"the light insists on itself in the world..." —Lucille Clifton
Jessie Brown’s poetry has been called lyrical, prophetic, sensual. Her poems speak “in language fragrant with a sense of necessary truth” (Alicia Ostriker), and “stunning in its clear perfection” (Naomi Shihab Nye).
from LUCKY
What does it have to do with you, really?
Put to bed the dream of what
you make—a name, a fortune, a child.
Hang the sweet washed clothes on the line.
Learn to love rain, and drought.
To give, to receive, which
is more full of grace?
* * *
She's the author of two short collections, What We Don't Know We Know, with Finishing Line Press, and Lucky, winner of the 2011 Anabiosis Press Chapbook competition.
She publishes poems in local and national journals such as the Comstock Review, Cider Press Review, Willows Wept, Friends Journal, Ibbetson Street Review, Thema, Full Bleed, and others, as well as translations from the Spanish in the American Poetry Review. Her work has also been anthologized in Gathered, a collection of contemporary Quaker poetry (Sundress Publications).
She also works in interdisciplinary fields, including her own collaborations with musicians, artists, and galleries, as well as leading community programs with poetry in public art.
from LUCKY
What does it have to do with you, really?
Put to bed the dream of what
you make—a name, a fortune, a child.
Hang the sweet washed clothes on the line.
Learn to love rain, and drought.
To give, to receive, which
is more full of grace?
* * *
She's the author of two short collections, What We Don't Know We Know, with Finishing Line Press, and Lucky, winner of the 2011 Anabiosis Press Chapbook competition.
She publishes poems in local and national journals such as the Comstock Review, Cider Press Review, Willows Wept, Friends Journal, Ibbetson Street Review, Thema, Full Bleed, and others, as well as translations from the Spanish in the American Poetry Review. Her work has also been anthologized in Gathered, a collection of contemporary Quaker poetry (Sundress Publications).
She also works in interdisciplinary fields, including her own collaborations with musicians, artists, and galleries, as well as leading community programs with poetry in public art.
