Miss Liberty's Monologue and Meditations

Miss Liberty's Monologue and Meditations is a book of poems and images reflecting American conflicts over gender roles, cultural politics, and our relation to the natural world. There are seven poems in the collection, one with twelve sections each printed over a color image by the author. The poems were originally drafted during the energy crisis of the 1970's, when President Carter urged the nation to begin serious efforts to conserve energy and assert some control over our consumer culture. The themes and observations contained in the narratives and images resonate powerfully with the concerns facing the nation in 2022 and beyond.

The book's narrative involves a character who refers to himself as Lump, who has brought himself as an out-patient to a mental facility in the mountains of North Carolina. Here he befriends a long-term resident, an aging woman who refers to herself as Miss Liberty. The poems contain his record of his conversations with Miss Liberty, including transcriptions of her elaborate accounts of her dream life. In addition to the narrative poems relating her longer dreams, there are twelve shorter pieces - almost like haiku - which provide Miss Liberty's images of meditation. These are printed over full-color reproductions of abstract watercolor paintings that support reflection on the poem's implications and meanings.

While the images of meditation offer one approach to the book's themes, these reflections are contextualized for the reader with the other poems which give Miss Liberty's back-story to illuminate the grounds from which the meditations have grown. While the book offers thoughts on political and cultural issues, it also remains sensitive to the human realities of its main characters. Given current political and cultural upheavals, Miss Liberty's dreams seem all too relevant to contemporary life.