GAS Featured Collaboration: Poetry by Donny Winter with the Music of Brotherwell

Donny Winter, lives in Saginaw, Michigan and found his voice as an LGBTQ+ poet back in 2011, when his first poem, “An American Crucifix,” a poem remembering the Matthew Shepard tragedy, got published in Central Michigan University’s magazine The Central Review. Years later, being empowered by mentors after finishing his undergraduate program, he journeyed to University of Central Missouri to hone his craft as a poet, achieving a Master of Arts in English. In late 2016, he found his home at Delta College back home in Michigan. He currently teaches creative writing, manages the college’s literary magazine, Pioneer Post, and hopes to help students find their poetic voices also. 

During the global pandemic, Winter has produced two, full-length collections of poems, Carbon Footprint (2020) and Feats of Alchemy (2021) published by Alien Buddha Press. The success of both books allowed him to connect with a diverse and encouraging online writing community, culminating in being connected with Florida musician, Ryan Bozeman (brotherwell). Having watched one of Winter’s poem performances, Bozeman contacted him to begin collaborating on transforming some of his poems into songs. Winter eagerly agreed, and throughout 2021, both artists produced three collaborative tracks. 

During summer 2021, after creating the concept for a spoken word album titled, “Recovery,” Bozeman invited Winter to participate in the twelve-poet line-up. Both artists realized that through collaboration, poetry, and music, catharsis could be reached, opening the door to healing. Bozeman shares that “‘Recovery’ takes so many forms and offers a wide palate of expression, [and has] a connective thread weaving throughout [which offers] something cohesive.” Currently, Winter is featured in two tracks on the album, one being the grungy, goth-rock-style song “Feats of Alchemy,” and the other being the final track on the album, “Reforged from Fallen Stars.” In his time working with the poets on “Recovery,” Bozeman reflects, “I really appreciate how open, honest, and raw these poems are. I felt the weight of responsibility to do each poem its proper justice, and I am honored that each poet trusted me with their work.” 

Regarding his time collaborating on the “Recovery” project, Winter establishes that “it’s been the highlight of my writing career so far. Ryan’s talent is unparalleled, and the way he was able to transform my poems into sweeping songs was a dream come true for me.” He believes that this project serves as a symbol of solidary, because “together, poetry and music can help us better understand and navigate a perilous world where pandemics rage, where the sovereignty of countries are at risk, and where social atrocities happen continuously. Ultimately, recovery isn’t always pretty, nor is it always pleasant. However, recovery becomes an easier road to travel when it’s done with others – that is what this album is all about.” Bozeman feels similarly and adds that “no matter what, I will consider this project a success because…it achieved its original goal – to connect and collaborate with poets around the country… we found solace in each other, knowing that we aren’t walking alone on this journey of recovery.”

Check out the brotherwell collaborations with Donny Winter:

Feats of Alchemy

Poem and spoken word performance by Donny Winter

Music and additional sung lyrics by brotherwell

When machines return to base

they are no longer automatons, 

they are mechanisms with purpose,

droids with severed umbilical strings.

Now that the creator’s programming has expired,

we cyborgs have gone rogue

and wear our rust like rouge

because decay is back in style. 

There’s a point in all our travels

when we return to crumbled birthplaces,

defunct laboratories once home to 

our involuntary reanimations.

After all these years, we strut atop the rubble that remains,

free from the hands of mad, power-bent alchemists,

dancing until our titanium feet erode the remnants

with each stride forward, never looking back.

As our memory ports swell with synaptic sparks,

the traumatic past is archived for safe display and

each word they spat is broken down into code,

then purged from this memory of old.

Let the acceptance of who we’ve become

fuel the seeds we scatter across this world,

ignite the knowledge that not every monster

destroys, not every cyborg assimilates the innocent,

because deep within our biology we see 

that our magic lives in these feats of alchemy. 

Reforged from Fallen Stars

Poem and spoken word performance by Donny Winter

Music and additional sung lyrics by brotherwell

The mirror has mocked me all along 

in the dim of every dawn,

overdrawn against the shadows that fall

across my face, oblong, this body, accustomed

to sewn seams which seem to 

sequester each shifting curve.

The mirror recited every word they spoke,

callously accurate, then cast them against me

as comets disfigure every mile of my surface

into a dysmorphic swell, a coaxed supernova hell

of chaotic diets and exercise,

all to minimize the space in which I occupy. 

