Duration

Richard Meier’s second book of poetry, Shelley Gave Jane a Guitar, was published by Wave Books in 2006. His first book, Terrain Vague, was selected by Tomaž Šalamun for the Verse Prize and published by Verse Press in 2001. His book In the Pure Block of the Whole Imaginary was published by Omnidawn in 2012. He is writer-in-residence at Carthage College and lives in Chicago, IL and Madison, WI.

• Contents ActingTiP TOE SOTNecessityThis present tensePasso

"The reader is sometimes jerked into a world subtly or radically altered, with the poem’s subject, setting, or other details changed… The effect is momentary confusion—and delight. Repeated across a book, this device kindles a sense of dream logic, or of daydreaming while ambling with a friend. There is flora, fauna, weather, and domestic detail, yet the poems live in a cerebral space."—Sylee Gore, Poetry Foundation"Meier tracks the near impossibility of inhabiting the present moment by recognizing the brevity of an instant's lifespan alongside the longevity of its consequence. This is the paradox of a plein air practice: the vision is uncatchable, shifting as one reaches for it. ...[t]he reverse is true as well: patience, rehearsal, and endurance will summon the unanticipated image."—Caryl Pagel, Poetry Northwest"Throughout A Duration is the deep image fully realized as the word conjures company—i.e., another person, or at least presence. What transcends the physical more than the relation of the I-Thou?"—Abigail Chabitnoy, The Colorado Review