Description

Identities and realities sweep over us in Meagan Lehr's exciting debut collection of poetry, reminding me of Virginia Woolf's waves of language, except that Lehr's monologues are sparer, more enigmatic. Patches of conversation, reminiscence, and conjecture hang in the air tantalizingly, as time itself does in these sea-crossings. Her references to ships and telegrams might seem from another era, but they're made current by an original, staccato rhythm. A tale of unrequited love on the high seas? A mystery tucked into a postmodern poem? A linguistic tour de force? Letters whose correspondents must be teased out by the reader? One thing's for certain: this is exciting poetry. -Jane Miller