The Missing Mountain

Whether Michael Collier is writing about an airline disaster, a friendship with a disgraced Catholic bishop, his fathers encounter with Charles Lindbergh, Lebanese beekeepers, a mothers sewing machine, or a piano in the woods, he does so with the syntactic verve, scrupulously observed detail, and flawless ear that has made him one of Americas most distinguished poets. These poems cross expanses, connecting the fear of missing love and the bliss of holding it, the ways we speak to ourselves and language we use with others, and deep personal grief and shadows of world history. The Missing Mountain brings together a lifetime of work, chronicling Colliers long and distinguished career as a poet and teacher. These selections, both of previously published and new poems, chart the development of Colliers art and the cultivations of is passions and concerns.