Michael H. Brownstein

Michael H. Brownstein writes: You're on the roof of your old house, the roof in serious disrepair, but you walk on it as if you're on a boardwalk – a squirrel falls through where you just stood – what is left to do but go to all fours, tread carefully until you’re on safe ground, call the roofers (you can’t fix this), and write a poem.

You're walking across a great field, firecrackers exploding. You swat away at dozens of mosquitoes. Near where you teach, the security guard tackles you and points out a sniper who has been shooting at you as you crossed. There is nothing else to do but conduct a poetry workshop in your algebra class.

You go camping, and a rattlesnake crawls into your sleeping bag. Prayer and poetry – they really do go together.

On and on. Take a break. Write a poem.

Michael H. Brownstein has had his work appear in The Café Review, American Letters and Commentary, Skidrow Penthouse, Xavier Review, Hotel Amerika, Meridian Anthology of Contemporary Poetry, The Pacific Review, Poetrysuperhighway.com and others. In addition, he has nine poetry chapbooks including A Period of Trees (Snark Press, 2004), Firestorm: A Rendering of Torah (Camel Saloon Press, 2012), The Possibility of Sky and Hell: From My Suicide Book (White Knuckle Press, 2013) and The Katy Trail, Mid-Missouri, 100 Degrees Outside and Other Poems (Kind of Hurricane Press, 2013). He is the editor of First Poems from Viet Nam (2011).He is the editor of First Poems from Viet Nam (2011). His book, A Slipknot Into Somewhere Else: A Poet's Journey To The Borderlands Of Dementia, was recently published by Cholla Needles Press (2018).

He is the admin for Project Agent Orange: http://projectagentorange.com

He presently resides in Jefferson City, Missouri where he lives with enough animals to open a shelter.