The circumstances from which this third collection emerged were difficult. The resulting poems, however, are as clear and pure as water from its source. There’s pain here, yes, but also exuberance and joy. In one sequence influenced by Japanese forms, the poet shows his skill in compressed understatement. But Richard Meier's style has always been to make much from little and to find beauty in plain speaking. He even dares to write from the heart.
MISTAKEN
Like someone in a coma
who, near the end, wakes up --
so too were we.
And, as is common with such patients,
what came to be our final moments
were spent in greeting ..
touching one another,
smiling, laughing --
relief's green repertoire.
It's called 'terminal lucidity', I'm told --
that which awakens, opens
as it prepares to close.