Things I Might Have Said
By John Brand
()
About this ebook
An erudite poetry collection of deep, resplendent, proportions.
PERFECT FOR ANYONE
Documenting half a century of a man’s journey, it urges readers to never give up. Replete with a lifetime of romantic yearnings, political commentary, and quiet thoughts, this book speaks to everyone via the countless parts of the human condition. Most importantly, it’s never afraid to laugh at life.
THE BEST COLLECTION
#TIMHS - Comments + Praise + Reviews - TIMHS#
“I was like most, totally uninterested in poetry. I humbly admit I was wrong. After reading this my mind is completely changed. I now see poetry for what it is - a puzzle of words. Every single word needs to be perfect, seamlessly moving the metaphor while maintaining structure, rhyme, and rhythm. I BEG YOU TO GET THIS BOOK! Even if you have NEVER read a single poem in your entire life, you will be happy. This collection is full of laugh-out-loud, edgy humor (or humour as he would spell it) and deep insights. When at my worst this gave me a boost.
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND!”
—Anonymous Online Reviewer
“I first met John in Ogunquit, Maine. I spent time in England and thought I knew the “Brits” - turns out, I only knew “some”. When he asked me to critique his upcoming book of course I said “YES!” I enjoy criticizing John in general, but, being busy, I kept putting if off. What a mistake - it’s a revelation! Opening the book at random is to have a conversation with John. His turn of phrase is perfect.
Poetry was NEVER like this in school!”
—Kent Bridges, Managing Director of the Ogunquit Playhouse
"This volume by the irrepressible John Brand is a work of love and dedication. Each poem is a well-crafted gem, the rhythms and rhymes honed and polished, the turns of phrase masterfully rendered, the arguments cogent and solid. The messages conveyed — often mischievous and playful, sometimes...even sweetly sentimental — tug at the reader...provoke thought, and invite reflection.”
―Margaret Wong, PhD, Professor of Literature & Composition"
“I’m a believer now in the power of poetry. Brand’s masterful poems are a true force of reckoning! Through his compelling words, he captures the mundane and boring qualities of life and transforms them into a gorgeous emotional symphony. Brand beautifully engages his reader on a deeply personal level.”
—Jane, Online Reviewer
"Brand's poems are humorous and often moving. I very much admire his "argument" for the Augustans not only in its wording but its tone and elegance. His lyrical poems recall [John] Betjeman and [Philip] Larkin, and there are of course echoes of [Tony] Harrison's earthiness. The range of form and tonality works very well, shifting seamlessly from high language to demotic. For a lover of a well-turned line or a surprising rhyme, there are any number of real pleasures here. This is a fine collection, I think.”
—Mark Bates, PhD, Professor of English
@About the Author@
John Brand is professor emeritus of English and an award-winning poet. Growing up in Sheffield (United Kingdom) surrounded by the prejudice of the time and with his strong northern Yorkshire accent, he was unable to attend University and instead completed an engineering apprenticeship. Turning back to college in his late 30s, he completed an English Literature and Linguistics (Honours) degree from the University of Sheffield. Moving to New England (Worcester Massachusetts) he furthered his education at the renowned Clark University and received his Master’s degree in 1996. Retired since 2017, he now spends his time reading, writing, and traveling with his wife.
ISBNs
•ISBN (Print = PaperBack): 978-1-7343017-0-0 (9781734301700)
•ISBN (eBook = PDF): 978-1-7343017-1-7 (9781734301717)
•ISBN (eBook = ePub): 978-1-7343017-5-5 (9781734301755)
•ISBN (eBook = Mobi): 978-1-7343017-3-1 (9781734301731)
John Brand
John Brand is professor emeritus of English and an award-winning poet. Growing up in Sheffield (UK) surrounded by the prejudice of the time and with his strong northern Yorkshire accent, he was unable to attend University and instead completed an engineering apprenticeship. Turning back to college in his late 30s, he completed an English Literature and Linguistics (Hons) degree from the University of Sheffield. Moving to New England (Worcester Massachusetts) he furthered his education at the renowned Clark University and received his Master’s degree in 1996. Retired since 2017, he now spends his time reading, writing, and traveling with his wife.
