Masses on Radar

David OMeara's collection of poems, Masses on Radar, explores themes of mortality, middle age, and the mundane, using sparse language to reveal human failings, the limits of vision, and the paradox of meanings. The collection was shortlisted for the Archibald Lampman Award 2022 and finalist for the Ottawa Book Award 2022.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 112 pages
Publication date: 04 November 2021
Publisher: Coach House Books

Arriving at middle age was a transformative experience for David OMeara, situated at a crossroads between the past and the future, accompanied by doubts and anticipations. It prompted a re-evaluation of past goals, a confrontation with personal loss, and the deaths of his father and friends. These existential presences, though indistinct, are detectable, encroaching upon the narrator's consciousness. At the center of this radar is the lyric "I," sweeping its adjacent experiences.

OMeara's poems, such as "I Carry a Mouse to the Park Beside the Highway," "I Keep One Eye Open and One Eye Closed," and "I Sleep as the Volcano Ash Falls like Snow," transport the reader through thematic corridors of memory, fracture, and recovery. Embracing uncertainty and incorporating seasonal forecasts, humor, trivia, satire, politics, the environment, loss, and the mundane, these poems serve as a detection system signaling a paradox of meanings.

Masses on Radar showcases a remarkable mastery of poetic craft. OMeara possesses the talent and technique to transform almost anything into captivating poetry, yet these poems go beyond mere surface-level observations. They delve deep, bringing to vivid life a diverse range of subjects, experiences, emotions, and interior worlds. These poems evoke everyday encounters, sometimes infusing them with unexpected beauty, and other times introducing new and unexpected complexities. OMeara's sparse language lifts the veil on human shortcomings, illuminating the limitations of our vision and providing a satisfying exploration of the human condition.

The Archibald Lampman Award judges praised OMeara's work, stating that his poems "exhibit a stunning mastery of poetic craft." They noted his ability to turn ordinary objects and experiences into captivating poetry, while also delving deep into the human condition. The judges praised his sparse language, which "lifts the veil on our human failings, the limits of our vision, and in so doing satisfies."

In addition to being shortlisted for the Archibald Lampman Award, OMeara's poetry has also been recognized with a finalist nomination for the Ottawa Book Award 2022. This further showcases his talent and dedication to the craft of poetry.

Overall, David OMeara's Masses on Radar is a testament to his remarkable poetic talent and his ability to capture the essence of the human experience. His poems are a testament to the power of poetry to evoke emotions, explore complex themes, and provide a deeper understanding of the world around us. Whether through the mundane or the extraordinary, OMeara's poetry offers a glimpse into the interior lives of his characters and a reflection of the human condition in all its complexity and beauty.

Dimension: 203 x 127 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781552454268