The Man Who

Published November, 2005 – Poetry Collection

Tony Abbott’s The Man Who is a shape-shifter of a book, leading us subtly, often slyly, to the edge of sight and then saying, “Look!” When poetry has enabled us to see our own breath, it has fulfilled its promise. It has helped us walk back into our lives.
— Kathryn Stripling Byer, North Carolina Poet Laureate 2005-2009

In the Tony Abbott of The Man Who we have a master puppeteer who works them all. And when you stare into the puppets long enough (as in the Japanese Bunraku puppet theatre) the puppeteer has suddenly disappeared. Each Man Who is alive, just so. The range is amazing. Can you imagine the combined insights, the perceptions at once painful and tender of a John Berryman and a William Stafford? Look no further, Friend. Yes, . . . Light creeps in/ after darkness even when we think/ it never can.
—Ron Bayes, Founding Editor St. Andrews College Press