Pardon My Rhetoric

by Alan Britt



Well, why not?

The only thing stopping me
are the stars
& they’re too far away
to worry about.

Is/are leaves bruises
along the forearm.

Is/are trashed the fourth hurdle
& ended tits up.

Is/are crawled to the finish line, though.

Rumor has it that zebra smoke
curling a Christmas tin ashtray, attached,
smoke that is, attached to hand-cranked
London Shag, nose down, minding
its business, rumor has it
that this browsing broodmare
inched her way past splinters of moonlight
while migrating oboes & French horns
long enough to loosen the lining
around one’s brain.

The only thing stopping me, I say,
are the stars
& they’re too far away
to worry about.





Alan Britt read poems at the World Trade Center/Tribute WTC Visitor Center in Manhattan/NYC, April 2012, at the We Are You Project (WeAreYouProject.Org) Wilmer Jennings Gallery, East Village/NYC, April 2012, and at New Jersey City University's Ten Year 9/11 Commemoration in Jersey City, NJ, September 2011. His poem, "September 11, 2001," appeared in International Gallerie: Poetry in Art/Art in Poetry Issue, v13 No.2 (India): 2011. His recent books are Alone with the Terrible Universe (2011), Greatest Hits (2010), Hurricane (2010), Vegetable Love (2009), Vermilion (2006), Infinite Days (2003), Amnesia Tango (1998) and Bodies of Lightning (1995). Britt’s work also appears in the new anthologies, The Robin Hood Book: Poets in Support of the Robin Hood Tax, by Caparison, United Kingdom, 2012; American Poets Against the War, Metropolitan Arts Press, Chicago/Athens/Dublin: 2009 and Vapor transatlántico (Transatlantic Steamer), a bi-lingual anthology of Latin American and North American writers, Hofstra University Press/Fondo de Cultura Económica de Mexico/Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos de Peru, 2008.

Politically speaking Alan has started the Commonsense Party, which ironically to some sounds radical. He believes the US should stop invading other countries to relieve them of their natural resources including tin, copper, bananas, diamonds and oil. He is quite fond of animals both wild and domestic and supports prosecuting animal abusers. As a member of PETA, he is disgusted by factory farming and decorative fur. In addition asks, please boycott Ringling Brothers Circus until they stop using and abusing elephants for their bizarre form of entertainment called the circus!


Alan currently teaches English/Creative Writing at Towson University and lives in Reisterstown, Maryland with his wife, daughter, two Bouviers des Flandres, one Bichon Frise and two formally feral cats.

Links:
http://www.poetrysuperhighway.com/potw.html#fp1;
http://spectrumofpoeticfire.com/Reader%20Directory/Alan_Britt.htm; http://theliteraryunderground.org/wiki/index.php?title=Alan_Britt;
http://www.therecusant.org.uk/#/morrison-on-saponia-and-britt/4556998367;
http://aliensareus.wordpress.com/ and
http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=ttarezcab&v=001rUMZSB4OvtFAzyTcJtQzbO8B_vS9c5evaSstKkPGmEcjdmOOq3wQ7IplY9a_wMaJODvwC7O2R-lrmBto06w9uAel47rESQeVjSQeYdBJJC-pgeksV0L2VHkgsohQPsIy2LGwXnFwrfk%3D#LETTER.BLOCK6