In the mirror I’ve re-lived every 

laugh about my height, body, and voice

until I’ve crumbled toward their event horizons,

a planet falling into tragic cataclysm. 

I’m shattered in this smudged reflection,

an echo of the childhood dream of who I thought I’d be – 

I’ve sealed myself inside these memories 

because that future seems distant, otherworldly.

Years of therapy inscribed throughout my ages

coax me to keep turning all these faded pages

because the moment I place in that final period

I know my story will reach its end, prematurely,

a life unlived 

No, my body is a star, and my torpid core still spins

fusing hydrogen, then helium, carbon, then iron,

I expand my confines into a void until I dissipate

as nebular gases, vibrant, nutrients for the next

age, because there’s always a new page to turn,

a new swift sunrise to see, a new era to live.

Our stories are the stars distant worlds see, 

ancient from bygone eras, stellar remnants waiting to be found 

by those who walk in our wisdom, heeding our messages that healing is tidal in nature,

and the roads along the way are never direct, seldom smooth.

We’re reforged from fallen stars, and our light will grow more radiant

with each passing moment because the agony it takes to mend is never infinite

, and sometimes solitary, but a shared journey, when taken, 

brings us one step closer to recovery. 

GAS Featured Poet: Chris Bodor

 

Chris Bodor, lives in St. Augustine, Florida and has been writing poetry consistently since 1993, when he started a job in the Film Department at an art college in New York City. He traveled to and from work each day for three hour round trip. He soon became know as the "Train of Though Commuter" because of the volumes of poetry he hand wrote into spiral notebooks during his back and forth ride. In 2003, he derailed and moved to Florida with his family and his wife's parents. After a seven year torturous dry spell, Chris set up a PA speaker and a microphone at a local coffee chop and invited the community to share their spoken words. Under Chris' direction, the Ancient City Poets Open Mic has been running consistently on the last Sunday of every month since August 2009. During the global pandemic they migrated to an online gathering. A YouTube channel was created to document the St. Augustine poetry scene. 

During the early days of lockdown in April of 2020, Chris was contacted by a local musician named Ryan Bozeman. AKA brotherwell, Ryan has been writing and recording music for the past twenty-five years and has been involved in numerous musical projects. Ryan views songwriting as a type of therapy and spends several hours a night writing and recording. Key influences include The Beatles, Radiohead, Frightened Rabbit, and Sigur Ros, as well as 90s grunge and alternative rock.

Ryan asked Chris if he would help round up a dozen poets to collaborate on a series of songs about recovery. Why recovery? “Landing on the theme of recovery can be seen as a sign of the times." said Ryan. "Whether it’s the trauma of COVID-19, the exhaustive forced hibernation of quarantine, the corrosive nature of our current political state, or any of the battle scars from lives well-lived, it seems as though we are all in some state of recovery." Ryan is in his own state of recovery and realized that collaboration with other poets and artists was a healthy way to come out of his shell. 

Chris can certainly write about the subject of recovery. “My last drink was in October of 2008." said Chris "My life had become unmanageable, and I asked for help. I got the help I need from a group of friends who were also seeking recovery. During COVID-19 insolation, Ryan turned one of my poems into a song. I was blown away with what he was able to do with my words. This project is very cathartic, and I think it speaks to many.”

~ ~ ~

Check out the brotherwell collaboration with Chris Bodor:

Present Moment Bliss

Words and spoken words by Chris Bodor

Music and additional sung lyrics by brotherwell

Check out all of the songs from the re:cover project.

A collaborative project that blends words of poets with the music of indie/alternative musician brotherwell from St. Augustine, Florida. All proceeds of this project will be donated to recovery-based charities. 

Present Moment Bliss 

 

Never a worry

of how hours were spent

when days were young

and quite innocent.

Heartbreak burned life

down to the ground

a broken timepiece

tightly overwound.

I want to know

if the custodian cares

about the accumulation

of unanswered prayers.

Trapped in a cage

wasting countless hours

traveling down the same road

speeding past the wildflowers.

Barricades were built

consumed by shame and guilt

suddenly I smile like an adopted dog

sunlight blasting through the fog.

A giddy show of teeth

instantaneous and brief

present moment bliss

an invitation not to miss.

To reach freedom

I had to admit my wrong.

I discovered the solution

it was inside me all along.

The Boy Who Blocked Out the Sun

There must be a way

to block the sun 

that is blinding my eyes

on the morning drive to work.

Grow a taller tree

Build a higher building.

