In the Present Tense: Portraits of My Father

Myrna Stone, the author of The Casanova Chronicles, a memorable sequence that is one of the best long poems in recent years, has moved from Casanova to her own father and chronicled the texture of a relationship as well as the texture of a mind gone to ruin. These conversational sonnets demonstrate the elasticity of a form devoted to love; Stone also shows us that some of our greatest love stories are not the ones we expected.
~ Kim Bridgford
Myrna Stone's "In the Present Tense" is a powerful work not just because it chronicles the last, difficult years of her very elderly father ( in first class sonnets), but because of the sweep she achieves in documenting the orbit of all those involved: from family members to other assisted living patients. It's a breadth that only the best writers can acheive sadness, yes, but also wisdom, fortitude, love, and even humor. As one of the sons whispers to his fading father, remembering the father's love of fishing: "Dad, it's time to catch the big one" so does Myrna Stone catch what it's really like to deal with these tragic circumstances, and who continues to show why poetry, and her poems, are absolutely necessary.
~ Tim Suermondt