In the Middle Distance: Poems

by Linda Gregg

A new and resplendent collection by Linda Gregg, whose poems "have the elegance of Greek statuary and the good-humored poise of haiku" ( Poetry ) I finally fell in love with all of
dirt, silence, rock and far views.
It's strange that my heart is as full
now as my desire was then.
―from "Arriving Again and Again Without Noticing" In one poem in this emotional and spiritual collection, Linda Gregg asks, "It is clear why love / took me to the shore of death, / but why did it bring me back?" In the Middle Distance , Gregg's sixth book, explores up to and beyond the crossroads of devastation and desire. There, she finds not only survival but also
salvation―hard-won, resilient, and meaningful. This collection brings Gregg's passion and intensity together with a new wisdom and vitality that is unmistakably original.

Genres: Poetry, Mythology

66 pages, Paperback

First published February 21, 2006

About the author

Linda Gregg is the author of several collectios of poetry: In the Middle Distance, Things and Flesh, Chosen by the Lion, The Sacraments of Desire, Alma,Too Bright to See and All of It Singing. Her honors include fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Lannan Literary Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. She won 2006 PEN/Voelcker Award winner for Poetry and has won a Whiting Award.

Librarian's note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[isha · Rating 3 out of 5]

the second half def carried this, enjoyed all the orpheus/eurydice themed poems. enjoyed the simplicity and earnestness of these

favorites:
trying to ripen
the stories are strenuous
the singers change, the music goes on
the light continues

[Joan Colby · Rating 3 out of 5]

These are quiet poems similar in many ways to Jack Gilbert’s (Gregg’s former husband), though his possess a greater intensity and clarity. Over and over, I wanted to tell Gregg to eliminate the final summing up or declarative line. I suppose when a poet is as renowned as she is, no one dares to edit her work. But many of these poems could use a red pencil.

[june · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

the latter parts was such a saving grace. gregg has such a way with faith and mythology that just translates so well in fragments of her poetry—to write incredibly resonant one liners fuck, i wish i could appreciate some of them as a whole—maybe soon, for now though goddamn... can't wait to read more of her poetry it's just so tantalizing.

"The pleasure in seeing / memory through the failure / of it."

"I like to think this quiet in me / is prayerful."

"The stillness / eating the absence."

"All things silent in my seeing."

"Everything is lost in the retelling / ... / we live in our myth in the recurrence."

"I think of / turning into the things around him."

"When you came to court me / for my body and hair, I was not there."

"Stone does not know it wears out."

"having to match the foreignness of stone."

"We walk up the mountain to relearn
the weight. To keep inside the beloved
When we sleep the universe shifts
and clicks. We memorize each
new image and hide it for safety."

"... i worry
that talking about it will turn
these sentences into words
instead of the experience."

"How to let my heart / split open. to print in clear light / the changing register of this grand world."

[Ice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gregg's poetry is clean and spare, elegant and filled with silence. Not all of the poems in this collection are to my liking, but that's alright. My favorite poem here is Elegance.:

Accurate
and unexpected beauty, rattling
and singing. If not to the sun,
then to nothing and to no one.

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my first exposure to Linda Gregg's poetry, and I can't say her work has won me over. I found about half a dozen poems in this collection that impressed me. The vast majority of the collection struck me as philosophy-lite. Sprinkled throughout were recorded experiences which seemed like travel journalism on Greece and the Western America desert.

[Vincent Scarpa · Rating 4 out of 5]

“if I could get enough
away from people
where there was much more sky
than land
if I could get closer to the light
where there is more light
where most of it is light” — “Mother My Mother”

[Janée Baugher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short poems deplete of interesting languages and images. Unfortunately, I cannot rejoice. Love this writer, but just not a huge fan of this particular collection.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

How does she do it?? I feel like all of us are actually standing on our heads and Linda’s just walking above the cloudline

[Amanda Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

“I finally fell in love with all of it: dirt, night, rock, and far views. It’s strange that my heart is as full now as my desire was then.”

[Karla Deniss · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[martha · Rating 4 out of 5]

So. I started reading this and I thought, wow, these poems really really remind me of Jack Gilbert's, so I googled Linda Gregg's name alongside his, to see if anyone else had noticed the same thing.

.... turns out there's a reason for the similarity, since they used to be married and all. I don't know whether to feel extra dumb for not knowing that, or smug for seeing the connection.

This book actually reminds me very specifically of Gilbert's Refusing Heaven in subject matter: solitude in old(er) age, ruminations on lost love, tight, spare memory sequences. I'm really looking forward to reading one of her earlier books to see how the subject matter and tone differ from this.

There are three very distinct geographies which recur throughout the book: Marfa, Texas; Greece; and little flashes of New York City.

It's probably heresy to say so, but I think I prefer her to Gilbert. Some of her poems (especially those I've read outside this specific collection) are punch-in-the-solar-plexus vibrant. (See Asking for Directions) And this book has amazing lines like this:

[...:] I keep thinking that if I go
alone into the size of this silence, we can
straighten things out. To know what to question,
and what to believe. How to let my heart
split open. To print in clear light
the changing register of this grand world.

[Tiffany · Rating 3 out of 5]

Linda Gregg is a great poet, but this book felt a little more self-conscious than some of her other work. She seemed to be obsessed with writing poems about writing poems, which didn't quite work for me.

[DilanAc · Rating 3 out of 5]

Startling images, and yet I always wanted more. Perhaps they are just too private.
I found it ultimately disappointing although I wouldn't dismiss this poet. There are moments of intrigue, of surprise, of heartbreak that I would love to see expanded on in another collection.

[Gary McDowell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I miss the days of Alma and Too Bright to See.

[Roxanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

F was reading this, and I joined in for the second half. We read it aloud to each other. It's a lovely book.

[Riegs · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like her poems because they're of a good length (not a fan of epic poems), a little harsh, totally sidestepping pretension.