My City in Portrait & Song

About the Book

The American City is the subject of the first section of this unusual collection – an intense, meaningful combination of industry and emotion the commuters and the high-rise apartment dwellers have never seen. The poet goes to the heart of a great city, to the “little” people whose energy keeps it moving and alive. With tremendous force, with humor, with clarity and perception, he reveals the

. . . Giant Man lined with copper nerves,

Old Man river surges through his veins.

His organs are volcanic pots cascading

      molten stew,

Presses pounding utility,

Registers ringing revenue.

The poet turns with ease to a variety of moods and themes, from pure fantasy to melancholy reflection on the past to delightful humor. This is something in this collection for everyone, and not merely because of variety. Each poem has an emotional impact which cuts through superficiality and rationalization, leaving the reader with the universally understood essence of experience.

About the Author

A Most Extraordinary Author

            J’Tone has held a variety of jobs in several areas of the world. He travels when the spirit moves him and obtains work for the value of the experience rather than the pay. He has written and worked in an Ontario logging camp; an isolated farm in Red Cloud, Nebraska; on a fishing trawler out of Aberdeen, Scotland, among others. He has been a highly successful businessman as well as a member of the hobo commune on the Kansas prairie.

            During his 3 years as a fire fighter at Engine 27’s (a very active, heavy duty outfit) J’Tone often ran shotgun on Rescue I. His observations here provide the material for the poem, “Rescue Call,” to be found in this volume.