Letter

Dear Tony,
I read your book, Sad Jazz: Sonnets. After reading this, I found that this book is my favorite collection of contemporary poetry. I appreciated that is was a conceptual book rather than the ordinary book of poetry where the poems don’t necessarily relate to each other, although their may be a theme. The few sessions I sat down to read the book came with great ease as the poems flowed from one to the next, giving me an image of who the protagonist and the antagonist (I guess I use these terms because I sympathize with the protagonist) are. No poem seemed out of place or thrown in carelessly. It was obviously well-thought out structurally,with the way in which is was divided into sections. And on a side not, I initially became interested in this book of poems because of the cover; it reminds me of a Matisse artwork.
Specific emotions were re-invented through the book, here are a few: Love, fear, self-esteem (or the lack of it), anger, rage, sadness, yearning, sexual, lust, impassion. I could almost feel all the intense emotions myself while I read the concentrated imagery and tonal rhythms from this book of poems. For example in Spider Women, you write …”and she goes down and can’t boot up, just lies/ in bed in her pajamas, staring up / at cobwebs in the corner, and can’t stop / her brain from spinning, spinning, spinning like / a spider given acid, a mad web.” I can see this image exactly as it is described, however, this is not just an image, this is an image through the eyes of someone who loves the person going through this deep depression/insanity. That, simply, makes the heart swell.
A few other poems that really jumped out at me, where I had to read it a few more times, and even out loud were: Insect Wings, Zombies, Things in the Mirror (The section, “Things in the Mirror” seemed to be my favorite), Screw The Beatles, Bad Drivers, The Ghost Limb, Barbeque, Heart Sushi (this title is my favorite!), Nathan Tells him (What Nathan says reminds me something my mom would tell me). I can honestly say, and this is a big deal for me because I can be very critical, I had no qualms with Sad Jazz: Sonnets. It was heart wrenching, hilarious, thoughtful, and built from experience.

Thank you for sharing!
Dorothy Tunnell