Castle

All it seems I ever build are castles made of sand

Tall and preen by my will to crumble down again

Scattered by the passing breeze or trailing tail of wave

Far away from raging seas yet not a single have I saved

Could one be held in place by some unknown greater force

Despite greatest effort to find, none have stayed the course

Crustaceans conspire against my plans to level them again

And floating fish are saddened by the trembling of my hands

By determination they steady and gather back once more

Collecting finest particles with bones and joints still sore

Perhaps these jewels are just too hard to make them to cohere

Still too sharp at points, brittle too, and not so crystal clear

Though they may hope as prisms to widely disperse rays

They fall back into random crags leaving a lonely maze

The grains themselves battered by rising tide and salt

Restrain their hopes and their vigour bringing to a halt

The kind of collective intentionality needed for true bond

If could be saved by incantation, by word & waving wand

I’d draw a circle and gather gales to assist this wobbly wizard

To leave behind those frames of mind of earlier affect blizzard

For the sun it can warm well-worn hands spurring creative action

To gather once again the sands and sculpt to true satisfaction

This Sisyphean cycle casts meaning far off and to the side

It’s not the end or goal that glistens but only playful eyes

The gulls know this and so let air to carry all their burdens

With shovel I twist and pile high, renewed feeling returning

My castle may not long stand, by end of day it is only beach

But the memories of it just by my side I cherish one & each

- Brandon Fenton 2014

Silly Little Love Poem

The soft serenity between us as we

Gaze past wide opened pupils to see

Breathing together in tender tethers

All that we behold naught may sever

I am reminded of a home long ago lost

A promised joy, how paths are crossed

To hold your hand and in silence know

Through time & trials to me you’ll show

Beyond the pale of age earned by change

The form and frailty of just what remains

That profoundly delicate and precious us

Wholeness of our beings together in trust

Within your caring contact I am immersed

I end weary longing, bring drink & thirst 

Strong arms cradle the small of your back

Cheek presses ear, my breath on your neck

By the scent of your hair, I swoon in bliss

Awakening the hunger I wish not to resist

Touch triumphs with words found wanting

Creating closeness persistent and haunting

With slowly approaching passion lips meet

Stripped of all fashion, untamed contact heat

Organic fusion to excite fresh deconstruction

Free flowing movements & loving instruction

Selflessness as only found in one well centered

Touch, dancing movements, mutually mentored

Sacred subtlety of what your faint sounds show

What you disclose to me, and no one else knows

I see and accept in you what you might be & are

Things kept inside, hid from light, shared in dark

Temporal tensions no longer trouble purest of art

Beholden to the present moment, no end nor start

I uncover true you, and you me, in timeless now

A forgotten without rhyme or reason question how

Could be sustained or perhaps stay in locked embrace

We stained abandoned strays strong in animal grace

Though we reflect each to the other in even measure

We are more than mirrors & this is more than pleasure

Our ligature is love which originates with life as source

Nothing is prefigured, we are inspired by creative force

You may close your eyes, for I will stay by your side

But open your heart to all that my affection provides

There’s no shame in acknowledging one’s true needs

We shelter each other, careful in both word and deeds

Lay with me now, your hand and head upon my chest

Hear our hearts beat close each by the other buttressed

- Brandon Fenton 2014

Resonance

Reality itself is made more palpable when we are in proximity

A word, a glance, a gesture, the source and fullness of intimacy

The paradoxical fake-ness of buzzing surroundings more apparent

The hurried commotion of hollow lives lay bare, sore, transparent

But the importance of every breath taken couldn’t be more deeply felt

Comfortably anxious in the shaken chaos and still calmness we dwelt

We resonate like instruments making powerful music in unison

Our own sympathetic contributions to a greater co-transformation

Evolving emotions match the messy melody at every moment

An oversight here, a misstep there, it’s all over in an instant

Heartbeats keep the time

Heartbreaks track the distance

With strings struck and frayed we are resilient

As things discarded and betrayed we are defiant  

Holding out it seems to find that one true sound

Fearful yet forging on for a safe common ground

Our sense of community mixed with that of autonomy

Our defense of life continuity fixed through individuality

Great healers know from the inside the most punishing of pains

It’s how they bring true healing, subduing wildfires with delicate rains

Great warriors too know by experience the most terrible losses and defeat

It’s what they draw upon for the next charge and steels them against retreat

The enemy often is at once both without and within

We fight on two great fronts the inner and outer twin

But we must prevail the stakes are too great not to

Though we fail, we rally, and still we push through

The dark times ahead cannot for long be concealed

But within us each is wild light that does not yield

For the sake of lights not yet lit and others now dim

We tame the wanton & reckless abuse, greed & whim

Those with great vision sometimes fail to see their flaws

Reduced by faltering decision, flailing, not taking pause

We endure things far too rough to have such soft skins

Yet the source of what we need to thrive radiates within

-Brandon Fenton 2014 

Cement

If you would only get off of my chest I might breathe
Enough for broken rhythm ticker half-hearted squeeze
 
Pleasing the comfort of reached position you believe
Dependant upon trickery and all those you deceive
 
Easily led and with much less effort slaughtered
Self-contained drama centres beyond "I" not bothered
 
This myopic trance purchased by individualist autonomy
Divided and conquered no connection, no synchrony
 
Not a one to raise the flag or sound genuine alarm
Hiding in mental mazes to escape personal harm
 
Only words left now to assault these partition walls
Gather strength the few  hardened edge precipice fall
 
And stalled out engines no longer turn over
Safe to repeat same pattern cycles habit lover
 
But only if sudden collapse had potency to engender
Surrender of failing ways open invite abiding splendour  

Still seems everything is not yet lost to us
Need turn from fake wants answer honest must
 
Supposing life persistently finding alternate way
Turned off by the black and white now cemented in the grey
 
Quicksand sunk pressure building upon surrounding rust
The interlocking segments of slag walking all over us

- Brandon Fenton 2014