Meet Me At The Harbour

Eyewear Publishing• November 2019

In his third collection of poetry, Michael Brown takes us on a journey around the British coast visiting harbours, lighthouses and beaches. These are remote rural places transformed at night-time, away from the tourist season, where the poet explores climate change, coastal life and an ever-changing environment. Having recently adopted his son, we find here verse that reflects on the adoption process, school protests and childhood memories. We also hear stories from Grenfell Tower, the Irish border and LGBT history month.

Selected Poems

The Adoption
Stage 1

Wondering if you’ve been born
as we fill in blanks on forms

Under the microscope
we squirm like new life forming

Stage 2

An intensive and intrusive job interview for becoming parents
the panel allocate “links”

Playing with traumatised children at activity days
we hope to be matched

Stage 3

We wait six months for your birth certificate
your finally crowned with your new double barrelled surname

You read the letter to your future self
and now call me Dad

Reviews

Unpredictably humorous and refreshingly uninhibited

RJ Arkhipov

Reading Meet Me At The Harbour, we do just that, as the poet leads the reader through the sea’s and society’s myriad faces and spaces. These poems are brimming with razor-sharp observation about the state of our world, and yet also with the joy of living in it.

Rachel Lewis

Get your copy of Meet Me At The Harbour

Limited signed copies are also available in Waterstones Cambridge

Mercurial

SilverWood Books• October 2016

Mercurial is to be characterised by rapid and unpredictable changing moods. The Mercurial have qualities of eloquence and ingenuity. Mercurial people are animated, lively and quick witted. Subject to sudden changes of mind the Mercurial are unpredictable, variable and unstable. To be Mercurial is to be ever changing, creative and whimsical.

These poems celebrate Mercuralia, the major festival of the Roman God Mercury the patron God of eloquence (and thus poetry), communication and keeper of boundaries referring to his role as bridge between the upper and lower worlds, also the guide of souls to the Underworld.

In his third collection of poetry Michael Brown looks behind closed doors to reveal harsh truths, marvels at the savage beauty of the world and has disinhibited poetic conversations with Francis Bacon, Janet Frame, famous rent boys, psychiatric patients and dead poets.

Selected Poems

Holland Park, Kensington
Sitting as summer sun finally rises to gently kiss our faces.
Opposite me on a bench, in shade, an elderly lady studies her smart phone through a large magnifying glass.
"Summer has started" I say.
"I'm busy on my phone" she replies.

Boxing with Bacon
Boxing with Bacon
He leads me up a staircase to a box room.
We watch the boxing match on TV.
The figure in the corner is boxing towards us, clenched
fists, full of rage.
Francis is painting him on canvas.
He has been painting on magazine cuttings all day it seems.
He asks me to read him William Blake and those Elliot
poems before the wasteland.
Conveniently on the last page of the book he has
written in pencil which poems he found moving.
My head is looking left, I wonder if he views me in
triptych, distorted face.
As the boxer crashes into the barrier I feel paint like
blood flicked onto my hands.
Enough to make a guy sweat.

Purchase Mercurial

Audio Book
Limited signed copies are also available in Waterstones Cambridge

The Exhibit

SilverWood Books• August 2014

The Exhibit puts human emotions on display. It is a book between two cities – Cambridge and Manchester – with detours via wax museums and planetariums. It brings down the Berlin Wall and challenges censorship in Iran; reveals the love of gay marriage and has conversations with Alexander McQueen, Damien Hirst and Sylvia Plath.

This is an impressive collection by a young poet already known for his innovative, intense poetry that draws its energy from the light and dark of everyday life. Michael Brown’s poems seek to put our most intense feelings on display, sharing our common experiences and observing humanity standing on the outside looking in.

Selected Poems

Cambridge pace
Mark your arrival
bicycle bell
student crime
library fine

Strolling on the common
punts stretch out like swans
rowing rivers of opportunity
education celebration

Grade 1 listed buildings
sky high college ceiling
of philosophy thinking
Bridge of sighs, never lies

Bright spot of the Hibiscus flower
Sinabung coughs sulphur
asthma lungs empty charcoal pits
cracked coal clumps choke

this sudden red hand
a delicate flower clings to colour
in a grey covered world
your petals bleed aniseed
like a bloody hand
in a dirty puddle
tracing paper flower
crumbles in my hand
leaving bloody fingerprints
a bright red crimson kiss
floats above a sea of lava
could fall into volcano mouth
like a final heartbeat
in a decaying grey body
a bright spot Hibiscus flower

Reviews

Michael Brown’s poetry is as full of queer spark and passion as he is... his words are heartfelt and full of raw honesty.

Dominic Berry, Performance Poet

Michael's poems are short, powerful chunks of emotion. Some of them are hilarious, some of them are poignant and a lot of them are dark. The first half of the book especially is very dark (but interspersed with moments of light) and the poems get more hopeful and joyous towards the end.

R. Daley, reader on Goodreads.com

Get your copy direct from the publishers.

The Exhibit is also available from the following retailers:

Audio Book
Limited signed copies are also available in Waterstones Cambridge

Cutting Butterflies with scissors

Wilkinson House London• 2012

Cutting butterflies with scissors was Michael's first published book with support from Wilkinson House, London. Wilkinson House are a specialist publisher who promote LGBT writers. The book was launched at Manchester Pride August 2012 and was printed as a limited batch and is currently no longer in print.

Reviews

divine poetry, “leaves behind” is superb

David Hoyle

the book is great, cool title

Jackie Hagan

Allergic

Self published• 2010

Allergic was the first collection of poetry from Poet Brownie. This was a self published pamphlet which was distributed at events and festivals where he performed. Original artwork by Tommy Kovac (Slave Labour graphics) was used for the cover.