the woman you write poems about

by danielle (dani) montgomery

My stories / don t always sound so sweet, says Danielle Montgomery in one of the poems herein. She s right. Tales of fugitive relatives, destitute swindlers and dangerous families populate her work. Writing bad checks and using denuded credit cards, Montgomery shows us what happens when the second paycheck in paycheck-to-paycheck goes missing. She shows us the effects when basic needs are denied. And her poems insist on reminding us that this too , is America, not American literature and that the line drawn between us and them is a fiction, a lie we tell ourselves to keep ourselves safe. But none of us, as Montgomery s work shows us, can ever be truly safe as long as we are human. --Daphne Gottlieb, from the introduction In Danielle Montgomery s poetry, faith rides shotgun with hopelessness, and at the last minute grabs the wheel, dropping us off at our salvation. --Thea Hillman

Genres: Poetry, Disability

76 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2009

Reviews

[Craven · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is everything that poetry should be, stories and thoughts that couldn't be easily conveyed in another medium. It's passionately honest and unsparring. Dani's poetry speaks for the impoverished and the downtrodden. For instance, single mothers overwriting checks at the grocery store with their kids or else on the phone with their social workers trying to get welfare. There are poems about a mentally-ill mother (who just might be her) having homicidal thoughts about killing the children she truly loves. This volume reveals a landscape of damage that is the America we live in, whether it's talking about watching the Obama election in the psych ward or the homebum pissing on the wall outside her apartment, “I loved the sound of him pissing/in congratulations/yes congratulations/we have lived through another night.” If there is a lower class she is in it. Her poems are spare and short but they stick with you. This is legitimate, real gut-writing. Whatever it takes to be a great poet and to redeem the medium from all the bullshit context it's picked over the years, she's got it. Hopefully, she won't be ignored and overlooked like the truly disenfranchised usually are.

[Brynaleh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an incredibly moving book of poetry that exposes the dark side of motherhood, the joys and struggles of a life with mental illness, the spiritual and emotional ramifications of the mundanities of daily life as a woman and mother, and the ways that we hold on to our dreams despite lives that try to take those dreams away from us. Very accessible writing - Good even for those who don't tend to like poetry!

[Neelanjana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautiful, beautiful heart-wrenching book of poetry about motherhood and struggle and love and so much more. I found myself moved and surprised and delighted over and over. The series of poem dedicated to mothers who killed their children has stuck with me because of it's humanity and love.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am biased by friendship, but this is one of my absolute favorite books. It's been a long time in the making. Filled with brutal honesty, wry humor, and unabashed faith. i heart dani.

[Victoria Law · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are actually not poems for kids even though I'm reading them to my daughter. You may want to peruse them before you read them to any kid(s) in your life.