I am a poet. I was born in Chicago and live in a small town on the Atlantic coast. Over the years, I’ve also lived in New York City, Paris, San Francisco and Washington DC.

time – you know that thing

I thought to pass

I’ve written and/or co-authored a couple of dozen books. My work has been featured in The Norton Anthology of Post-Modern Poetry (first edition), In the American Tree, a couple of Best American Poetry volumes, and 49+1: Poètes Americain (in French translation), among other anthologies.

the older I get

I have to lean in close

to read the writing

on the wall

I’ve taught at three universities and, in a shadow life, I've also started or helped start a handful of Internet technology companies. At other times, I've worked in publishing, taught English as a second language, consulted to UNESCO, and been a short order cook.

All lines run straight

for a while, then veer

to parallel across the

 

perpendicular dream

More about my work and me at www.tommandel.com.

 

As a photographer, I'm a life-long tyro suspended between the indecisive moment and the undecided one.