POETRY IN MOTION (2011)

POETRY IN MOTION
BY BRANDON WINT

My favorite poems are the ones that tell stories

And everyone has a story worthy of being told

It begins with the question
Do you believe in destiny?

Because everything about my manner of being alive shows me that I was born for the purpose of writing certain stories… 

…and rewriting others

So maybe this moment…
….is the actualization of a lifelong poem
Written by the universe in the space between…

…the sun…
…and the clouds…
For which my earthly name is undersigned

For there are signs
Written in every moment in my life that have brought me to this place and time.

I
…am a poet

And do they not so often say of life and destiny that is it written

So maybe we who write the stories of our lives on paper.
And reconfigure the future through their telling are…
With every line…
Walking the thin line between humanity and purely expressed divinity

But I know I’m a poet not because of the aptness of any word that has ever leaped from my tongue

But because if there is a story in everybody
A story in everybody
A story
In every
Body

And poetry can be truly found in motion
Then you need only listen to my body language

My story was written long before I could ever pronounce the words that would define my life

Words like…
Different

Words like
Disability

Words like
Cerebral Palsy

So listen…

The only poem the universe has ever wished for me to understand or write
is the one that looks…
and sounds like...

Brandon's Footsteps

ON BRANDON WINT

Since arriving in Ottawa in 2006 from his home town of Vaughan, Ontario, Brandon has impressed and captivated audiences across Canada with his heartfelt and thoughtful style of poetry.  Brandon is perhaps best known for his work with award winning poetry troupe The Recipe (Brandon Wint, Komi Olafimihan, OpenSecret and Ian Keteku) and for being a member of the last two teams to place first at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word.

Brandon’s relationship with poetry and expression is born out of necessity. The world  is too full of mystery, confusion, love and magic for poetry not to feel like a natural consequence of being alive. Given this relationship, Brandon’s poetry often grapples with the merits of his own introspections and his proximity to the Universal ideals of Love, Fear, Pain, Joy and Lust.

Brandon writes because he is intrigued by everything he experiences; the creation of poetry and music is the most natural way he has found to document the various personal transformations he has undergone thus far.

On CLAUDE MUNSON

Claude Munson is a Canadian singer-songwriter whose music blends blues and folk traditions with neo-folk. An original voice, deep poetic lyrics, and chord progressions that will calm your heart, his repertoire has the potential of becoming the soundtrack of your life. Claude presently performs out of Ottawa Canada and is a longstanding member of UP & UP MUSIC, a collective of extremely talented artists performing regularly throughout the city.

ON CONCEPT

When Brandon approached us with the idea to create a companion piece to "Poetry in Motion", we were excited to add an extra layer of story to a piece that was already extremely strong. Using Brandon's prose as a visual cue, we designed a treatment that would amplify not only the poem's content, but also the manner in which it would be traditionally received and experienced by audiences. Our goal was to somehow break down the 4th wall and bring the audience into the poem, along for ride, and into Brandon's subjective space. To create this vicarious experience we took the poem into the everyday, placing the GO PRO HELMET CAM on Brandon as he made his way though Montreal's busy streets and subways towards his performance venue. Shot @ 60 frames per second, we were able to slow down and isolate Brandon's motion and the  societal gaze that has defined certain aspects of his experience with cerebral palsy.