“No living master is so hidden as Meyer but there’s none whose poems we should read more urgently.” —Peter O'Leary In Essay Stanzas , Thomas Meyer begins modestly by warning the reader: “This won't amount to much.” Each of the four poems in this book follow the imagination of the poet through his attempts to map out the human drama as it's reflected in natural elements. Using myths and fairy tales, the Bible and Shakespeare, silver-screen starlets and ancient love songs, Meyer assembles his influences with true compassion, to aid him in pointing out the mysteries of the physical and emotional world around him. The poet's wisdom shines through at every turn: “My shadow, I used to think / backed me up from behind. / Now I realize / I am my shadow's human shield.” Thomas Meyer lives in North Carolina, at the southernmost end of the Appalachians. His most recent books include Kintsugi (Flood Editions), Translations of Daode Jing (Flood Editions), Beowulf (punctum), Easy Answers: The I Ching (BlazeVOX) and At Dusk Iridescent: A Gathering of Poems, 1972–1997 (Flood Editions).