writing

Thinking – a poem

March 7, 2012 By Brandon Leave a Comment

I am thinking…

I am thinking how words turn in your gut
how they twist and rust

I am thinking how angry feels
gnawing through the skin of hope
hooking into blue desires
trying to keep hidden
so that it can wretch
when least expected

I am thinking how compassion walks
strutting in when anguish calls,
how someone called ‘nancy’
and the boundaries of my heart
found their end
and gave me voice

I am thinking thoughts
are
just thoughts,
the yellow crypt
we hide in
when action seems too far.

The Blues – A poem

January 28, 2012 By Brandon 1 Comment

It’s about the movement of ice

a clot in the silent rain

A thick brown stink

seated in the chest

Denied loneliness

that stings rancid with longing

The hot sum of a too high price

The Advocate – a poem

December 28, 2011 By Brandon 1 Comment

Those you have turned from

I have held their hands

Those you have demeaned

I have wiped their tears

Those you have silenced

I have become their voice

Those you have buried

I will help to live again

What Do You Tell Him?

November 7, 2011 By Brandon 5 Comments

Meet Tyler.

Tyler’s dad found out he was homosexual and disowned him, denied that he ever existed, and threw him out of the house after beating him unconscious. Tyler is 14.

When he is on the street picking through dumpsters looking for something, anything, to eat, he thinks of all the times he heard his parents tell him that they would love him no matter what.

He recalls when he lay curled in his father’s lap while his daddy read to him. He remembers that he would drift off to sleep in his arms only to awaken the next morning tucked safely in bed. He thinks that this memory, which has suddenly left him trembling and near tears again, is only three years old. Just three years, when he was eleven, and didn’t really understand all the names and rage his father would throw at him later.

He wonders what his mom is doing now, why she never stepped forward and said, “Enough!” Why she never did anything on that night but cinch the curtain a little tighter when he turned and looked back at what used to be his home. Did she hate him too? [Read more…] about What Do You Tell Him?

Fear

November 1, 2011 By Brandon Leave a Comment

rendered like a stillness

in the eyes

where it flashes

its teeth

a full skeleton

under all we do

You don’t let my conscience sleep

October 25, 2011 By Brandon Leave a Comment

The title of this post reflects an email I received from a fan after he read The Value Of Rain.

And while I very much appreciated the sentiment behind his words, I never wrote Rain to do anything other than make people think and feel. As one recent reviewer wrote “If you are looking for something light to read, then The Value of Rain isn’t for you, but if you want to read a story that will wrench your heart and make you feel something, then give it a go.”

And please don’t misunderstand, because I enjoy escapist writing as much as anyone else. I’m a massive sci-fi fan and will quickly chomp down a series like a fat greasy cheeseburger, licking my finders and all!

But when atrocities come close to home; when you become witness to suffering that you could never imagine, then a voice must be made, a voice must heard. The Value Of Rain is a voice; the voice of people I knew and of things they suffered. It’s also voice of my own conscience trying to deal with the horrifying sorrow of what they felt comfortable talking with me about. And yes, several of the characters in the book are/were real people; some of the most humorous and some of the most tragic. I will leave you to decide for yourself which are real and which are fictional, and will not discuss that further. [Read more…] about You don’t let my conscience sleep