Requiem for Used Ignition Cap is a literary tour of J. Scott Brownlee’s rural home of Llano, Texas — with extended stops in the less glamorous parts of town. Years of residency have equipped the poet with an added ability to glimpse the plight of unexpected subjects (dead animals, for example) while also underlining the town’s everyday norms. One poem in the collection scrutinizes modern hunting, as Brownlee adopts the perspective of a dead buck: “Am I the wine and bread for them — these suburban hunters? … Glassy-eyed and useless, I’ll return finally as absurd centerpiece nailed between my brothers. These men full of whiskey and bad sense used a beam to freeze and defeat me.” Brownlee releases his collection — the second work from spiritually engaged local publisher Orison Books — with a free reading at Malaprop’s Thursday, Nov. 19, at 7 p.m. malaprops.com. Cover image courtesy of Orison Books
Smart bets: J. Scott Brownlee
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