Reviews
of M.L. Liebler's Work
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“Most poets today only dream of reaching the wide popular audiences that
M.L. Liebler reaches so easily with his work, which is made up of hard-hitting
litanies grounded in history and folk roots. Liebler emerges as a unique and
valuable force in the rebuilding of the bridge between poetry and music. Any
fresh collection of his work is a real event, one to really rattle our seismographs.”
—X.J. Kennedy
These poems by M.L. Liebler fall into righteous extremes—from prayers and
meditations to diatribes and paeans, all grounded in the solid savvy of all-American
working-class roots. Always accessible and ever soulful.”
—Wanda Coleman
“Liebler brings passion and intensity—and his musician’s ear—to
a poetry that reflects the richness of his experience and the power of his heart-held
beliefs.”
—Diane di Prima
“M.L. Liebler writes poetry straight from the heart, expressing universal
themes in a beautiful American way. There is always something new in his verse.”
—Jorma Kaukonen (Jefferson Airplane & Hot Tuna)
“My friend M.L. is a paragon among poets. By this I mean not only as a
skilled navigator through the byways of the heart, but as a poet who encourages
others poets by offering them a platform and an audience. I salute his rare
gifts of enthusiasm and altruism.”
—Father Daniel Berrigan
"From the urban blight
of downtown Detroit to the remnants of tectonic plate shiftings, that is, from
human-made disasters to natural ones, the bet finds beauty in the workings of
nature. Even when nature seems to be destructive, there is beauty. Even when
one is nurtured by a decaying city, there are urges to be elsewhere, and in
that elsewhere is a form of identification."
—Gary Metras, Small Press Review, May-June 2005
"Has Liebler transcended
Detroit as an idea and a theme? Yes. But he has not abandoned them or his roots."
—Gary Metras, Review Revue, Vol 2, Issue 1, April 2005