In 1998, I met J. Brian Long at the Scroll - http://scroll.org . I hung out there for a few years, posting on Critic Corner and read his poetry and the poetry of others, where we critiqued each other's work in a community setting. I always enjoyed reading Brian's poetry and critiques and learned a lot from him. (I'm not sure if I had anything of value to offer him when I critiqued his work
) He was a good poet in 1998, but he is a very good poet now.The Scroll closed down for a while but has recently reopened and when I discovered this the other day, I stopped by and said hello, happy to see the announcement that Brian has a published book of poetry. I ordered the book via amazon.com and it was delivered today.
This is a wonderful collection of verse. Brian's ability to create a photo of a moment with a fine command of the language, vivid imagery, and terse, succinct verbiage awes me. (see? I used terse AND succinct in one sentence and they mean virtually the same thing.... talk about wordy! I've got a lot to learn! I wish Brian would help me write that last sentence better! LOL!)
The subtitle of the book is "Poems from Somewhere Not Far". This collection takes me somewhere nearer to the center of a universe we all share, where I am able to peer through two very focused poet's eyes.
To read more about the book, visit the publisher's site by clicking this link.
http://www.windpub.com/books/singing.htm
Thanks, Brian, for this fine collection of work. You have come somewhere very far!
And thanks to all for taking a look when you get a chance. You can get "The Singing of Wheels" at amazon.com and major bookstores or on the publisher's site. I suggest you do.
