Terrain Vague

At first the title seems unfortunate for a book of poems. You begin reading the poems and realize, indeed, many are vague in a way that distances rather than engages you. But if you persist you find the poems, especially when taken in small groups, are quite rewarding. They are moody and analytical (which I like) and after a while they take on a mythical quality. Two things deterred me (slightly): The poems fall back sometimes on the old stand-by, irony, and sometimes they begin and end with descriptions of scenes and of seemingly slight actions occurring within the scenes, and naturally we are supposed to assume that something momentous is underway, but sometimes it is difficult to get just what that something is. The poems are very subtle. Yet these are small complaints and I recommend this book esp. for advanced readers of poetry. Looking forward very much to the poet's next.

Richard Meier's Terrain Vague is a collection of whirls and lucid dreams. Wonderful writing, this collection, winner of the 2000 Verse Prize is surprisingly his first. What did I especially like? A particular fearlessness in the language. I enjoyed the unexpected resounding sounds I heard in the rain from "Dear Letter": "The innocence you gave me on a platter I recognized,/ the head that follows self into the river,/baptist, narcissus, thank you./ Your veils are green and fill the trees/in Tuscaloosa/ where I see myself not seeing you/ in the delicious caper of a rain that came and went or comes and goes. The applause is famous/..."And the tightest of word play, as in the "on" in "Going To Be":"Missing the bus was how it expressed itself/on me, the sun on me, and the bus missed/ both as itself and the expression of the split world where I wasn't when I chose to be/..."Definitely a worthy and lovely read I plan to return to repeatedly.

A work that is riveting. Peronal, raw and engrossing. Poetry for those who need to be reminded or instructed as to what 21st century poetry is and can be.