Award winning poet, author of 17 books, including 6 volumes of poetry,
American English professor, Michael D. Brown currently teaches  PhD's English in
China, provides literary reviews for universities and lectures internationally.
Recipient of the New York State Senator's award for poetry, Michael D. Brown's
poems have appeared in numerous journals over the past 25 years. In the past 5
months his new poems have appeared in 21 journals including: The Tower Journal,  Mad Swirl, Kalkion, Converge, and Velvet Illusion. His latest book,"Brown's  Simplified English Grammar," is now available in Mandarin Chinese.
 

Niagara Falls 

Men lining the path before the falls,  kneel
with diamond rings
to ask women  they love a question;
No one falls from the sky
in a wooden barrel to survive a  relationship
with the depth of the falls in  view.
-Thunder never stops long enough to be collected.
Water billows at the bottom of the  drop
like white clouds, pristine mists of wet shadows;
I can moisten my throat with the  spray
from the falls with my eyes closed and my mouth open;
Behind me Canada, stands beautiful in silent solitude
like, the neighbor who leaves his sprinkler watering
the lawn on our cul-de-sac tucked away in the landscape
of the USA, somewhere not so far from here.
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The  Marginal Way

 Treat  a disease by becoming indistinguishable from the  disease.
Claim  to be someone other than yourself on that someone else’s birthday.
Vote  for the worst liar running for office this year
-Act  surprised when he wins.
Complain  how nothing ever changes except, circular  reasoning.
Busy  yourself choosing make -up for faces you use when multiple personalities
surface  as unkempt guest.
Shop-  lift things you do not need or want.
Tell  the truth when people expect you to lie and
lie  when people expect to hear you speak the truth;
even  confusion makes people notice you are consistent;
admiring  your willingness to commit to a theory.
********************************************************
 
Getting  published in, “The New Yorker.”

Few events rivaled my  dream
or the task to write  with such fluency 
that editors sense the  liability of rejection.
A magazine above other pages of inspiration,
a triumph over in  articulation, unknotting  
tongue and pen, the  loop of former circular reasoning; 
the death of cliché, -  reprisal for a poet- and then
the wager with myself, winning & underestimating joy. 
*******************************************************
 
Speechless

According to a  recent poll, “people fear public speaking more than
death.”   Newsweek

Confident, we do not know enough to speak in front of  others,
we recuse ourselves from testimony our only statement, the silent  sound
fear makes to untrained ears; to crowds or throngs waiting  restless
for change; the arrival of inspiration; the rallying cry obscured by 
the distant presence of dissent. Speech for the utility it creates;  for
the enamored star that falls when the right words come  together
igniting thought; for reception, someone in the minority  cares,
for retention, fewer still retain some semblance of hope.
For  recall, for years pass and change must be remembered.
For responsiveness to  foster change: to culminate the possibility of
improbable  hope.
Confident, we do not know enough to speak; we recuse ourselves in front 
of others.
 

Frienemies

 Snookie is not the only name she  goes  by
especially, when she does a makeover  with her hair doo.
Remember  the bird nest she called,  “a style balanced beautifully” - near  infringement  on
Marge Simpson’s originality - the  dress she wore  -the geometry of a triangle too stealth  for
curves to negotiate?
We  call her other names besides  Snookie.