Kevin Miller is a Tacoma poet who taught in Washington state public schools for 39 years. He has appeared in numerous poetry publications; “Spring Meditation” is his sixth volume of poetry. Miller, who was a Fulbright Exchange teacher in Denmark, is well known among Yakima-area poets and has many close friends in Yakima.
Miller was scheduled to give a reading at Inklings Bookshop in 2020 just as the pandemic lockdown began. So, a lot of us missed out on knowing about the collection “Vanish,” which was published by Wandering Aegus Press. The poems in “Vanish” cover subjects like family, marriage, children and the past. They’re about our personal history, and what has vanished.
Now, two years later, Miller’s latest collection, “Spring Meditations,” has been published. Miller will have an overdue poetry reading at Inklings Bookshop at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 21 where he’ll be reading from “Spring Meditation,” a collection of baseball poems. MoonPath Press approached Miller with the suggestion that they publish a poetry volume of his baseball poems that were part of his previous collections.
If you enjoy fine poetry, and (or) if you like baseball, then you will enjoy Miller’s latest book. His poems are about his life as a young catcher on school teams and on local baseball leagues. There are poems about playing with his father, other family members and friends. There are poems about famous players from the past. The Seattle Mariners and their players are mentioned in a few of the poems. I think there is much for fans to enjoy.
I was asked which was my favorite poem in the book. I’m not sure — can I pick 10?
• “Vanish” by Kevin Miller was published by Wandering Aegus Press in January 2020. It retails for $18.
• “Spring Meditation” by Kevin Miller was published by MoonPath Press on April 1. It retails for $11.
• Sue Domis works for Inklings Bookshop. She and other Inklings staffers review books in Sunday’s Explore section every week.
