It’s all yours now.
A journey of love, suffering, and endless transformation.
Click the cover to purchase my new book, A Boat for the Sinking, today!
With love,
Brandon
Poet, Songwriter, Artist
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
Friends,
I’m excited to announce that my third poetry collection, A Boat for the Sinking will be released on March 21st!
This work is a dedication to love, suffering, to endless transformation and I’m so happy to share it with you. As always, I’ve done my very best to make room for you within these pages.
My love to you all,
Brandon
I’m 36 today and beyond grateful.
My 35th year was the beginning of a significant shift in my life physically, mentally, and spiritually. I’m committed to the work of aligning myself with my highest good.
My third book is coming this Spring, and I’m excited to share it with you all. Already I can sense things beginning to bubble up in my mind, what’s likely to be the beginning of book 4, but that’s for another day.
I’m surrounded by so much love, and my wonder remains intact and sparking; no man luckier than I.
Best of Ways
I bear witness to your innocence
and for its preservation I do pray
For your safety and my vigilance
It breaks my heart
in the best of ways
The student and the teacher
these are the roles we trade
We are but briefly sinless creatures
It breaks my heart
in the best of ways
At night I hope you dream
of something better than what waits
after childhood colors fade
to grown-up gray
It breaks my heart
in the best of ways
-Brandon White
Photo by Kenzie White
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A piece for all the Momma’s and Daddy’s out there; the veterans and the newly initiated. What the rest of the world is searching for, we’ve found.
Love,
Brandon
While watching ink dry on the contract for my third collection of poems, I realized how much life fits into these pages. It feels much longer than it’s been since my last offering.
I’m grateful to my publisher, @tara_caribou, for her continued support, guidance, and honesty. There’s no better feeling than knowing those you collaborate with want what’s best for you and your work.
I’m also grateful to those of you who continue to support my endeavors. Your kind words, encouragement, and inspiration are a gift.
There’s much work to be done, but this feels like a moment worth remembering.
Signed, Sealed, Delivered.
Book 3 – Spring 2023.
-Brandon
Hello Friends,
I’ve officially handed in the manuscript for Book 3.
There’s still work to be done, but I’m thrilled to officially be on the road to release and anxious to share the work with you.
Keep an eye on this space. I’ll be switching up my efforts to spread the word and giving sneak peeks and updates as they become available.
Talk soon.
Love,
Brandon
Enough
Maybe this is all it'll take
for the wall between the words
and I to come crumbling down
to feel myself giving up ground
to the anxiety I naively
believed under control
I've nothing to sell you,
no body to help lure you in
I don't pander
All I have are these lines,
this nervous heart;
what I hope
is just enough
-Brandon White
Hello Friends,
I wanted to take a moment to talk about this book as I haven’t nearly enough.
As I wrote the poems that would become Real Big American Zen, I knew the book would be a tough sell. The idea for the cover featuring my masked face would rub some the wrong way; the title would cause some to assume (wrongly) that the writing would lean to one side of the political aisle or the other, and it would stand as a reminder of a year that most of us would rather forget.
I also felt in my bones that it would be, in some way, disingenuous for me to try and steer the work in a different direction; This was the world I was inhabiting; these were the decisions my family and I faced; this was the feeling of my country and the world teetering on the edge of the unknown and unthinkable.
Fast forward to May of this year, my publisher and I are putting the final product together; we’ve managed to incorporate some of my artwork and photography into the book, and though I’m thrilled with our work, I’d come to realize that significant change was needed in my personal life.
In the two years since my father had passed, I hadn’t been treating myself very well. My mental and physical health had gotten away from me, and I was relying heavily on alcohol to suppress the sadness and rage I felt inside. I knew that significant changes were needed, and there was no time to waste.
Now here we are in late September, and I’m proud to say that I feel I’ve regained some control. I feel happier and healthier than I have in years, and though I’m still learning how to steer my creativity with a clear mind, I know the next chapter will be an exciting one.
One of the casualties of these changes was the promotional efforts for Real Big American Zen. I’m going to attempt righting the ship and shining whatever light I can on this collection of poetry, of which I’m still so proud. In the coming days and weeks, I’ll be sharing pieces from the book, perhaps some readings, as well as my Recent Abstractions series.
If you haven’t purchased a copy, I hope you’ll consider doing so. If you’ve bought and read the book, I hope you’ll consider leaving reviews at Amazon and Goodreads or anywhere else you like.
-Brandon
At the End of the Day
It might be a heart attack
in the liquor store parking lot
because it feels like more
than anxiety this time
I downloaded an app
to test my heart rate
and it tells me
I'm in the green
What does it say about me
that I would allow my phone
to determine the seriousness
of this or any situation?
My job requires me
to face the world
so I chew little white footballs
to avoid coming apart
I don't write about
what I do for money,
because it has nothing
to do with anything
other than my heart
-Brandon White