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More of the Old Poet
I especially like this photo becausethe nudes seem to be springingright out of Tom’s head! How long has Tom Montag been working away at his The Old Poet Says series? A couple of years? I can’t remember when I read the first of these poems—but what does that matter? The voice in them comes from very far back, from some resonant paleolithic cavern, though the details are Midwestern contemporary.Read More
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Reminder…
Every once in a while I like to remind you faithful Perpetual Birders that Tom Montag is out there, writing little infinite poems* like this one.Read More
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Big Poetry Giveaway 2011—Results!
There were 19 entrants for the Perpetual Bird Big Poetry Giveaway 2011. I arrived at the two winners by pasting all the names into this list randomizer and picking the two names that appeared at the top of the resulting randomized list. (Drumroll….) The winners are: Tom MontagRebecca Reid Congratulations! I’ve emailed you both to see what your druthers are regarding the winning volumes.Read More
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More Lines for January 10
Morning at From the Ground Up after Tom Montag’s “Lines for January 10” Above the subzero gustscasting handfuls of grainy snowagainst the coffee shop’s windows,this flowing-floating voice liftsone last long-held note, and faces downturned overthe day’s news tilt upward—allsuddenly alive with an inner light,drifting off on the sun-dappled waterof Linda Ronstadt’s “Blue Bayou”.Read More
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Recognitions
Today Jonathan Mayhew at ¡Bemsha SWING! offers a fond glance backward at 2006 as a year of stimulating comment box disputes, while John Latta brilliantly deconstructs Ron Silliman’s faux scholasticism while examining The Library of America’s edition of Poe’s Essays and Reviews. I admire both of these writers but prefer Tom Montag’s “Lines for November 17,” which captures my own mood of late. Montag, it seems to me, does what poets are supposed to do: he embraces and articulates recognitions that matter.Read More
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No Better Way to Start the Month…
… than with this wonderful piece by the indefatigable Tom Montag.Read More
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Red Tail
The hawk James Wright famously watched from a hammock has alighted in this haunting poem by Tom Montag.Read More
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Tom Montag In the Zone
For several weeks now Tom Montag has been writing “in the zone” about poetry on is blog The Middlewesterner—the process, the purpose, the inside and the out of it. Today’s Montag post is especially resonant.Read More
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The Middlewesterner
I just wanted to note that I’ve added a new destination to my Recommended Links list: Tom Montag’s The Middlewesterner. Montag is engaged in a daily (almost) minimalist notational project (now that ought to make the Ph.Ds take it seriously) that I think deserves attention. He cultivates openness and Zen-like in-the-moment insight: better than a strong cup of coffee in the morning (or a stiff drink).Read More