The Iceworker Sings and Other Poems
In his first collection, Montoya confronts the stark reality of poverty suffered in America by unskilled laborers, especially the Latino community of California. His poems reach out like prayers to those who have "regrets for quitting/ school at 16 for the job at PDM steel," for he knows that these are the people headed for violent realities, as when "the cops came/ and shot him/ 27 times." Yet while Montoya addresses these harsh realities, he brings a tenderness to his work that reflects the tone and style of Pablo Neruda. For example, "Letter to Sarah" ends with this line: "a memory resting in my gut like/ a tear already fallen from the face." Yet the poems constantly return to the graphic details of living in poverty and violent surrounds where "the night always scares you/ ever since they shot Efrain in the face." Through his poetry, Montoya lifts up the dead by giving them a voice; much like Philip Levine, he speaks for those who cannot speak for themselves.ATim Gavin, Episcopal Acad., Merion, PACopyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.