We the Jury

Miller (The Book of Props) presents a series of complex public and private reckonings in this ruminative outing. Though a speaker defines the poet as one with a “miniscule economy/ simply no one understands,” Miller’s writing is more concerned with curiosity, and the act of attempting to understand over being understood. In a world in which “not one of us/ will truly understand what we have done,” each poem wrestles with paying witness to death, love, grief, and belonging to a nation: “So many of the structures/ we lived among—that shaped/ our days—belonged to the war.” Miller’s poems skillfully enact the thoughts of individuals, each with his or her own complexity and grace. Though Miller writes that “in the end so little was revealed,” these entries candidly showcase the complexity of human contradictions, and the many forms of grief, doubt, and joy on offer. Moving between specific moments in history and ripe lyrical musings, these poems embrace the unanswerable, offering a deep and satisfying look at selfhood. (Mar.)