Andrew Brown 7/14/23 Andrew Brown 7/14/23

Ants Among the Pacifiers

SPOKANE, Wash. — A poem inspired by Humaira Abid’s “The Stains Are Forever,” part of an exhibit at the Northeast Museum of Arts and Culture.

Andrew Brown 1/16/23 Andrew Brown 1/16/23

Uncle

RICHMOND, Va. — I pay attention to these sculptures for the first time, these sculptures I’ve passed at least one hundred times in five years. I stop and stare at these unremarkable sculptures because they happen to be there when my anguish needs something to hold.

Andrew Brown 12/16/22 Andrew Brown 12/16/22

St Alexius in the Hospital Solarium

BISMARCK, N.D. — The solarium is spacious. There are trees and couches and soft music. The side of my face is flush with heat from a gas fireplace. A hospital employee sits in an armchair with her feet on an ottoman. A minute later, she’s asleep. Her head goes limp and drifts to her shoulder. Her arms slip from the armrests and hang to the side of the chair.

Andrew Brown 6/11/22 Andrew Brown 6/11/22

Spirals Versus Curves

RICHMOND, Va. — Testy docents say backpacks belong in front or beside my body / A NEW INTERPRETATION OF “HAMLET” IS SHAKING UP THE THEATER SCENE / I wish you were here to tousle my hair

Andrew Brown 5/19/22 Andrew Brown 5/19/22

A Hero, A Mascot, A Work of Art?

RALEIGH, N.C. — Imagine a giant inflatable holiday decoration, the kind that people set on their lawns – Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny – and how they’re pumped with air and how that makes them swell until they almost burst.

Andrew Brown 12/26/21 Andrew Brown 12/26/21

Oh, Clown! You Give Me Hope!

SARASOTA, Fla. — If not for the clown, I would call this propaganda. I would call it blatant ideology shaped by a homogenous community’s idea of family. The commissioners of this piece had in mind an ideal.

Andrew Brown 11/23/18 Andrew Brown 11/23/18

Tranquility, War, Winter, Guilt, Tranquility

LANCASTER, Pa. — It seems unfair, if not unjust, to find tranquility among deserted buildings and desolate paths.