Ghost Lights

by Keith Montesano, J. P. Dancing Bear (Editor)

The poems of Ghost Lights are ambitious and multi-textured narratives and lyrics, are steeped in the lore of cinema and pop culture, and above all seem to dwell in those liminal places where adolescent longing gives way to a hard-bitten and grown-up spirit of elegy. Keith Montesano is a tough and relentless poet, whose craft smanship is as impressive as his stance. Ghost Lights is an exceptionally noteworthy fi rst collection. -David Wojahn "Where // did this world / come from, and how did it appear?" Following Larry Levis, Keith Montesano discovers those fugitive moments when one life becomes another, when our angels arrive or depart. Ghost Lights presents a difficult and necessary vigil that enlarges the body of contemporary elegy, a welcome debut. -Jake Adam York Love, death, art, the love of art-glimpses fl ash past, shards assemble into mosaics of passion and pain, and the past won't steer clear of present. Keith Montesano's arresting Ghost Lights illuminates in its glow a vision of heartbreak and heroism, a rescue from the burning building and every other trap "somewhere between innocent // and harmful." This insightful poet imagines in lyrical beauty the terror and fascination of consuming flame. -Lisa Lewis Within Ghost Lights, the striking first collection by Keith Montesano, are all the elemental violence and fi re and sex, in service of the sublime. Unafraid of ambition, free of pretension, these poems hold on to the heart and they thrill, and enthrall, and, long aft er one has read them, they haunt. -Paul Guest

Genres: Poetry

80 pages, Paperback

First published May 15, 2010

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Flipping through the pages of Ghost Lights by Keith Montesano, one will soon discover that Montesano is the master of the elegy, a poem written in mourning. Yet, there is nothing melodramtic or sentimental about his elegies. Instead, Montesano presents a series of quiet vigils, where the poet contemplates the state of the world. This may seem like a tall order for a slim book of poetry -- but Montesano is successful.

Not that all of Ghost Lights' poems are elegies. Montesano is from Western Pennsylvania, (where I am from), so many of my favorite poems in this collection are rooted in place. "Watching Youngstown," for example, opens with "The chopper's scanning fields and woods beside me" before the narrators goes back inside to watch "skewed mug shots on television/local Youngstown news: raped girlfriend, duplex//cored from arson, a son shooting his mother". In the midst of such debris and chaos, the poet asks himself: "How do you escape a home in flames?" Another poem, "Going Home" the persona describes an all too familiar scene for those of us from the Rust Belt: "Now, outside Hempfield Park, black/clouds rift suddenly before smoke finally clears, and only/once to beg this shred of light, enough to see//the few families still left, running from fallen brick, wind/swept ash, collasped floors after lovers danced..."

Well, I realize that I say this about a lot of first collections, I have to say it again: Ghost Lights is a wonderful read -- one that makes me look forward to the poet's new collection.

[Gary McDowell · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exemplary collection by the young and supremely talented Keith Montesano. The poems collected herein explore the pscyhological, spiritual, and physiological repurcussions and limits of elegiac speech, poesy, rhetoric, and shape. The poet, while in control of his world and the life he spins from the crumbs of love and death, never--and yet always--succombs to the beauty of language and image above all else. A must read for all poetry fans. Buy your copy now!

[Mark Stratton · Rating 3 out of 5]

On a technical and craft level Montesano assembled a fine collection here. I find no fault whatsover with the his poetry on that level. In fact, I know I'll return to this book for that reason.

What I will have problems with and what got under my skin was the themes of the collection. It was depressing as all get out. And I get that life is often depressing, that sometimes we tend to view the world around us and the tragedy's far too casually. It's true. And Montesano does a great job of pointing that out, and shoving our faces in it. Which bothers me.

Elegy after elegy and focusing on the worst the world has to offer made for a discomforting read, and ultimately left me feeling melancholy. If the point was to make me think, I believe that Montesano failed for me, because I do my damndest to not be so jaded, so cynical, so quick to brush off the sheer volume of tragedy life brings our way. Because that is the lazy way out, to my way of thinking. So, the conceit or theme of the collection fell on hard ground for me.

Oh, and he broke bad on Neil Peart. Not a good thing to do.

I would recommend this collection to anyone who wants to improve their craft. Because Keith Montesano's poetry is well made and worth studying. As I said, I know I'll come back to this book for that very reason. I just won't enjoy so many of the poems due to theme.

[Caseypegram · Rating 5 out of 5]

I come to Keith Montesano's work through cinema, rather than poetry, as I'm versed much more in the former. Anyone who loves the delicate natural beauty of Terrence Malick's films will be at home here - but Montesano's work is also rooted in something darker and more elegiac, a perpetual sense of tragedy and loss interwoven with visual splendor. A wonderful first collection.

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lyrical and vivid. Mostly elegiac or catastrophe-related. Warning: if, like me, you are full of anxiety and tend toward bad dreams, you should read this during the day and not right before bed .