Beyond the Shallows

Kennedy Brown's collection of over forty poems and haiku draws on Scripture and on everyday struggles in marriage and other relationships, distilling each idea into a short, pointed verse. Several poems are psalms of praise, while others take on the difficulties of life as a husband and wife, the author himself writing from sixty-five years of marriage.

Brown began writing poetry late in life, when he was in his eighty-fifth year, after an unexpected flood of verse. A newcomer to the craft, he first assumed a poem needed rhyme and a set formula, but over several months, with feedback from poet friends, he came to see that poetry has no single correct form. That openness shows in the variety of structures on the page. Each poem comes with a short note on its purpose, so the book can also serve as a daily devotional.

The author presents the work as the fruit of about forty years spent learning to live a Spirit-filled life, and he hopes readers will find it encouraging, insightful and challenging. He also describes the collection as playful experimentation with poetic form, meant simply for enjoyment and, perhaps, to spark a new interest in poetry.