Poetry may be brought back to the mainstream level with the advent of the Internet. It hasn’t been as popular since the advent of radio. Countless websites are popping up every day dedicated to the writing and appreciation of poetry. One writer in particular is drawing attention from both the academic and commercial worlds. Jerry Browning is one of the most talented word creators of our time and has been writing poems and lyrics for over thirty years. His recently released book of poetry, Emotionography, may be the best volume of American poetry since Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass.” Jerry paints pictures of loneliness, destiny, heartache, passion, and glory that are second to none. He takes life head-on and is unafraid when it comes to speaking out on political (“The Window”) and religious (“After the Rapture”) issues.
If we were to describe Jerry’s talents as a poet and lyricist using baseball terminology, he would be classified as a five-tool player. He can talk love like Elizabeth Barrett Browning (“Becoming a Browning”), write beauty like Robert Frost (“Savannah”), tell a story like Samuel Taylor Coleridge (“Sandscript”), horror like Edgar Allan Poe (“The B, B and G”), and the plain truth as Dylan Thomas (“Tools”). Jerry has always noted the year and where he is at the time he writes. Starting the build with your initial, rough work takes courage. It is surprising and illuminating to see how his style develops over time. The title is brilliant because it is truly a biography not of documented events, but of an emotional stay.
Jerry’s life story is more to the taste of an adventurer than a poet. He has led a full and interesting life and has captured it in verse. His escapades include cross-country hitchhiking, rock climbing, the “Urban Cowboy”-type Texas bar scene (Book 1), life in the military (Book 2 – United States Navy where he served aboard the USS Yorktown), and finally settling down to start a family (Book 3). His style is his own and the way he uses the modern world in his descriptions will mark him as a man of his time. However, that said, the way he writes about his time is timeless. Jerry’s poetry should definitely be considered modernist.
His passion for mechanics, electronics, and science come through in his writing, as is evident in “Stark Reality” and “Hoedown at the Robot Farm.” His humor is dry and sometimes bawdy, but he usually makes a point (“Intolerant”). His love poetry and his lyrics are full of feeling, passion, and at times extremely erotic (“Route 69”). Some of the songs he’s written could easily be popular on the music charts (see “Sleepytown” and “Lyin’ in the Dark”).
His influences include Harlan Howard, Jim Croce, Bob Dylan and Jim Morrison. Although he has a famous last name in the world of poetry, he thinks that if he were to be compared to a classical poet, he would probably be Robert Burns. Jerry’s given name is Gerald Dwain Browning. He was born in Man, West Virginia on November 29, 1958 and now resides outside of Des Moines, Iowa.