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Book preview
Things I Might Have Said - John Brand
Copyright © 2019 - John Brand
Foreword| Copyright © 2019 - Margaret Wong
Praise| Copyright © 2019 - Kent Bridges & Mark Bates & Margaret Wong
First published in 2019 in the USA
AXOXA
99 Wall Street #531# New York NY 10005
ISBN (Print = PaperBack): 978-1-7343017-0-0 (9781734301700)
ISBN (eBook = PDF): 978-1-7343017-1-7 (9781734301717)
ISBN (eBook = ePub): 978-1-7343017-5-5 (9781734301755)
ISBN (eBook = Mobi): 978-1-7343017-3-1 (9781734301731)
www.johnbrand.online
BOOK
1st
EDITION
Contents
Dedication
Foreword
Introduction
A Short View of the Immutability and Propensity of an English Sage
I Am Not
Thursday Afternoon
Fruit of My Loins
Bowden Wood
The Four of Us
April
Albert McGraw
Block
All Hallows’ Eve: For Electa
The Kids on TV
AnnaBelle
The Sheffield City Council Charity Option
The Terrorist
You and Minnie and Me
Evolution
Questions
The Magic Pen
Refectory
Trivial Pursuit
Cellular One
Clive Ponting
Donkey
Esprit D’escalier
Fading Away
The Poet’s Lament
Failings
Block II
Government Warnings
Haworth Moor
Iambic
Insobriety
Internal
Santa Claws
Boxing Day
Longford
Maggie
Meadow
Naiveté
Nostalgia
Out of Sorts
Paradox
Reflections on Wilfred Owen (The Send Off)
Resistant
Rochdale Canal
Schooling
Sensitivity
Shell
Soldier
Sonnet of Exposure
Sonnet of Perspective
Soviet Socialist Republic of South Yorkshire
The Final Straw (from Consequences)
The Flight Decked
Rochdale Canal Revisited
The Football Fan’s Prayer
The Royal Wee
Tunnel Vision: An Alternative Perspective
Unemployment
Angie
Apocalypse When?
Symphonic
The Everest
The Embrace
Imagery
Reflections on Lake Windermere
Pariah
Just My Luck
The Triumph of Cynthia
or The Light at the End of the Tussle
About the Author
For Kristina, without whom,
none of my writing makes any sense.
Foreword
by Margaret Wong, PhD
T
his poetic volume
by
the irrepressible Professor Emeritus John Brand is a work of love and dedication. Each poem is a well-crafted gem, the rhythms and rhymes honed and polished, the turns of phrase masterfully rendered, the arguments cogent and solid. The messages conveyed — often mischievous and playful, sometimes cheeky and needling, bordering on insult, occasionally serious, even sweetly sentimental — tug at the readers’ emotions, provoke thought, and invite reflection.
Take, for example, The Four of Us
. The piece is short, only 16 lines of alternating iambic tetrameter and trimeter. It tells the story of one whose touch causes various body parts of creatures to fall off. First, it is a dog’s ear, then a cat’s tail, and finally a bird’s wing. On the surface, the poem is a joke with the punchline found in the final line directing the reader not to shake the narrator’s hand, lest, presumably, one of his body parts fall off. The meter used (the limerick meter, beloved by salty sailors and children alike) is suggestive of a bawdy ditty especially if considered in the context of Albert McGraw
a poem about an 83-year-old and his young bride. Yet, because The Four of Us
comes immediately after Bowden Wood
a poem about the destruction of nature to serve the progress
of Mankind, a more serious message emerges. The Four of Us
illustrates the destructiveness of humanity’s interaction with nature’s creatures. The narrator’s touch causes the dog to lose its hearing, the cat to lose its balance, and the bird to lose its flight. Despite these life altering injuries, none responds with surprise or anger. Instead each creature in turn joins the narrator for a drink and a stroll in the park and then proceeds to wander the land with him, all now members of The Four of Us
club, steadfast companions in the narrator’s journey through life.
What The Four of Us
captures and presents is the nature and essence of relating and relationship. We harm (transform) those we touch, but they don’t know it or they forgive us and in turn they become an inextricable part of us, making us feel incomplete without them in our lives. This is a theme returned to again and again in this volume. April
expresses a litany of examples of incompleteness or loss of wholeness that result from how I am without you
. Block II
yearns for fate to bring me back to you
. And Cellular One
spells out the emptiness I feel within my soul / Not seeing you, not feeling really whole
. These poems recognize that relationships are never merely casual. They affect us deeply, leaving us feeling bereft and lost when the relationship’s absence is inflicted on us.
The poem in this collection that perhaps best comprehends this complex insight is