Brent C. Green is a six year veteran of the local Mic Check poetry scene in Bryan. He has released two books, Onus and Protested Love, touring regionally and hoping to take the world next. He imagines that if we could combine the bodies and minds of the poets Kevin Burke, Bill Moran, and Shane Koyczan, that that would be the perfect human being the world is waiting for.
Why is poetry important?
Because poetry, especially spoken word, is the human experience and emotion made visceral and raw. It is an art form that every layperson can be intimately a part of.
What makes a good poem?
Either relatable emotion or an ensnaring story that the audience is able to follow along beside. The fact that the poet uses beautiful language to convey these stories is simply a byproduct of how they see the world and not the focal point of what makes a poem great.
What inspires you?
I’m a mix between a life poet and a love poet. I’m obsessed with finding the answers to the human condition and why we do what we do, and of course with falling in love and marriage. Finding that special someone is one goal that every human being shares across the globe. Love has been written to death in every language but I like to delude myself that I’m bringing something new to the table.
Who are some of your favorite poets?
The great Canadian spoken word poet, Shane Koyzcan, who showed me you can go on eight minute tirades about whatever you want and still be the greatest storyteller of a generation, along with Austin punk native, Kevin Burke, who taught me how to be a (semi) respectable adult punk.
What made you want to become a poet?
Simply put, the stage was the only place I could get people to hear what I had to say. These days it’s much too difficult to have people sit down and read your latest novel or essay explaining Pacifist-Anarchism. Also writing is how I think. So I will approach the page with a question or a problem, and by the end of the poem will have solved or at least come to terms with the issue. Being on stage is my way to share the answers I found with the world.
Where is your favorite place to write and why?
Alone in my room sitting at my computer chair, wrapped snug with my writing robe and listening to indie-emo songs. Every other writer seems to write in coffee shops surrounded by other people. I’m not like that. I have to be alone because that’s the only way I can get inside my own head.
What are you reading right now?
There are two books on my desktop right now, “Anarchy and Christianity” by Jacques Ellul explaining the not-so-radical reinterpretation of the gospel in an anarchistic frame, and how Jesus himself advocated Anarchist ideals, along with “The Abyss Beyond Dreams” by Peter F. Hamilton, my favorite British Science Fiction Space Opera novelist. The book is over one thousand pages of very descriptive world building and character-focused adventure.
What advice do you have for aspiring poets?
Find a poetry home and go there every week. You will be terrible for years but eventually you’ll pick up the craft through trial and error. YouTube is also your friend but be weary to avoid picking up what we call the “poet voice”. Find your own voice and express it. Also, don’t rhyme. For the love of God and everything that is holy do not try to rhyme in couplets.
