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Andrew Benson Brown has had poems and reviews published in a few journals. His epic-in-progress, Legends of Liberty, will chronicle the major events of the American Revolution if he lives to complete it. Though he writes history articles for American Essence magazine, he lists his primary occupation on official forms as ‘poet.’ He is, in other words, a vagabond.
December—not April cruelest, nor June In moon—must be the most romantic month, Why else make men of snow, or gods...
On Consecrated Ground Moses on the Mount; Exodus 3-4 Moshe, a Hebrew truant from His resident Egyptian land Committed...
Brian -- yes, I think "or pulse as starlight flares" would be absolutely right. It gets rid of "quasar" and…
Mary Jane, this is a wonderful translation of Rilke's original German. I love how you maintained the rhyme-scheme and the…
Wow! Very impressive, and imaginatively creative, translation feat!
Good advice Nathan - totally agree.
Thanks Margaret. Speaking of Langston Hughes, it’s an endless fascination to me that my (and many other people’s) two favorite…
Great job Andrew! Poetry via video is the best way for the general public to consume poetry. We cannot live on the page in a community that doesn’t read.
Thanks, Michael. Yes, video is a passive medium so people can watch a visual interpretation of the poems without having to put in the work. Though I think in your case, more people actually read the poem than watched it! Because it approaches close to the 60-second maximum time limit for shorts, people tended to swipe away, which hurts the algorithm. But at least it is up there for people to find!
I really enjoyed these readings Andrew. Wonderful poems, perfect reading speed and entertaining inflection. Thank you.
Glad you like, Norma. This is merely the first installment in a campaign I am doing to promote SCP folk. So expect one of your poems to be on the channel eventually! Poems that take less than 40 seconds to read are ideal for this format.
Wow, what an honor it is for all of you whose poems were chosen to be read! Congratulations!
I’m combing through the site and queuing up poems. Experimenting with very, very short poems right now have been looking at some of your recent maxims. So keep a lookout.
ABB, you’re a very creative and multi-talented young man! I know how much time, effort, and tech-savviness this requires. Very impressive – great job – great selections – will anxiously watch for more. 🙂
Thanks, Mark. My tech-savviness, as you call it, is largely trial-and-error learning. Whether for short or long-form content, the necessity of adding captions and switching up slides a lot to maintain interest translates into about an hour’s work of worth for every thirty seconds of video. So it took me about two hours to do Michael Pietrack’s “Mistress.”
When it comes to the recitation of poetry, you have that “je ne sais quoi”. Your cadence and intonation are always spot on. Have you had training in voice or dramatic arts? If not, you’re fortunate to possess this natural talent.
I’ve put on a few plays with a local drama club, but I have no training. A few times when I was a substitute teacher, I filled in for the drama teacher and the students mistook me for a professional actor. So it’s one of the handful of things I have a knack for, none of which includes what the average person would call a ‘practical skill.’
Agreed Cheryl – very fine readings indeed; and a great production too! Thanks ABB!
Thanks for all your support, James!
To all: if you click on the logo at the top left corner of the video, it will take you to my YT channel. If you go to the ‘shorts’ category, to the right of ‘Home’ and ‘Videos,’ you can see some more recent readings I’ve uploaded. In any case, Evan is posting them in chunks here, there is just a lag of several weeks.
You have a fine reading voice, ABB.
Thank you, Paul. I am no Laurence Olivier, but it is passable enough for YouTube.