“Poetry’s Powerful Possibilities” with Billy Brown

A Review from Dr. Dezember’s View

What IS a life of joy?

Billy Brown, featured Creative at Creatives in Conversation on Wednesday, June 1, 2022, chose the title of his presentation to be A Life of Joy : )

With anticipation and admiration, I am eager to hear what Billy has to say.

Multi-talented, open yet rather mysterious, Billy shares some of his thoughts about life and joy in his poetry, in the introductions to the anthologies he has edited, and even in his bio (see his bio below).

His writing shares his wit, kindness, achievements, family, love, and the greatest pain.

Billy’s skill in subtle poetic epiphanies and his love for music are perfectly illustrated in his poem "anger," which is "after Sonata for Solo Violin by Paul Hindemith.” Excerpts follow, but I encourage you to read the entire poem:

anger with himself

....

anger that he must drive insanely

...

arriving only moments before

he goes on stage with his viola to play

his unfinished sonata

missing the most important, most lyrical

most hauntingly yearning denouement

which he nevertheless

recreates perfectly from memory

even more divinely than if

he had caught his train and

written in all down

in precious peace

—by Billy Brown, from "anger" published in Fixed and Free Poetry Anthology 2015

Billy’s writing offers light-bearing stars: these are the many stars that make up the constellation of Billy—father, beloved, singer/music lover, baker, mathematics & statistics educator—all shining in his poems.

Some examples follow:

let me be light
upon you
that you are free
without constraint
or judgement
that you may
fly away
and someday
choose to
return
or not
as you wish

—by Billy Brown, from “Fare Well” published in Fixed and Free Poetry Anthology 2018, page 61

apple leaves
hundreds of apples
small, glossy, green
lavender buds
some to become
lavender brownies
rosemary shrubs
exploding with aroma
tall sunflower stems soon to burst
with radiant suns

…

hidden hands of my beloved
create again and again
our miraculous, abundant garden

—by Billy Brown, from “Miracles in my Window,” published in Fixed and Free Poetry Anthology 2021, page 137

As I dressed this morning
I checked the labels on my clothing
to see where they were made
and thought:
how many people have died of COVID-19
in those places?

I’m already in Stafford briefs, having slept in them
desde Honduras (8,527 deaths)

I slather into my arm pits Arctic Edge deodorant
made by Degree for Men in the USA (643,112 deaths)
put on a dark blue polyester polo shirt
from Turkey (53,891 deaths)
purchased in Lithuania (4,471 deaths)

I step into my blue jeans, being careful not to stumble
hecho en Mexico (250,469 deaths)
tuck in my shirt, buckle my brown leather belt,
from China (4,636 deaths)
…

This morning I put on
a total of 1,133,432 COVID-19 Deaths

—by Billy Brown, from “Putting On the World (4,428,562 Deaths), COVID-19 death data on August 22, 2021” published in Fixed and Free Poetry Anthology 2021, pages 142-143

the stream vibrates each object
each soul it encounters
which, in turn, resonates
in its own unique voice
with this divine excitation
eventually, in one universal harmony
activating every molecule, every
atom, every soul in the universe
now living, or departed,
or yet to enter existence

each soul to sing its part
in a universal
gigue of joy

—by Billy Brown, from “stream, after Suite No 3 in C Major for Solo Cello, Johann Sebastian Bach” published in Fixed and Free Poetry Anthology 2015, pages 24-25

She jumps with joy
scampers across the green
into her father’s arms
receives a big hug
of congratulations

…

I thwart my tears
   stifle my sobs as
my daughter will never again
   jump with joy
   giggle her satisfaction

I’ll no longer hug her
   in congratulations

Twenty-five years ago
When she was eighteen
Elizabeth died in a car crash

—by Billy Brown, from “She Made It!” published in Fixed and Free Poetry Anthology 2021, pages 138-139

Billy’s Gift to Others

Building local, regional and global poetry community is Billy’s stellar gift. I mean here “gift" such as in a special ability and “gift” as in something he gives to others.

He builds community by being a poetry champion: he is the organizer of the Fixed and Free monthly poetry series, which he began in 2008. Running a reading series of featured and open mic poets that extends for hours each month now in its fourteenth year requires true dedication.

Additionally, to date, he has edited and published six poetry anthologies, four of which are collections as annuals—2011, 2015, 2018, 2021—and two of a new series of quarterly anthology journals.

All anthologies are of poems by poets who have read at the Fixed and Free series, either as featured readers or in the open mic, and are selected by the editor Billy.

