Cricket Legend

This poem was published in the 2009 version of The OWL (The Ohio Wesleyan Literary Journal)


Cricket Legend

They said he was great
Fast bowler, great batter

Today he searches the streets
For food and cigarette butts.
His face is scratched, muddy and strained
People stare at his yellow eyes
Twisted, uncombed hair
Claws for hands
Twigs for feet

Those who remember him
Remember how fast he could throw that ball
Hit it out of the stadium.
Could he start all over again?
Does he ever think of this
while digging through the garbage for breakfast?



Simon Phillip Brown

Calabash Book has Diplomatic Status

The book I was published in (So Much Things to Say) will be put into multiple libraries worldwide. The Gleaner Article explains more and they mention my name in the article.


http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20110918/arts/arts2.html



Much Respect goes out to Justine Henzell, Kwame Dawes and Colin Channer for giving me this opportunity.

Date with Destiny

Date with Destiny

By Simon Phillip Brown


Destiny’s eyes
Looks at me, then she smiles
Speaks with a voice pure like Destiny’s Child’s
It caters to me
And later you’ll see
There is no stopping what was meant to be
You see, for me, I love being free
Hand in hand on my date with Destiny
You know what’s in store
But you’re not quite sure
Like Jay-z said you’re caught in the ‘Allure’
And you take each step as if you are about to graduate
To a life so sweet sort of like granulate-
-ed sugar
Life gives you obstacles but you’re a pusher
Because determination and dedication
Carries you to your Destination
After the work is done
Kick back and let it happen
Because love is deeper than the words you’re rapping
It’s deeper than the pages you write on
It’s like a war and each song is the soil you fight on
But the sun comes out after the dark night’s gone
And all I need in life is this damn microphone
So you can try to chain me
But I will get free
And I block shots that you might shoot at me
Because you can’t stop what was meant to be
You can never stop my date
With Destiny.

Scars: Starfish

I plan to write a series of poems titled Scars. One of the poems in the series is titled Starfish. The theme is based around kids in Jamaica who have various Scars and how each scar tells its own story. The poems will be fictional but influenced by true stories that I have been told. I performed this poem at Middlebury College's Bread Loaf School of English. Check the video at the end.


Scars: Starfish


Yo, how yuh get dat scar?

Two boys look at his scar
as if it were a work of art.
he looks back at them,
then touches it.
Right above his lip,
runs his fingertips through the grooves.
It has a dip in the center
with five points like a starfish.
They ask again

How yuh get dat scar dawg?

His mind flashes back to the pain.
Was it when his stepfather swung the hot frying pan at him
and hot oil bubbled
on his face and chest?
Or was it the ring that gave his lip a bloody kiss?
He remembers the pain and the look on his stepfather’s face,
but what made the scar?
He looks at them and says

I doh know.

Publications Update

Just an Update, in the past year I have had two pieces of my work published in two separate books. The first one was a short poem titled 'Bully' in The Calabash Poetry Anthology "So Much Things To Say". The second is a short story titled 'Sand and Soil' which was published in The Caribbean Writer recently.

If you desire you can order So Much Things to Say on amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/So-Much-Things-Say-International/dp/1936070073

You can get a copy of The Caribbean Writer Volume 25 here:

http://www.thecaribbeanwriter.org/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=6&Itemid=4&limit=20&limitstart=0&vmcchk=1&Itemid=4


It was an honor being published in both books because my work is alongside many noteworthy writers, such as:

Mutabaruka
Michael Ondaatije
Linton Kwesi Johnson
Derek Walcott
Natasha Trethewey
Robert Pinksey
Kwame Dawes
Colin Channer

Edwidge Danticat
Opal Palmer Adisa
Kamau Braithwaite
Kei Miller

and many other talented writers.


I would recommend it's purchase not only because I am in it, but because they are great to read.

Birds ft. John Milton Oliver

Birds
Simon Brown and John Milton Oliver

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm - Koo-Ka-Ree, Koo-Ka-Ree

When I fly across the sky you can’t see my wings
Even when you swarm me, I can’t feel your stings
Even when I’m calm I have pain within
You not listening closely you can’t hear me sing

When I blink across the sky I flash the red eye
It’s like life reminding what it’s like to fly
Sometimes clouds open and the rain pours down
I try to stay up above the world as it drowns

I have Jamaican dust in my lungs
From flying through a city of lusting and guns
Where it’s too hot to wear fur coats and leather
So I bathe in the rain to get smoke out my feathers

I’ve been three years now in this bird life
I met this Jamaican singing rhymes real right
His tongue has a taste for nectar sweet
He lets it sip sap with the speed of wingbeats



So I escape to the mountain
Peck on bread and drink water from a fountain
I see another bird in tree just lounging
I sing to him and he said ‘Yo bird why you shouting’

Don’t need to be so severe in the mountain air clear
Especially considering the singing’s so near
And though I might make a lovely shape in the sun
In this mountain mathematics four wings make one.

You say four wings make one but im a solo bird
In Jamaica when I sing I am never heard

Bird I know it’s hard to build a nest for yourself
But don’t forget how your song builds worlds of wealth
I’ve seen your peaceful wings: Green, Gold, and Black
Colors you gave me that I’ll never give back.

I spent my whole life being a rebel
But right now I’m gonna make my bass go with your treble

I’m a Jamaican hummingbird with smooth vibrations
And a High Meadow Blackbird – vocal sensations.

Brushing off the Dust

The website will be back in full effect very soon. :) #thatisall

Simon Phillip Brown

JCDC Award

A few weeks ago I got a JCDC Certificate of Merit for a short story I submitted called 'Informer fi' Dead.' It is a story I wrote in college and edited recently for the competition. It is my second JCDC Certificate of Merit, I recieved one in 2008 for my poem 'Dance with Gwen.' Since the story is 18 pages long, I uploaded it to a site and the download link is available below if you would like to read it. My mother, father, and my two aunts Maxine and Nadine attended the ceremony as they have done for the past two years. They are a big part of my writing success and I thank them. More poetry on the way soon. :)

Informer Fi' Dead Download Link : http://limelinx.com/files/125a5a6b676f92391550e1cd56cd6b97

The Children Worship Pt. 3

Voices

Lips rejoice,
throats scream
tonsils Shiver
tongues slap and flicker.

Words are emotions,
sounds are spiritual vibrations
of the vocal chords
that have no care
for letters or language.

It moves to the rhythms of the heart.
Not a monotonous bump
but a musical fingerprint of the soul
giving the spirt an identity
that can never be visualized.
As it beats the congo on eardrums
and lives in the bloodstream.

The Children Worship Pt. 2

Tears

Who knows what leaks
from the eyes of children.
The salty pain that drips
and boils on the trembles of their lips.
Wishing that the doors to their past
could be closed like eyelids.
Unable to flash memories like repetitive blinks.
Each blink making the eyes heavy,
causing it to overflow,
becoming empty and purified.