to the library. However it is published by Copper Canyon Press, a publisher of usually very good poetry, so maybe I just missed the message, or wasn't in the right mood for this poet's work.

[Philip Shaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

When you love these words and how they are out together, are you loving the Poet, too? Jane Miller is a favorite, a wonderful person, a complex poet, and it is difficult to dissect the work from the person. I don't think I need to.

[David Anthony Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

In "Thunderbird," Jane Miller writes a series of poems linked by last line and title and a kind of stream of consciousness rendering of what seem to be stories she has been told as well as her own experiences. She often juxtaposes seemingly unrelated images and tries to rehabilitate stake expressions by their introduction into these juxtapositions. Overall, the book is a modest success; but sometimes the effort is strained. For this reader at least, the emotion did not always feel real or earned by the getting to it.