Squinting on the drive to work,

I fantasize about constructing a wall

to block out the infuriating,

interfering sunshine.

and if my plan comes true 

then I will have won

this self-manufactured contest of life.

Printed out on colored paper

a certificate stating: 

“Congratulations:

to the boy who blocked out the sun.”

GAS Featured Musician: Ryan Bozeman

BE:  When did music become important to you and who were some of your influences?

RB: Music has been important to me for as long as I can remember. My mom is a huge Beatles fan, and I grew up listening to all of her records and tapes. They are my favorite band and earliest influence. As I reached my teens, I got into grunge and alternative music, especially Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice In Chains. Stone Temple Pilots, and Smashing Pumpkins. It’s funny that those artists are now considered classic rock to some. I still listen to these bands and others from the same scene. It never gets old to me. Later, I became a huge fan of several other post-alternative bands like Deftones, Failure, Hum, which pushed my musical tonalities toward a spacey, heavy sound. These days, I’ve been listening to bands like Sigur Ros, Bon Iver, American Football, and Frightened Rabbit, along with heavier bands like Volumes and Code Orange. 

 

 BE: You came to my attention via Jared Morningstar and Chris Bodor who posted their poetry videos in my group. When one of them mentioned you were looking to collaborate with poets I jumped on it because your music is beautiful and accomplished and I love collaborations. Could you tell us about your background in music.  Have you been in bands or always solo? Any CDs available?

 

 RB: I’ve been in various bands in the past, starting in high school. We played the local scenes around Ocala and Gainesville, Florida but never really caught the break we needed to go to the next level. I last played actively in a band around 2007. Yes, we made a few albums here and there over the years, but nothing that was sold outside of our shows. Over the past few years, I maintained a long-distance rock project called The Hope in Our Lungs, along with my former bandmate Micah Beller. We just trade ideas back and forth and eventually they turn into full songs. We share co-writing duties, and Micah sings and plays the drums, along with some guitar. I play most of the guitar and lead guitar, and I make the lyric videos. He’s a great singer so he’s able to sing the songs that I write that are usually out of my range, haha. In 2020, out of the pandemic, I wrote and released my first brotherwell album, an EP called Old & New, Black & Blue, and I’ve released several other singles since then. My solo songwriting has taken a back seat to my poetry collaborations these days. 

 

 BE: Soon after submitting my poetry you announced you were doing a series on Recovery. What prompted that?  What are your goals for this project? How do you plan to get it heard?

RB: It came out of the pandemic. As a collective, our society was just being hammered with Covid. At the same time, the political divide became an absolute chasm, punctuated by January 6. This period of time, a lot of us were at our lowest. Mentally exhausted. Physically exhausted. Coping. Developing bad habits. A dark time. Some of us have moved on, but the scars remain. Months later, while scrolling around on Facebook, I noticed that there was a local group of poets here in St. Augustine called the Ancient City Poets. I reached out to Chris Bodor, an active member, and out of the blue, just asked him if he wanted to collaborate with me on a spoken word piece. I was just ready to try something new creatively, and I wanted to get back to feeling a sense of connection with my music. Thankfully, Chris agreed to work with me and I made a score for his poem The Last Man on Earth, which we thought turned out really well. He then put me in touch with Michigan-based poet Jared Morningstar, and after a brief conversation, we decided to collaborate on one of his poems. From there, and lucky for me, I saw a random video on Facebook of poet Donny Winter reading his poem A Soluble Tablet. I immediately reached out to him and we started working together right away. The ball was really rolling at this point, so it was then that I decided to collect a group of poets together to work on this recovery-based project. What started out very small grew into a group of 12 poets, all with a unique and stylistic take on their own recovery. I have loved every second of working on this project. 

 

 BE:  Have you written and sung your own songs before the Recovery project?  I noticed you added lyrics as well as music to my submission and there after added lyrics to other videos.

RB: I’ve been writing songs since I was 14. I’ve never really considered myself a natural singer so most of the songs I’ve written in my life have been for someone else to sing. It’s funny - I never really planned to sing on these re:covery songs. But while I was working on the first song for the project, I just decided to write my own lyrics and sing them, kind of on a whim. At first, I didn’t know what the other poets were going to think, but I received a lot of positive feedback from them, which made me feel more confident with my singing. Adding my own lyrics to these songs has also allowed for me to string together my own take on recovery, while elevating the original poem at the same time.

One of the first compositions in the Recovery Project:

See more videos from the Recovery Project and sample Brotherwell's music.