Silent No Longer Collection

By: Diane E. B. Bray, Bill Bray

Narrated by: Diane E. B. Bray

Length: 24 mins

Publisher's summary

"Let all our voices gather and rise, up to the heavens and fill the sky."

Be Silent No Longer Pop Poetry Fusion

These are compelling words, to be certain. They are The Brickley Bray Project's call to action. As much as we believe we should act, or do, or participate, we all have difficulty taking that first step. The Brickley Bray Project wants that first step to be easy. Just listen. That's all that's required. And it is effortless.

Diane Bray's words are simple, rhyming, and straight to the point. Bill Bray has created music amidst inspiration from Diane's words, allowing the tempo to unfold from the poetic rhythm and the music to evolve from the message. The Silent No Longer Collection began as eight verses of a poem; written to express Diane's solidarity with and support for the 99 percent/Occupy movements. It grew to a 21 verse call to action. As each day another social or humanitarian issue needed to be addressed, another verse came to life. Bill's idea was to put the music around the poem becoming their Poetry Fusion, Be Silent No Longer.

Thereafter, Diane's words and Bill's music became a Poetry Fusion mix of issues and positive messages of solutions. Some are as simple as thinking peace. All you need to do is click a button and listen as you go about your day. Let The Brickley Bray Project inspire you to stay informed, remain focused, and believe in a positive future. Remember, "Together we are one".

In 2014, Diane and Bill Bray were following the Occupy Wall Street movement and watching it grow. They identified with and supported the issues that the movement took on. It was during this time that "Be Silent No Longer" was born. The poem was first completed on St. Valentine's Day, 2014. It started weeks earlier as an eight verse poem. By St. Valentine's Day, it had more than doubled.

Today it is 4 minutes and 11 seconds of Poetry Fusion. It is a full 21 verses long. "Be Silent No Longer" was first performed before the Unitarian Universalist Society congregation during their annual Hyde Park Services on July 12, 2015. It was well received and the couple was encouraged to continue to perform the piece. Bill accompanied Diane's reading of the poem with a song he had written several years earlier. Bill decided that the poem deserved it's own music. He wrote new music to compliment the poem.

Taking the words, the rhythm, and the message of the poem to heart, Bill gave "Be Silent No Longer" new life and a stronger voice. The next step was to find a proper description for this genre. They needed to find a phrase that would correctly convey the creation that wrapped the spoken word in music. They needed something to allow people to understand how they had joined his music and her poetry. Poetry Fusion was born. Now, came the task of finding a name for themselves. They didn't want to confine themselves to political messaging, romantic or playful themes, nor ballad like productions.

These two had a vision that went beyond one type of poetry or music. They have collectively gathered nearly a century of emotion and experience in their poetry and music. It was more than a life's work for them. It is their life's project. It is something that they will both do always. The name had to reflect this. After much discussion and deliberation they became The Brickley Bray Project.

©2020 Diane E. B. Bray (P)2020 Diamond Flower Candy