Vox Populi
A curated webspace for Poetry, Politics, and Nature with over 6,000,000 visitors since 2014 and over 9,000 archived posts.
Kurt Brown: A Moment
I keep returning to that moment, one
day at your kitchen table with the sun
slanting in through the glass above your sink.
You stood before me, brushing your long hair,
stroke after stroke in the astonished air
while you talked of nothing, and I sipped my drink.
Then suddenly you bent your head, and threw
your hair forward in a bright fan to show
your beauty in a simple act, at once
casual and contrived, while I sat there
like some stone figure in a stone chair—
such blatant beauty required a response.
But I did nothing, though my heart halted
in my chest, a small, numb, exalted
animal, until you tossed that golden wrack
of hair to settle once again upon
your shoulders and you smiled your wan
smile and I recalled myself — and smiled back.
~~~~~
Copyright 2026 the estate of Kurt Brown. Included in Vox Populi by permission of Laure-Anne Bosselaar.
Kurt Brown (1944-2013) was a highly regarded poet, editor, and literary activist. He founded the Aspen Writer’s Conference, now called Summer Words, in 1976. It was there that he met his wife, Belgian-American poet Laure-Anne Bosselaar. He was the author of several full-length poetry collections, including I’ve Come This Far to Say Hello: Poems Selected and New (Tiger Bark Press).
Discover more from Vox Populi
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Such a lovely and loving moment. Happy Valentine’s Day, Laure-Anne and to Kurt in Paradise.
LikeLike
Such a beautiful, heart-warming piece by a poet much-missed.
LikeLike
Such a beautiful, heart-warming piece by a poet much-missed.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I circled back to read this poem and I’m so glad I did. This poem really brings to life this moment of astonishment.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Doesn’t it? Writing a love sonnet nowadays is quite extraordinary, I think.
>
LikeLike
Could only be a beautiful poem by Kurt Brown written for the ravishing Laure-Anne. xoxo Forever…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, yes!
>
LikeLike
Beautiful, tender, sensual, lovely. The poem had been with me all day.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Beautiful, tender, sensual, lovely.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh yes, it is.
>
LikeLike
wow…so lovely
LikeLiked by 1 person
wow…so lovely
LikeLiked by 1 person
wow…so lovely
LikeLiked by 1 person
wow…so lovely
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Dion!
LikeLike
I met Kurt in 1994 or 1995, and we became fast friends and colleagues in the organization he started for those who ran writers’ conferences, retreats, and festivals. That same year, I also met Laure-Anne Bosselaar, already Kurt’s wife. Thank you, Mike, for posting this marvelous poem of Kurt’s. I miss his presence and miss him, and this makes me even more grateful for his poems (and essays).
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for this, Andrea. I admired Kurt greatly. He has been one of the models for my own literary activism.
LikeLike
Love and beauty do halt us in a stunned moment, just like this ❤
LikeLike
Yes, love and beauty…
LikeLike
Thanks for the lovely sonnet. I shall reflect upon it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a lovely gift. Beautiful poem.
LikeLiked by 1 person
isn’t it?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Absolutely!
LikeLike
Just wonderful! A gift, given, and received. I believe this kind of gift-giving does not happen very often….and sadly, for most humans, almost never.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree, HC. Such luck comes sometimes, but almost never.
LikeLike
Oh to be seen like that, to be loved so richly, what a gift for us all.
LikeLiked by 1 person
yes, a gift for us all.
LikeLike
How kind, how very kind of you, Michael, to have chosen this poem for Valentine’s Day. He wrote this poem in the late eighties and you gave it “A Moment” again. Thank you. And love to the kind hearts on Vox Populi…
LikeLiked by 3 people
How kind, how very kind of you, Michael, to publish this poem on Valentine’s day — he wrote this poem in the late eighties, and you gave it “A Moment” again. Thank you!
LikeLiked by 1 person
A beautiful poem, Laure-Anne. Thank you for letting us experience it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lovely ephemeral moment
LikeLiked by 1 person
yes…
LikeLike
A beautiful Valentine’s Day poem. Thank you. There are at least 20 birds on the feeder outside my window and a ray of sun is brightening the pink peach blooms on my new little tree. I had forgotten it was Valentine’s Day, nothing for my grandchildren, and now I am back stirring today’s other offering.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks, Barb. I love your posts here.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is the perfect Valentine. Thank you, Michael and Laure-Anne.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Thank YOU, Marty.
LikeLike
A moment captured, simple and transcendent. The speaker (Kurt) is lucky to have witnessed it. And we, the readers, are lucky to have witnessed Kurt. Charles ________________________________
LikeLiked by 3 people
Lucky. Yes.
LikeLike
And what a moment! Gorgeous and meaningful poem. Happy St Valentine’s Day.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Happy everything, Rose Mary!
LikeLike
“my heart halted” when I read this poem. Thank you.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Mine too, Bill.
LikeLike
Love and beauty, with a golden wrack of hair in the astonished air.
The kitchen sink miracle of Kurt Brown’s poem.
LikeLiked by 4 people
The kitchen sink miracle… beautiful phrase, Jim.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow. I LOVE this poem!
LikeLiked by 3 people
Me too.
LikeLike
Wonderful poem!
“But I did nothing, though my heart halted
in my chest, a small, numb, exalted
animal, “
LikeLiked by 4 people
It is wonderful, isn’t it? Thanks, Jason.
LikeLiked by 1 person
How wonderful to have poems by both Laure-Anne and Kurt in one week, both tender and touching lightly but precisely on the way love graces our hearts, both while the one we love is in or presence and after they are gone.
LikeLiked by 4 people
exactly. great poets come in pairs like shoes.
LikeLiked by 2 people
This is such a beautiful and private moment I almost feel guilty for reading it, loving it. Thank you.
LikeLiked by 4 people
yes, it is a very intimate moment that the poet is describing.
LikeLiked by 1 person