Useful Junk

A master of documentary poetry, Erika Meitner takes up the question of desire and intimacy in her latest poetry collection.

A master of documentary poetry, Erika Meitner takes up the question of desire and intimacy in her latest collection of poems.

In her previous five collections of poetry, Erika Meitner has established herself as one of Americas most incisive observers, cherished for her remarkable ability to temper catastrophe with tenderness. In her newest collectionUseful Junk, Meitner considers what it means to be a sexual being in a world that sees women as invisibleas mothers, customers, passengers, worshippers, wives. These poems render our changing bodies as real and alive, shaped by the sense memories of long-lost lovers and the still thrilling touch of a spouse after years of parenthood, affirming that we are made of every intimate moment we have ever had. Letter poems to a younger poet interspersed throug