A Lamb at the Slam
Guest Poet: Jay Brazeau
Producer: Moe Phillips
Narration : Namakula Nasejje Musoke
Audio Design: Ian Phillips
Can't hear? Press TWICE!
It was a quarter after my own understanding when I saw Farmer Brown.
She looked down and said,
“What do you have to say, woolly man?”
I said, Whoa, Mary – blam de lam,
I AM your little lamb,
And I do have one thing to say.
But nothing about the meadow,
the breeze,
Sippin’ water from a stream,
Grass-eating,
Life-breathing,
bleating to the beat, and
Bounding! in this beautiful butterfly world,
Not about my fleece face, not about my place
On the farm, not another barnyard yarn;
Not about the cows, the sows,
Or the other sheep,
Not about Bo Peep
and how she lost us.
Or how we’re all lost, anyway, man.
Growin’ and cuttin’,
Growin’ and cuttin’,
Growin’ and cuttin’
But um,
Somethin’ else to say.
Not about being shaggy clad
or how it makes me mad
when you fill your bag full.
Not about how you take it –
Make it into a sweater,
Whether or not I shiver,
Shaved skin to the wind,
You win!
You’re here to shear,
But hear my one thing.
That you can take my wool,
‘Cause I got lots.
My one thing is,
Please.
I’m pleading.
Don’t eat my chops.
©2023JayBrazeau
Backstory
Oh! Jay Brazeau’s poetry. We are fans. He told me he was delving into the world of beat poetry. A landscape rich and ripe with style and its own vernacular. I asked if he could send me one of his poems. I swooned. The rhythm. The language! The play on internal rhyme and this wooly sheep had a story to tell. I certainly can’t write like this. Jay certainly can.
Off an email went to Namakula who said “OH YES!” and that afternoon she performed the piece in her studio straight through in one take. BAM! Or should I say SLAM!
Here's a bit about very talented Jay. Do check him out!
Jay Brazeau is an emerging Ottawa-based poet who resides on the outer edge of imagination – a world where cats sport houndstooth jackets, chickens sell eggs and a pigeon’s pockets are packed with popcorn. His poems have appeared in various anthologies, print editions and online magazines as well as in the public art project WHAT YOU’D NEVER EXPECT A BEAR TO WEAR (and Other Ironic Outfits) (www.ironicoutfits.com).
He once won a hamburger for writing a poem about chicken and considered it a pretty good payday.
Back Home to Poems