Tony Tost

Tony Tost Poems

Tony Tost Biography

Tony Tost (born 1975) is an American poet, critic and screenwriter. His first poetry book Invisible Bride won the 2003 Walt Whitman Award judged by C.D. Wright. Tost was born in Springfield, Missouri, and raised in Enumclaw, Washington. He is a graduate of both Green River Community College in Auburn, Washington and College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Missouri. Tost graduated with a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Arkansas. He also holds a Ph.D. in English from Duke University. He is the founding editor of the online poetry magazine Fascicle and previously a co-editor and co-founder, with Zachary Schomburg, of Octopus Magazine. His poems and essays have appeared in the literary journals Fence, Hambone, Talisman, Mandorla, No: a journal of the arts, Denver Quarterly, Typo, American Literature, Jacket, Verse, Open Letter and elsewhere. In 2011, Tost's book on Johnny Cash's American Recordings was published by Continuum Books in their 33 1/3 series on classic albums. Critic Joshua Scheiderman wrote that Tost's book "ultimately belongs in the long, rich tradition of texts like Constance Rourke’s American Humor: A Study of the National Character (1931) and Greil Marcus’s The Old, Weird America: The World of Bob Dylan’s Basement Tapes (1997), ostensibly academic studies of American culture but also works of mythopoesis in their own right." Tost writes for the A&E television series Longmire. He currently lives in Los Angeles, California.)

The Best Poem Of Tony Tost

I Am Not The Pilot

I am not a pilot and do not have
the technical knowledge or training
to analyze complicated data.

I am not a pilot but I did spend
22 years keeping those AF jets
repaired and ready for flight.

I love to talk about aircraft
and about our Lord.
Since I am not a pilot
(I only drive my Mustangs)
I am wondering if this data is correct.

I have always been fascinated by aircrafts
(and cars...) but I am not a pilot myself.
I am not the pilot.
Please do not ask me those questions
as I am not part of their operation.

Although I am not a pilot
I've talked to a few seasoned professionals.
I am not a model nor an actor.
I am not a pilot nor a teacher.
I am not an athlete.
I, Nicholas Gurley, am not a pilot.

I've studied all of the books,
so I know the basics of hurling
large metal cocoons filled with people into the sky,
but I have not taken the test
that allows me to take over the controls as of yet.

I do, however, know about pilots.
I am not a pilot and I never asked for your message.
I think what pilots do is wonderful.
I am not a pilot, but would be interested
in helping out in other ways.
I would have a hard life as a pilot.
I could only kill in self defense.

I am not a pilot, so I guess I don't understand
that whole 'brotherhood'.
Q: You are a pilot? That is SO cool!
A: I am NOT a pilot.
Since I am not a pilot, I really cannot comment.

Mr. XXL does not know me; else,
he would have known that I am not a pilot.
I do not play Russian Roulette with airplanes,
or otherwise; I value my life.
No, I am not a pilot.

When I take off within the airplane
and feel beneath my feet
that lonely piece of the ground
mysteriously flying in the sky,
my only desire is to leave it ASAP
and fly 'on my own'.
I know how my parachute works
but know nothing about the strange sounds the airplane makes
sometimes,
what those dozens of airplane indicators mean,
what the pilot is thinking.
I am not a pilot but I am: [Select an option]
How realistic the sky is,
I just can't say, since I am not a pilot.
I am not a pilot, and I cannot assert anything with 100 percent
certainty.
Who's in charge then?
I am not a pilot.
I am not the pilot and I do not own the plane.
I am fairly proficient in martial arts, but I am not a pilot.
Repeat after me, 'I am not the pilot,
I will not attempt to fly the ship.'
Folks I am not a pilot and therefore
I am not at the glamorous end of the sword.
I have no feelings for the machine.
I know what pilots look like.
I am not a pilot but I am beginning to understand the pilot's cause:
it's the same one we all have.

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