Post-: Poems

by Wayne Miller

WINNER OF THE UNT RILKE PRIZE The poems of this fourth collection from Wayne Miller exist in the wake of catastrophe, thrumming with pathos and humor, pain and the beauty of living. Post- coalesces around three primary the birth of a child, the death of a father, and the seeming explosion of sociohistorical and political conflict and violence over the past fifteen years. Its world is one populated by rogue gunmen on shooting sprees, where the only inheritance a father has to pass on is his debt, where a car left in an airport parking lot and the coffee cup inside are more immediate presences of the dead. Young rioters leave chaos behind each evening, returning home to watch themselves on the evening news. The unzipping of snow from train tracks evokes the surgery of a family member. Lovers, drinking wine and rowing on a lake, find joy within and without a system that sees them only as consumers. Beginnings and endings, loss and rebirth, body and in Post- , Miller processes grief, but also cuts through pain, gorgeously and heartbreakingly, to open up a way forward. Winter permeates these poems—and yet spring is always beckoning in the next.

Genres: Poetry

96 pages, Paperback

First published April 12, 2016

Reviews

[Mike Good · Rating 5 out of 5]

Check out my full review at 32poems.com:

"Recent poets Miller brings to mind include Robert Hass and Louise Glück, and perhaps Czesław Miłosz, whose epigraph Miller selects to open the book. Miller has Hass’s self-awareness, Glück’s somber tone, and the tension of public and private life that characterizes some of Miłosz’s work. Post- stands out among many recent collections, successfully retaining thematic resonance while offering a wide range of form and content. Post- offers a unique elegy that weaves a quiet yet pronounced musical tapestry across a variety of subjects and cuts deeply into absence."

http://www.32poems.com/blog/10142/pro...

[Madeline Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Contemplative and reflective.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A stunning collection

[Claire · Rating 1 out of 5]

dnf

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing special

[Louisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am learning how to read entire collections of poetry, paying particular attention to how the poet shapes his/her book (orders the poems, creates sections, etc.). Reading a book in one sitting helps make this more coherent.

I admire the way the Miller has done this in his book--how he has created a whole that holds up. The running metaphors and recurrent themes pop up clearly. Well done.

My favorite poems:
all the Post-Elegies
The Mind Sliding
A Bit about the Soul
Prayers (w/Answers)
Report from the Provinces
On Language
A Breath in the Record
Landings
On Breathing

[D.A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is poetry at its most powerful: instrument of change, defense against the commonplace of mall shooters and hoax bombs, deeply entered wisdom of the body in both birth and dying, and a bastion against loss and forgetting. Wayne Miller’s Post- doesn’t take this century lying down, it is a ringing rejoinder to those who say poetry does not matter.

[Jose Araguz · Rating 5 out of 5]

See an excerpt from this book on my poetry blog, The Friday Influence:

https://thefridayinfluence.wordpress....

Also included in the post is a link to a microreview & interview I did with the poet.

[Katie Avagliano · Rating 4 out of 5]

In place of a review, a quote: "it was a desire to jump narratives - to find himself suddenly encircled by different lights in the distant hills."

[World Literature Today]

This book was featured in the Nota Benes section of the January 2017 issue of World Literature Today Magazine.

https://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/...