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The Brier Poems
Poetry. Jim Wayne Miller is a poet of a particular geographical place, yet he sings, he preaches, and just plain talks in a language from the earth. Oddly, this kind of poetry is not in fashion these days, but I think it will outlast most of what is" -Edward Field.
- GenresPoetry
176 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
4 people are currently reading
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About the author
Jim Wayne Miller
27 books5 followersJim Wayne Miller, a native of the mountain country of North Carolina, was graduated from Berea College in Kentucky in 1958 and received his Ph.D. in German and American Literature from Vanderbilt University in 1965. While at Vanderbilt, as an NDEA Fellow, he studied under Fugitive poet Donald Davidson and Hawthorne Scholar Randall Stewart. He was a Professor of German language and literature at Western Kentucky University for 33 years, where he was a member of the faculty of the Department of Modern Languages and Intercultural Studies. He served as a consultant to the Appalachian Studies programs in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio and was a visiting Professor in Appalachian Studies at the Berea College Appalachian Center.
Jim Wayne Miller worked in the Poet-in-the-Schools program in Virginia and directed poetry workshops for several Universities. His honors include the Alice Lloyd Memorial Prize for Appalachian Poetry in 1967, the 1980 Thomas Wolfe Literary Award, the Zoe Kincaid Brockman Memorial Award, the Appalachian Writers Association Book of the Year Award and the Appalachian Consortium Laurel Leaves Award. His books include Copperhead Cane (1964), Dialogue With A Dead Man (1974), The Mountains Have Come Closer (1980), Vein Of Words (1984), Nostalgia for 70 (1986), Brier: His Book (1988), and Newfound (1989).
Jim Wayne Miller worked in the Poet-in-the-Schools program in Virginia and directed poetry workshops for several Universities. His honors include the Alice Lloyd Memorial Prize for Appalachian Poetry in 1967, the 1980 Thomas Wolfe Literary Award, the Zoe Kincaid Brockman Memorial Award, the Appalachian Writers Association Book of the Year Award and the Appalachian Consortium Laurel Leaves Award. His books include Copperhead Cane (1964), Dialogue With A Dead Man (1974), The Mountains Have Come Closer (1980), Vein Of Words (1984), Nostalgia for 70 (1986), Brier: His Book (1988), and Newfound (1989).
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 3, 2017
The Brier, he's a rich man, in so many ways. And we're richer for the reading. And rereading.
June 20, 2019
I love this collection of poetry. Jim Wayne Miller was a treasure.
May 12, 2012
Jim Wayne Miller’s specified collection of “The Brier Poems” carries unique and distinctive undertones that carry throughout.
Written in a sort of free-verse, I at first felt many of the poems were vague, uninteresting, and dark. Maybe this is symbolic of how others perceive Appalachia. Many are about dreams, ideas, visions, and distant memories. The poems seemed abstract, like shadows, but the further I went, the more solidified and meaningful the poems seemed to be.
In the first sections, one of the poems which particularly struck me was “Turn Your Radio On II,” which felt like a sort of segue into remembrances of reality. I’m familiar with many of the pictures it creates and felt at home reading them.
I wondered what had made Miller include the middle section of Brier’s sermon… is it significant that it’s right in the middle of everything? That it’s the longest single segment? That it’s more like a complete vignette than many of the others? What was Miller trying to say through this (Dawkins help us) religious interlude? One thing I especially took away from it was the prayer of, “Lord, help us to see ourselves—and no more.” (Gnomon, pg. 70)
Echoes of real-life stories find their way into the poems through way of selections like “His Mother’s Story,” “Three-Legged Dream,” and “Brier Coming of Age” (which seems to be a lengthier repetition of “Three-Legged Dream”). This is certainly the heart of something Appalachian; telling the stories we’re closest to, whether they be our own or someone else’s. Sharing tales. Swapping lore.
