Professor reads poems in packed theater

Cynthia Duncan / The USD Vista

USD’s own professor of poetry and creative writing, Dr. Jericho Brown, presented his poetry as part of this year’s Cropper Series. The theater filled quickly and people sitting on the floor had to be led into an overflow room this past Friday.

Brown read 11 poems from his book “Please,” the design of which is meant to remind the reader of a music album. In addition to the jacket resembling an album cover several poems are titled as track numbers and the book is divided into three sections Repeat, Pause and Power, with the single word Stop on the page following his final poem.

During the question and answer session after his readings, Brown said that when creating poetry “the metaphor is music…you manage something on the page so readers can hear it come off the page even though the voice isn’t there.” He feels that reading poems aloud is an integral part of understanding and exploring poetry. “I don’t understand poetry that’s not meant to be read out loud,” he said. In terms of rhythm, Brown thinks that rigid iambic pentameter or similar structured rhythms are not always the best choice, explaining, “you don’t always need to know what is going on…you just need to find the sound and go with it.”

Brown noted that at a music concert a performer may sing several types of songs, but they are all united through the same voice.

The poems are not ordered by means of emotional growth or age, but instead the speaker may be, for example, age 16 on one page, 42 on the next, and then 30 on another. “I’d much rather you be thrown back and forth, [rather than] okay, now he’s 16. Now he’s 17. Now he’s 18,” he said.

The first poem that Brown read is called “Prayer of the Backhanded.” Each word was read with a slow emphasized beat and with a calming, pulsing voice: “Not the palm, not the pear tree/ Switch, not the broomstick,/ Nor the closest extension/ Cord, not his braided belt, but God,/ Bless the back of my daddy’s hand.”

Without bitterness or anger in his voice, but rather compassion for the attacker, Brown recounts sore images of beatings. The poem ends with a powerful request for God to “Help me hold in place my blazing jaw/ As I think to say, excuse me.”

When asked if he concerned about his work getting back to his parents and wether this affects his writing, Brown inhaled and said, “I’m a special case. I’m not sure if this is lucky or sad, but I never grew up with the impression I would stay in contact with my family when I was grown.”

Brown then explained that he would be moving on to some of his persona poems, that is, poems that are clearly not written in the voice of the poet. “Which is funny because I never know which of my poems aren’t persona poems,” he said.

When questioned about how truthful his poems are, he responded, “I don’t really stick to anything actual in poems. I’m much more interested in emotional truth. If I was interested in facts, I would have become a journalist, I guess.”

One of his persona poems is titled “Track 5: Summertime” and is written in the voice of a young Janis Joplin. Brown read it with a slightly higher pitch and a southern accent. The poem explores a young girl’s torture at the hands of bullies which leaves her jaded: “God’s got his eye on me, but I ain’t a sparrow./ I’m more like a lawn mower…no, a chainsaw.”

For another of his persona poems, titled “Scarecrow,” Brown arranged for select students to stand up in the audience and perform certain lines with him. He thanked his students for their “willingness to be here” and joked, “well I guess it’s not so willing since I made them.”

When asked about teaching creative writing, he said, “You ask students to embarrass themselves. And fail. And fail in front of people they’re probably trying to make love to or something…and that’s a lot for me to ask of somebody.”

He mixed sincerity with humor throughout the evening. It was clear from audience reactions that this mix is part of the reason he is adored by students and faculty. “Teaching is not nearly as important to me as mentoring,” he said.

“Please” is available for purchase online at jerichobrown.com.