Language Being Time

Some poets live deep back, quietly, in far places, still. I love the poetry of my friend, John Phillips. He is a master of the compressed, cut lyric. Kent Johnson.

John Phillips writes with a precision, balance & grace that calls to mind the very best of Louis Zukofsky's short poems, or Creeley's early period, or Lorine Niedecker's work. At his best, Phillips is absolutely dazzling. Ron Silliman (On Language Is)

These poems have no extraneous cargo, they are tight as a duck's butt. And smart. 

You could write most of these astute and pristine poems on a post-it note and carry it in your pocket for later use. Michael Dennis (on Shape of Faith)

Perhaps Phillips' greatest accomplishment is how he cast out words that create a reality that, nonetheless, evoke that reality that existed pre-words. I am touching quite briefly on the many marvels within the book's pages. I recommend you look for this book and inhabit it for yourself. You'll come out of the experience more enlightened than before you began it. Eileen Tabios (on Shape of Faith)