Powers and Boundaries

Thomas Reiter's new book of poems demonstrates faith in the ability of the human voice to shape memory -- its powers and boundaries, freedoms and limitations -- into enduring form. A variety of speakers and locales flourish on these pages, including invented, historical, contemporary, and familial figures, and settings in the New Jersey Pine Barrens, West Virginia coal mines and Idaho silver mines, prairies, Mississippi River Valley, and islands of the Caribbean. The voices herein, many of them marginalized, passionately define themselves in the face of elemental forces as well as a personal and cultural past. Their stories form an interplay of impasse and minor epiphany; botanical lore grounds their lives. The language of these poems reflects Reiter's trademark clarity, authenticity of tone and detail, and aptness of expression but also reaches a new level of wit, urgency, and descriptive power.