Read your book The Bitter, The Sweet. So profound, so powerful, so close to the bone for me. My favorite biography I used in one of my books, was that I don't write, I remember. I firmly believe this. I would never dare to compare my early life to the hell you endured, but what intrigues me so much about some of your poems is you seem to be remembering for me, speaking my life as if you were there. The entity that fathered me made it impossible for me to embrace Faith, or any belief in a just and good Creator....I just can't do it, but I read in the kabbalah of the lamedvovnik, supposedly 36 righteous people that exist on the earth every generation in order to justify creation. I'm starting to think one of them stood at a podium and read my words for me a few weeks ago Peace to you Doctor Tammy. Rich
Richard F. king: Author of The Color of Drowning
Hi Tammy, I just finished reading If I Could Only Bottle This. It’s a very wonderful collection of your poems. I appreciate the passion in your poetry, and the questions in many of your poems. Questions, I think, are such a vital part of our journey in this world. Best, Dave
Dave Waxman
Dear Tammy, I opened up to pages 178-179 in your book, Chasing Clouds, and found two poems I believe I understand. "Dragonfly Wings" tells of the conflict women have between wanting a man's love but realizing that in general men do not appreciate the hardships women endure such as miscarriages and child rearing. "I have often wished not to desire a man's touch so much, nor his whispers that entice hope like the sun upon a blossom's bud.” This line reflects the realization that the narrator does desire contact with a man. I googled what a dragonfly symbolizes. According to the internet a dragonfly represents man's search for meaning in life. To fly away on one's wings, particularly a dragonfly wings is to look out and reflect on life's meaning. This is an appropriate title as the narrator is having an interior fight between her desire for love from a man and her knowledge of being not understood at the same time. I already turned to one of the last poems called "Turning." I do appreciate the concept of reincarnation to some degree. I am going to reread this poem and read many of the others today. I have spent some time yesterday and today going over your new book. It is phenomenal!! I have made lengthy remarks about "Altar Boy" and "Main Street." It is a very powerful indictment of organized religion in my opinion. I really enjoy your writing because I understand about 80-85% of the themes of your poems. “While We” is a great poem which, as another poem I wrote about has an ending which is jarring. It lists mundane activities people do during the course of a normal day. "We" go about our daily lives doing things such as taking showers and mowing the lawn. What we do not often appreciate is that in some faraway land or even in our own country our soldiers are dying in battle or in accidents. I really like your poem “Watching Ants.” It speaks of the theme that life goes on despite one's hardships. Ironically, I ate whole wheat spaghetti with clam sauce at LaScala in Commack today before shopping at North Shore Farms. As you end the poem you are correct, the work must continue because humanity must endure. You don't see ants complain they just go about their business, a lesson to be learned. I have been reading your book again. I really like the poem “May” on page 200. I like the concept of poems being equated to living things that occur around the beginning of Spring. Poems awakening from winter's sleep is a great line!! I gather that Russian Olives are a type of flower. "The Lilacs are heavy with buds. Poems ripen. Here, I picked this one for you." I am so sorry to read about the loss of your son. You are amazing how you are able to put into words the experiences you have gone through. I really like the Poem #66 on page 25. It is a very sad account of a grieving mother. I like the line, "I pray to dear death Take me to where he waits, to where the sun is" The sun replaces the darkness that a reunion with the son would bring about. The mother's reunion with the son would eradicate the darkness she is experiencing. If a reunion is not possible, she needs to end her wanderings, her woes and her yearning. Reluctantly she will accept the darkness that a grieving mother must endure. This is a very powerful poem about loss. I think “Company” (for those who know) on page 94 of your Chasing Clouds is one of your best poems. I love the way you make psychiatric diagnoses come alive. I have a touch of anxiety too, I believe. I don't have attention deficit disorder, but I really like the line-"I chase her around, trying to keep up." I think of the line, “With friends like these who needs enemies!!!” Mary
Mary Flatley
Dear Tammy, I spent some time reading the poems you wrote on your website, and they are beyond amazing! I look forward to obtaining your book. I’m in awe of how you persevered after so much heartache. Your words say so much and allow one to understand both the struggle and yet beauty in between your words. Thank you, Sandra Gallof
Sandra Gallof
Dear Tammy, While reading Chasing Clouds I sat immobile, my heart touched by every poem. Overcome by the soul and feeling in each poem, I stopped to reflect before I could read the next. Yet, I was compelled to move on. You are an amazing poet, born to write and teach poetry. You are a gift to the world of poetry. Your spirit emerges from your work. Congratulations on your achievements. I've read your memoir. You are a very courageous woman, having gone through so much, with the extraordinary ability to paint your story with words and share it with the world. You are an inspiration to people. You inspire me. The talent you have speaks for itself. It's a gift. There are tears in my eyes. I can only aspire to write the way you do. Benita
Benita Glickman
I started to dog-ear the poems I liked in If I Could only Bottle This, the 7th poetry publication by Tammy Nuzzo-Morgan; upon finishing, my book was in tatters. Nothing short of a profile in courage, the reader is devoured by the ripeness, boldness, earnestness of this collection. With the control of an architect, these poems are written with trap doors to your imagination. Still lives of intimacy are laced with the torment of acute desire rippling under her and her lover’s hungry flesh. In Desire “searching, reaching, finding leaving fire prints on your soul… Time pauses between tic and toc.” In Slow Dancing “the slow, soft grind of it, the heat rising off the two of you…” The reader is invited deep into her life. She accuses and succumbs, “you are the great white lie.” “the dread of loneliness outweighed my self-preservation.” But, when she’s done, she’s done…”I vomit you out of my past.” When she wants the crap out of her life she remembers “to jiggle the toilet.” Sharing about the loss of one of her children at the age of 17, we learn even more about the inner life of this generous poet. Tammy reminds us in some of her poems that she is a poet; we experience the demands the poet creates on oneself to master her craft. “Poet, try to write a love poem greater than this ride we share.” “…poems sound like prayers…you can hear the hum of humanity spiraling into eternity…” Tammy Nuzzo-Morgan’s poems spiral high and low and will take you on humanity’s whirlwind.
Dee Slavutin: Author of Wingspan Search for Food and Suddenly Deciduous
Dear Tammy I just finished reading FOR MICHAEL. I read it cover to cover. And once I began to read your words, your heart and soul poured out onto paper, there was no stopping, no turning back. I was compelled to go on, trapped in a sorrowful spell while reading this tragedy and feeling a Mother's relentless pain.. wishing for a happy ending even after knowing how this story would end. I do know you better now and I don't have anything to say to you that can make a bit of difference, that may bring your comfort, relief or piece. Just know that the verses are amazing and a tribute to Michael. He lives on in you and I will remember him forever. So sorry Tammy for your loss. Be well Patricia Rispoli Edick Chair of a new group of Celebrated Authors for The Order Sons and Daughters in America