Uncontrolled Experiments in Freedom - Softcover

Ellis, Brian

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0981521339 ISBN 13: 9780981521336

Publisher: Write Bloody Publishing, 2008

Synopsis

Uncontrolled Experiments In Freedom  unveils the poetically manic and radiant life of Brian Stephen Ellis. His words quiver, rant, and teeter on the brink of collapsing under their own intensity. With narratives drawn from a realm where poetry is believed absent, his verses hold the essence of a unique world. Like a second-hand microscope, Ellis' words  create the fuzzy science of survival, painting vivid and vibrant portraits.  A welcome addition to the Boston spoken word tradition, his colorful voice leaves a lasting impression.

About this title

About the Author

Brian S. Ellis is a writer and performer based out of Portland, OR. He ha.s published poetry books: Yesterday Won't Goodbye (Write Bloody 2011) and Uncontrolled Experiments in Freedom (Write Bloody 2008). He's represented the Boston Poetry Slam at the National Poetry Slam and the Individual World Poetry Slam and co-founded the Whitehaus Family Record, a venue and arts collective in Jamaica Plain. His writing has appeared online in Danse Macabre magazine and in England in Lunchbox Quarterly. He has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize twice.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

INDIANA OUTSIDE

I must have been turning
in my sleeping bag
in the back of the station wagon
Floating on worn steel and minerals
1992 Buick Century
I knew we were moving before my eyelids turned on
My skin had memorized the vibration of the highway
Everything came back to me piece by piece
On the last day of work as night manager of Family Dollar,
I locked up the place and left with three trash bags
full of everything we thought would be useful
We drove a night and a day and a night
and when I lifted my humming forehead
from under the sleeping bag
Katie said, "Boo, look at this..."
It was Indiana outside, and the land
lifted like it knew us
The horizon shimmered above the borderland
of second-grade landscapes, where children,
in their infinite wisdom, leave the universe blank
Each second I was further than I had ever been
from Manchester, New Hampshire
and the earth erupted out of the sun
and it was morning in another land
People had questions about mine and Katie's relationship
But I never loved Katie as
much as the the things she did...
Her ability to move without question
Her ability to drive in the night
I didn't love her as much as the fact that I felt safe with her
My older brother thought I was helping her run away
Descendants of the coast are often endowed
with a seventh sense:
They can always tell how far they are from the ocean
Getting too far inland, they become afraid
In Indiana
the earth never separates from the sun
and the night is not dark but burnt
in the shadow of clashing flames
We couldn't have been running away
because runaways are people who move further and further
and further from home,
and we were most certainly going towards it
Runaway are out to forget, and we
were trying to memorize
Runaways are motion, even when
standing still
But Katie and I, we never stopped moving
and home was always on the other side
of the eruption of earth
It is a good thing that there's no ocean
in Indiana, because the sailors and runaways
would have most certainly gotten lost
when the sun rose in every direction

Edition details

• Publisher: Write Bloody Publishing
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0981521339
• ISBN 13: 9780981521336
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 92