Hum If You Can't Sing

"e;In poems that are often meditative, humorous, philosophical, speculative, Glen Brown's Hum If You Can't Sing revisits all sorts of narratives -mythic allegories, fairy tales, news stories that boggle the mind, family histories-all in the service of blurring the edges between what is strange and surreal and what is domestically habitual. Here are poems that show us Snow White as a harassed housewife, or Sleeping Beauty surrounded by modern day condos and a Prince who is existentially troubled by his circumstance. But here are poems as well that acknowledge how our diurnal lives can be fraught with tempestuous and epical emotions, how family migrations can have a legendary cast to them, how boys playing stickball on city streets may remind us of more Olympian competitions. In this fine melding of the extraordinary with an everydayness, the improbable with the commonplace, the poems show us how our lives can seem more expansive and astonishing, how they might attain, finally, a level of wonder."e;-Gregory Djanikian"e;Hum If You Can't Sing is so verbally playful and so invitingly aware of its clear occasions for poetry that it reminds us of how a delight in language so often rhymes with a delight in life. And as the title suggests, all of us, no matter what our aptitude for singing, can join in Glen Brown's delightful chorus."e;-Michael Collier"e;Through his playful wit and deft use of language and line breaks, Glen Brown's exquisite collection of poetry breathes new life into some familiar tales. With a poetic sleight of hand his work offers a singular insight into human nature and into the beautiful nature of language itself."e;-Jen Christensen