As the book progressed, the more interesting, beautiful, and accurate the poetry directly speaking of Appalachian ways became to me. Poems I found most exact in descriptions of conditions and ways then and now were “Little Lives,” “Names,” and “The Brier’s Pictorial History of the Mountains.” While I found the first two to be pleasantly true and reflecting, the latter was spot-on. The things described in this poem are what really happened, and it’s an amazing feeling to read about it in poetry form from somewhere who knows, cares, and is able to rightly put it on paper. We know it happened, but many times we are left scratching our heads, wondering how it happened. We must know the cause of an illness before we can find its cure, and I feel this is something Miller was edging towards.
On his official website, www.jimwaynemiller.com, Miller is quoted as saying, "Growing up in North Carolina, I was often amused, along with other natives, at tourists who fished the trout streams. The pools, so perfectly clear, had a deceptive depth. Fishermen unacquainted with them were forever stepping into what they thought was knee-deep water and going in up to their waists or even their armpits, sometimes being floated right off their feet. I try to make poems like those pools, so simple and clear their depth is deceiving. I want the writing to be so transparent that the reader forgets he is reading and is aware only that he is having an experience. He is suddenly plunged deeper than he expected and comes up shivering."
That’s what his poetry did to me.
Written in a sort of free-verse, I at first felt many of the poems were vague, uninteresting, and dark. Maybe this is symbolic of how others perceive Appalachia. Many are about dreams, ideas, visions, and distant memories. The poems seemed abstract, like shadows, but the further I went, the more solidified and meaningful the poems seemed to be.
In the first sections, one of the poems which particularly struck me was “Turn Your Radio On II,” which felt like a sort of segue into remembrances of reality. I’m familiar with many of the pictures it creates and felt at home reading them.
I wondered what had made Miller include the middle section of Brier’s sermon… is it significant that it’s right in the middle of everything? That it’s the longest single segment? That it’s more like a complete vignette than many of the others? What was Miller trying to say through this (Dawkins help us) religious interlude? One thing I especially took away from it was the prayer of, “Lord, help us to see ourselves—and no more.” (Gnomon, pg. 70)
Echoes of real-life stories find their way into the poems through way of selections like “His Mother’s Story,” “Three-Legged Dream,” and “Brier Coming of Age” (which seems to be a lengthier repetition of “Three-Legged Dream”). This is certainly the heart of something Appalachian; telling the stories we’re closest to, whether they be our own or someone else’s. Sharing tales. Swapping lore.
As the book progressed, the more interesting, beautiful, and accurate the poetry directly speaking of Appalachian ways became to me. Poems I found most exact in descriptions of conditions and ways then and now were “Little Lives,” “Names,” and “The Brier’s Pictorial History of the Mountains.” While I found the first two to be pleasantly true and reflecting, the latter was spot-on. The things described in this poem are what really happened, and it’s an amazing feeling to read about it in poetry form from somewhere who knows, cares, and is able to rightly put it on paper. We know it happened, but many times we are left scratching our heads, wondering how it happened. We must know the cause of an illness before we can find its cure, and I feel this is something Miller was edging towards.
On his official website, www.jimwaynemiller.com, Miller is quoted as saying, "Growing up in North Carolina, I was often amused, along with other natives, at tourists who fished the trout streams. The pools, so perfectly clear, had a deceptive depth. Fishermen unacquainted with them were forever stepping into what they thought was knee-deep water and going in up to their waists or even their armpits, sometimes being floated right off their feet. I try to make poems like those pools, so simple and clear their depth is deceiving. I want the writing to be so transparent that the reader forgets he is reading and is aware only that he is having an experience. He is suddenly plunged deeper than he expected and comes up shivering."
That’s what his poetry did to me.
February 1, 2016
I am usually not a fan of poetry, but this book has changed my mind. Jim Wayne Miller creates beautiful poetry that encompasses many aspect of life in the Appalachia. His poems are not only gorgeous on the surface, but they are deceptively deep and meaningful. If you are looking for good poetry, I suggest this book!
December 27, 2007
appalachian poetry. a fascinating glimpse into the life of the briers - the heartache and the simple beauty.
August 30, 2016
a book of great cultural importance to my generation in my place in the world...
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews