Last week I was a featured reader at a small poetry reading in Pittsfield called “Outspoken!”. They had asked me to come perform to help celebrate National Poetry Month, so I freestyled a few poems and read some of my own work. Some of my poems really work much better spoken than written, but in honor of National Poetry Month, I’d like to share one of my short poems here:

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“Land Shark”
by Seth Brown

There is a knock at the door
I look through the keyhole and see your
gleaming white teeth
so shiny and so numerous
“who is it” I ask
and you tell me that you are
an encyclopedia salesman
but
I do not believe you
because encyclopedia salesmen do not have
so many teeth, so pointy and sharp
and where are your encyclopedias
have you already sold them all
or are they held by the arm that I can see in your mouth
opening this door may be a bad idea
but you have offered me a discount encyclopedia
and I cannot resist

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In other news, my improv troupe has performances on April 24th and May 14th at Main Street Stage in North Adams, so please come see us if you’re in the area and looking for something fun. (Conversely, if you are not in the area and looking for something boring, I recommend this list of the rotation direction of airport luggage carousels around the world.)

So, for a long time — since I graduated from college — I’ve been working on this book. I’ve even mentioned it on the bottom of my Books page. And I finally finished it. But I haven’t managed to find a publisher yet. That’s why I decided to put it online. I’m posting one chapter a week at www.GodToVerse.com

Oh, and I should probably tell you what it is. I translated the entire Torah, the first five books of the Bible, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, line by line, into verse. (Given that I spent roughly five years or so doing that, it should perhaps be no surprise that I consider summarizing a presidential debate in rhyme a relatively lighter project.) Anyway, go take a look, check back every week for a new chapter (or subscribe to the RSS feed), and if you like it, tell a friend.

Especially if that friend owns a large publishing company.