Poet, Songwriter, Artist
It comes all at once
as it tends to do;
Not like a sucker punch,
or some massive wave
to knock me off my feet
but more of a gentle hand
held to a cheek
or a voice softened
that the child not only hear
but understand
What does it say?
That somewhere behind
these endless cycles of growth and suffering
is the mechanism that allows their becoming:
A choice
-Brandon White
The lessons are endless, you know
and from the wrong perspective,
that may seem tragic
All I mean to say
is that you'll be continuously unfolding
-Brandon White
Keep the circle around you small
make it tight;
give it armor
Keep the world out
The stranger tells me it's the only way
and he's right
and so very wrong
and I’ve no desire to sway him
one way or the other;
it isn't my place
No, I belong somewhere
closer to the center
anchored in that foreign
but familiar place
where the first domino fell
where this all began with a word
-Brandon White
Shades of The Mother - 12/6/23
The day begins
with strange new
shades of the mother
She comes to me
in the form of a large woman
in a tiny car
She’s in the oncoming lane,
nearly hitting me
while making a sharp turn
I see her clearly
All bright red lips and white teeth,
like a clown from hell
Show me the one
who pulls the levers of karma,
I want names
Will you love it all?
This is the question
each time I cross her path
I'll find a way
I'll continue to open myself,
to make room
-Brandon White
Watching my daughter
lean into her work is a joy
The furrowed brow,
intense concentration
Yes, this is the way, little bird
leave no stone, as they say
There are infinite ways
to bring the vision forward
and you're reminding me
of this every day
And saving me
by doing so
-Brandon White
I’m searching for answers
before my eyes adjust
Vibrant questions ricochet
off of every surface
and there’s no cover
in sight
This is how my children say
Good Morning, Dad
and the times that I don’t
meet them with patience
return to steal hours of sleep at night
like poorly timed coffee or Eraserhead
This, I’m still learning,
are the steps to the dance
that is parenting
How could I forget, even for a moment,
that I always wanted
an audience with God
And here,
bright-eyed and bushy-tailed,
an endless stream of love
and sparking creativity,
has come to greet me
and ask for milk
-Brandon White
The pizza here isn't one of my favorite things - but you are
It’s just us, and that doesn’t happen often
Your eyes go wild with ideas between bites
If you only knew the lengths I’d go to keep that spark in you
I’m beginning to see the art in things again
I tell you this, to which you return a sweet, if not slightly confused smile
before returning to your soda
Little Bird, you've gifted me another perfect moment
-Brandon White
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#poem #poetry #create #daughter
My lovely wife, Kenzie, snapped this photo as she has for my previous titles, featuring our precious girls and my latest offering.
None of them know how much it all means to me.
Tuesday can’t come soon enough.
-Brandon
Their Eyes Beyond
I drive myself crazy
imagining ways
to pierce the veil
How the mind might
be used to fold and tear
the fabric of perception
that one might peek through
to the world beyond
the wool
Consider our limitations,
how few colors and frequencies
the mind can endure
Dare we open our arms
to what we can
only hope to comprehend?
To that which is,
has been,
and will be?
Before you, before I,
known before
we knew
Before the first pair of eyes
set skyward,
before a mind wondered;
What waits for us there?
Or, perhaps more
importantly,
who?
-Brandon White
Hello friends! I’ve got for you today, a new free verse poem, fresh from the mind to the screen. I hope you enjoy it!
Repetition:
Choke on thoughts of hands
and flesh
and know that I have come to despise
these cheap displays of passion.
On the endless backroad
of my numbered days
I speed screaming into the mouth
of the beast that swallows my years.
Every wrong turn
remembered.
I feel I've been
robbed.
-Brandon White
Brandon White 