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Last Psalm at Sea Level

Meg Day (Goodreads Author)

4.53 · Rating details · 93 ratings · 15 reviews

Lovely does not suffice, nor does lyric. Eloquence is only a grasping in the space of ineffable air. There are few words or phrases that do justice to the soul singing its own revelations. That place is where Last Psalm at Sea Level lives, where it is as solid as gold burning itself into light. --Afaa Michael Weaver

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Paperback, 72 pages

Published September 3rd 2014 by Barrow Street Press

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Oct 26, 2014 D.A. rated it it was amazing

The vivid impermanence of the body is like kindling catching, a source of fire for Meg Day, a poet whose fearless heart is tethered to the world. This is a commanding book and a portent for the vitality of poetry.

Especially powerful at its most political, this book is a clarion for social justice in so many ways: "There is a reason//we stand for something. There is a reason we stand up,/do not stand back, stand in solidarity & do not cross/the picket line." Muriel Rukeyser, Audre Lorde and ...more

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Oct 20, 2014 McKenzie Tozan rated it it was amazing

Shelves: highly-recommended, reviewed-books, favorite-books-ever

Writing reviews can be extremely difficult. What’s ironic, though, is that I tend to find greater difficulty in writing a review about a book that I loved, rather than one I was unimpressed with. Perhaps this is because I tend to find some angle of merit in each work that I read—a particular writing technique, the storyline, a character, the research process, etc.—but it’s often much more problematic finding only one or two favorite things to talk about from a work that I love. With a collection Writing reviews can be extremely difficult. What’s ironic, though, is that I tend to find greater difficulty in writing a review about a book that I loved, rather than one I was unimpressed with. Perhaps this is because I tend to find some angle of merit in each work that I read—a particular writing technique, the storyline, a character, the research process, etc.—but it’s often much more problematic finding only one or two favorite things to talk about from a work that I love. With a collection as stunning and powerful as Meg Day’s Last Psalm at Sea Level, I found myself entranced in its aesthetic and emotional range, as well as the sheer breadth of topics addressed. It kept me guessing, reeling at every turn, images staying with me and realizations haunting me as one poem connected to another, their layering. “Powerful” fails to cover this collection.

If I had to choose one or two favorite aspects of this collection, it would be the collection’s range, both in the sense of topic and writing technique. Many collections fall into the trap of focusing on one poetic form (let’s say, couplets) and/or one topic, or theme. While there is nothing wrong with concentrating on one form, or couplets, or doing a themed project, some of these collections begin to feel contrived or forced in their attempt at, almost, hyper-focusing. Day, however, is unafraid to push beyond these potential restrictions and moves through a variety of forms and topics that, in the end, reflect a sort of personal exploration and discovery in relationship to family, sexuality and identity, which unifies, both, the aesthetic and emotional ranges that might otherwise become disjunctive.

Day demonstrates a lovely mastery of lineation, white space, sound and rhythm in these poems, ranging from the short-line, one stanza poem (i.e. “Hymn to a Landlocked God”) to long, enjambed lines split into couplets, indented across the page (“Ghazal for Finally Leaving What Has Already Left”). Her writing is economical and creates a currency that I am aware of, envy, and strive for in my own writing: sharp, almost declarative (certainly confident, certainly demanding) sentences, beautiful line breaks that often create double-meanings in the line or otherwise surprise, as well as memorable and surprising imagery and depictions of God, of the Church, of faith, of family; the list goes on. The ability to do so much with the physical poem on the page, being able to work and twist and bend its limbs and how they feel and taste when rolling off the tongue, or how they appear when they are seen, there is so much here to appreciate—too much to cover in a single review.

And as if the collection did not offer enough by way of writing technique, there is the lack of emotional boundary. As stated previously, these poems largely focus on family and faith, sexuality and identity, and these themes are hardly achieved through the traditional or cliché; rather, they are discovered and refined through surprising imagery and sentiment. A sexualized relationship with God (and the images related), strange nature imagery when retelling family, and recasting oneself as several opposite sex relatives are only a few of the more surprising—and, in the end, absolutely beautiful—leaps that this collection makes. These moments are shocking, cut to the bone, and are highly, highly memorable. Characters on the front porch in oversized clothes, and the direct appeals to God in the title poem, among many other moments, continue to stay with me.

