Like most publishers, we at Brick Road Poetry Press list submission
guidelines on our website. Additionally we go beyond the guidelines
to include lists of "characteristics we like" and "characteristics
we dislike." In Damnatio Memoriae, the winner of the Brick Road
Poetry Prize, Michael Meyerhofer gives the impression of having
gone down that list to check off each item one by one with almost
every poem in the collection. As to the characteristics we dislike,
he avoids them all including no "intentional obscurity or
riddling," no "highfalutin vocabulary" or "lack of recognizable
theme or topic." Without a doubt, these poems reveal wise insights
on the human perspective, but never at the cost of being overly
serious, scholarly, or mysterious. The reader of these poems faces
no risk of boredom-quite the contrary. Imagination and a beguiling
tongue-in-cheek tone are the trademarks of Michael Meyerhofer's
poetry. His work hits all our "like" buttons as it speaks in "a
coherent human voice," though not always his own or the one you
might expect, but one with "a sense of humor" that uses "words and
language as a] springboard for playful exploration." In many of
these poems, the speaker possesses an inquisitive mind with an avid
interest in history and even pre-history, fueled by the Discovery
and History channels, Google searches, and museums. These poems
dramatize a mind capable of straddling centuries, combining in the
same breath an ancient scene with a contemporary evaluation, as
when in the title poem, "Damnatio Memoriae," we encounter a Roman
"slave/who fell from a twine-wrapped ladder/that OSHA would never
condone." Such use of anachronism strikes us as both clever and
funny. In "The Original Swastika," we're guided briskly through
history, spotting the association-laden symbol in cultures as
varied as the Romans, early Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, Navajos,
and finally, "on the hoods /of German sedans." This whirlwind tour
succinctly reminds us that the meanings of symbols morph over time
and across cultures and that our recent memories and associations
tend to obscure the resonances assigned in prior eras. His persona
poems conjure speakers from worlds we know and from worlds we wish
we knew, and every scene, setting or experience is depicted
intensely with concrete imagery and drama. At first blush, "Dear
Students," appears to argue for the conceit that writing poetry
today rises from the same impulse that produced Stone Age cave
paintings. Yet the poem does so much more than simply propose a
comparison. It actually delivers a vivid experience from the point
of view of a Paleolithic hunter, as if to say poetry is about
beauty, guilt, and survival. Although many of these poems pursue
history, the contemporary perspective and the everyday moment are
not neglected. In "For Tanya, Whose Fate Remains Unknown," the
speaker receives a phone call about "bad news" concerning a
daughter he doesn't have. The surprise of the erroneous call sets
off a poignant daydream of what peril the "daughter" Tanya might be
suffering, and then an even deeper imagining of memories that might
be slipping away from Tanya as she bleeds. These poems wake you up
with their surprising twists, with the intensity of their speakers,
and with the inventiveness of their lines and concepts. Sometimes
these poems even risk offending the reader by tampering with
archetypes, as in "Hansel's Redemption" where the question of what
ever happened to Hansel and Gretel is answered with a scandalous
narrative. As you may have guessed, Damnatio Memoriae easily
asserted itself as the winner of our inaugural Brick Road Poetry
Prize. We're proud to be publishing it and further encourage you to
seek out Michael Meyerhofer's other books immediately. Keith
Badowski & Ron Self Brick Road Poetry Press Columbus, GA
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