Formerly, the anthologies featured mostly local poets since readings were in person in Albuquerque, New Mexico. However, when the reading series went online in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the anthologies have expanded to include poets globally.

Interest in Billy’s Fixed and Free series and the location of the poets has grown each year.

The 2011 anthology features 144 pages of poetry by 79 poets.
The 2015 anthology features 318 pages of poetry by 97 poets.
The 2018 anthology features 425 pages of poetry by 113 poets.
The 2021 anthology features 765 page of poetry by 136 poets.

These are incredible feats, and especially by someone who, as he states, hated poetry for many years.

The Greatest Pain and “Poetry’s Powerful Possibilities”

Billy explains his move from poetry-hater to poetry-lover in this way:

How does someone who hated poetry for over thirty years end up writing an introduction to a poetry anthology?
Mr. Austin was teaching a unit on poetry in eleventh grade English. He read a sweet poem, perhaps by Robert Frost, about a small bird flitting from tree to tree in the forest. To add sound effects from my seat in the back row, I whistled a few gentle trills. I thought I was hidden behind a large football player and would not get caught.
Of course I was caught and kicked out of class for three days! No big deal, except that Mr. Austin ordered me to move my desk into the hall outside his classroom. As students went in and out of the classroom I was jabbed in the chest, clunked on the head or otherwise ridiculed, adding to my punishment. I emerged from this humiliating experience with an intense dislike for poetry.
For the next 35 years I had no interest in poetry…Poetry was not going to play a part in my life.
A few weeks after my 18-year old daughter Elizabeth was killed in a single car accident in 1996, I stood in tears at my mother’s grave in Michigan and scribbled on a napkin my very first poem, a grief poem…
I was amazed at the intensity of my feelings, and I was astonished by the enormous relief produced by this outpouring of words. In a matter of 30 minutes, my distaste for poetry was suddenly transformed into a deep gratitude for poetry’s powerful possibilities.
—by Billy Brown, from Introduction, Fixed and Free Poetry Anthology 2011

Yes, open yet rather mysterious (there is no photo of the mystery man in this review, another example of Billy putting himself in the background to highlight everyone else), Billy is unassuming and modest, creating joy in tirelessly promoting the poetry of others.

Who IS this mystery man—Billy Brown?

What IS a life of joy?

When does he ever relax?

Where can you join the Fixed and Free readings?

Why the name Fixed and Free with a bicycle identifier?

How does he do it all?

Find out the answers to these questions and more on Wednesday, June 1, 2022 at Creatives in Conversation!

Join us to see Billy and to hear what he has to say about “A Life of Joy!”

From the Divine Studio: Creatives in Conversation
featuring

Poet Billy Brown
presenting—

A Life of Joy ... :-) with Billy Brown

Wednesday, June 1, 2022

5:30 pm MT

Register in box at the bottom of this page or find out more here:

Find Out More About Creatives in Conversation Here

Mary Dezember’s collection of the four annual *Fixed and Free Poetry Anthologies*, edited and published by Billy Brown. Photo by Mary Dezember

About Billy Brown

Billy Brown came to poetry late in life, after hating it for 35 years, having been humiliated in a HS English class. He began writing poetry of grief twenty-five years ago, shortly after the death of his daughter Elizabeth, in a car crash at age 18. In time his poetry turned towards happier themes such as love, celebration, nature, beauty and political activism. For 15 years Billy has organized and hosted Albuquerque’s monthly Fixed and Free poetry readings, producing four Fixed and Free Poetry Anthologies 2011, 2015, 2018 and 2021 and recently publishing the inaugural issue of Fixed and Free Poetry Quarterly. Billy has chosen to live a life of Joy … with poetry, singing, mathematics/statistics education, baking/catering, UNM faculty union leadership and family activities.

He holds a PhD in Mathematics from Dartmouth College and has taught/tutored Mathematics at the HS and College levels for 35 years, interrupted by a 12-year stint working at Intel in various automation positions. His son Alex (40) and daughter-in-law Lake live in Los Angeles with their two daughters Nevada (6) and Dusty Rainbow (1); he has not yet seen or held Dusty Rainbow due to COVID. Billy lives in Albuquerque with his gardener sweetheart Sandi, their cat Annie and her son Aaron’s music recording studio. Billy still occasionally weeps for Elizabeth, and every new day is another opportunity to be Joyful!

Bio provided by Billy Brown

You can contact Billy about his reading series and anthologies at his email:

welbert53@aol.com