Jeff Brown

The Poet's Longtime Fan (Sometime after the book signing)



Posted: Thursday, February 26, 2009

by Jeff Brown
Inner Projection





You play your jazz, write your poems,
take your brief excursions into prose,
but man, I've been thinking lately,
what about guys like me?
We've stood in line, mesmerized and
stuttering as we forked over cash
to the shrine of your mark.



And the books? Well they feel good,
read good, stir good, like a big wooden
spoon in the slowly congealing Mapo
of my heart. But the remnants of the
read, the sediment of want and need,
quickly turn back into silt-slush,
mud-mush and slime . . .
'What do I do' still rings true after
reading my favorite, my literary
tourniquet, my . . . loveable you. 



Don't get me wrong, your colorful words
magnify experience beyond a dream.
While reading them even I'm brilliant.
But after I close the book I'll be
damned if my words don't turn
even more black and white.



So, my question is . . .
If it's only a temporary fix,
what the hell am I paying you for?
my Pusher Dominatrix.
Jeff is a Career, Life, & Mentor coach & CEO of  www.InnerProjection.com: working with students and parents using the proprietary Success, Design and Preparation system creating a plan to ensure his clients are of the 30% of college grads who don't waste 10 to 15 years or leave 100s of thousands of dollars on the table.

Prior to owning Inner Projection, Jeff worked as a computer programmer and in tech. support, but hated it enough to move from his home in Connecticut to do stand up comedy in Boston where he worked with such comics as Bill Burr, Dan Cook, and Billy Martin and wrote for people like Mz. Michigan who needed material for her ventriloquism act. He then moved to Los Angeles to do more stand up, but found being a coach & college instructor more rewarding. He's married with 3 children.
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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)
» left by David Pekrul
 3 years 58 days ago.
69 fans.
Like anything we read, whether story, poem, prose, literature, we often need to read it again sometime in the future to resurrect the thoughts and images they portrayed. If you're anything like me, you often forget what it was you read and it is indeed only a "temporary fix".
As far as paying?, I'm sure I'll never have a book published, so you can always read my stuff for free. lol
» left by Jeff Brown 3 years 57 days ago.
144 fans. Follow Jeff Brown on twitter!
David,
 
Thanks for stopping by. Actually, my major in college was creative writing / verse,
so I've got a lot published but little people have paid for. Not where the  
money is, anyway, if one is looking to get rich ;=) But the person I refer to  
here has been paid for his work, dearly. Pulitzer Prize winner Charles Simic  
is the man. I saw him read some place on Sunset Blvd. He was not a warm,  
expressive guy in person. Hey, but who is their words on page and in person 
anyway. Few match up. Thanks for stopping by.
» left by Ronyae 3 years 57 days ago.
92 fans. Follow Ronyae on twitter!
WOW ... is all I can type.
» left by Jeff Brown 3 years 57 days ago.
144 fans. Follow Jeff Brown on twitter!
Ronyae, are you responding to my response to David or the poem?
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