What becomes the most beautiful, the most startling, in the end, however, is this collection’s trials and representations of grief—both as a construct and as an entity. Perhaps what Day has mastered more than anything else is her skill of relating to the reader, presenting concepts and images that feel right to our hearts, whether or not they appear correct on the surface. This ability to relate is what leads these images to be so powerful, so memorable, and what makes these concepts of family and sexuality, etc., such a mainstay, rather than just another representation of the same constructs. If I may for a moment separate Grief and Sorrow as two different concepts, I see the collection largely as a representation of the grieving process, and as an address to Sorrow as an entity. Though not put in so many words, I think this is often how we move through grief, which makes this division all the more appealing, and relatable. While there are undeniably stages of grief, there is also this entity that we may find ourselves addressing along the way—asking why, wondering whether or not we can survive this, projecting memories of the grieved onto this sort of corkboard of process… All of those thoughts have to be pointed somewhere, to someone. For some, that would be a Higher Power; but for others, it may simply be the emotion itself: Sorrow of the body. Whether or not this collection is make an argument for or against turning to a Higher Power, or to Sorrow, is hardly my point; it’s more so this process of dealing and relating to that process, giving it a name and (almost) a face, something (or someone) to lean into when there often appears to be no one else. Like everything else in this collection—the elements of family, the humor, the wit—we’re made to understand pain, to stare it in the face, and what stares back stays with us long after the book is closed.

Really, that becomes the whole purpose of a collection: creating something memorable. That goal is tremendously achieved in this collection, read after reading. It’s stunning, it’s powerful, it’s intensely-composed. . . While this review is hardly exhaustive of this poet’s and her poems’ merits, her ability in range, and her representation of Sorrow as an entity, became favorite focal-points for me as a reader. It’s a collection that I will continue to return to, and a poet I admire and take influence from.

My advice? Read it, digest it, and then read it again.

I’ll be taking my own advice again soon.
...more

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Dec 18, 2018 Amie Whittemore rated it it was amazing

This is a beautiful, heart-wrenching book. Day explores grief's many layers, loss, the multiplicity of selves/identity with syntactical deftness and grace. The poems are full of yearning and stillness, silence and song. A marvelous collection.

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Apr 05, 2015 Sarah rated it it was amazing

Good poet.

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Jan 21, 2020 Dana Sweeney rated it really liked it

For me, this was a lightly mixed bag of a debut that was well worth the read. Day’s best poems are exquisite, and worth reading for. I’m excited to read what Day publishes next and to see how Day’s craft and voice will grow.

The poems sometimes felt more like they were “collected” than a “collection,” which is not me trying to be a persnickety parser of words, but rather to describe the sensation that some poems felt like they did not belong to the whole. There would be several sort of muted, ...more

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May 05, 2019 Sydney | sydneys.books rated it really liked it

Shelves: poetry-free-verse, we-need-diverse-books

Several of the poems went over my head or were less interesting, but the words Day crafts are absolutely gorgeous. I picked this up because one of the blurbs interested me, as Day identifies as transgender and writes poetically about sexuality, religion, and growing up. I loved the writing style but did find some poems to be like force-feeding flowery words down a readers' throat. Would recommend to poetry fans.

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Dec 30, 2018 Jonathan Tennis rated it did not like it

As an MFA student in poetry, I read a lot of poetry books. Usually I can find at least a few poems/lines I enjoy. Not so much with this one. Highlight of the book is that I did not know the word “hiraeth” prior to reading the collection’s title poem.

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Sep 26, 2018 Erica rated it it was amazing

Incredible! Seeing Meg read is even more powerful, and I hope in the future there will be more readings available online.

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May 05, 2018 Logan rated it did not like it

Shelves: one-and-a-half-stars

1.5 stars

In my last review, I noted how happy I was at the fact that another book of poetry with such a high average rating lived up to its name. However, this review is different. This book was a slog for me, and despite the compelling subject matter presented throughout the book, I just couldn't get into this. My favorite poem, "To Cancer, If That Is Your Real Name," lies more than halfway through the book, so getting to it itself is already a slog, but for it to be the only poem that actually ...more

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May 31, 2016 Lynn rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-in-2016, poetry

I enjoyed the poems in this book. I like to read a few poems every day, so it takes me a long time to finish a book of poems.
This book touches on many interesting themes, death, intimacy, meditations on the body and on violence.
The writing is lovely and there are many powerful images in this book.

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Apr 07, 2015 Michaela rated it it was amazing

Shelves: poetry, favorites

Those ampersands...

& everything else.

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Jul 24, 2015 John rated it it was amazing

excell---the future of the gender odyssey...

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Nov 06, 2015 Susan Mccarty rated it it was amazing

A gorgeous, painful, profound book; my "heart open like/cracked blacktop, expanding in the sun."

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May 07, 2018 Sarah rated it it was amazing

Stunning, challenging, heart-breaking, gorgeous work. I was reading it on the L and almost missed my stop -- that never happens.

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About Meg Day

Meg Day

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Meg Day is the 2015-2016 recipient of the Amy Lowell Poetry Travelling Scholarship, a 2013 recipient of an NEA Fellowship in Poetry, and the author of Last Psalm at Sea Level (Barrow Street 2014). Selected for Best New Poets 2013 and winner of the Publishing Triangle’s Audre Lorde Prize in Poetry, Day has also received awards and fellowships from the Association of Writers & Writing Programs, ...more