El-Branden Brazil

Photographer, Writer & Mystic Traveller

Posts by El-Branden Brazil

Forgiveness

It is true
That as I lie here
In my final throes
I recall with painful clarity
All the suffering I had caused.

It is true
That I regret so much
And if I could
I would resolve right now
Every hurt, every scold
Every pain that you endured.

It is true
My life is ending.
How I could have lived it well
If I had listened
Been a friend
Instead of selfish, mean and cruel.

It is true
It is ALL true
That I had done you great wrong
And now as I lie here dying
With you sat there
By my side.

It is true
That your kindness brings shame
As you talk and hold my hand.
For if our roles had been reversed
I doubt
I would have done the same.

It is true
Your compassion helps me
Understand all that I have missed
And in my desperate fading moments
I have this chance to make amends.

It is true
I beg forgiveness
As my body begins to fail
To which you gently inform me
That you forgave me long ago.

 – By El-Branden Brazil

Photography by El-Branden Brazil

Photography by El-Branden Brazil

Shattered

Shattered dreams shredded
Upon a stage of broken glass:
Beneath lies crystal shards
Disintegrating on mass.
Above the dark abode of night
Hangs low upon the hearts deceased.
Talons grasping at tearing flesh.
Mauled corruption released.
Poison clawing into the minds of those deposed
In coup detat by generals.
And for a brief glance
Upon the winding frosted path,
The prisoners of life abound –
Their shackled minds executed
Like slaughtered beasts in an abattoir.
Death delivers gentle whispers
Into the torn ears of each,
And the Blind Man on a distant perch
Observes through punctured eyes.

– El-Branden Brazil
Copyright 9th. September, 2002 –

Drawing by El-Branden Brazil

Drawing by El-Branden Brazil

When Swords Collide

When I was young, I had fanciful notions that perhaps, one day on earth, world peace could be achieved. Now that I am mature, I recognise the value of contrasting ideas. Indeed, contrasting ideas are the fuel of any civilisation. As Hegel was aware, it is in the conflict of a thesis versus an antithesis, the fruition of synthesis (new ideas) are born. Thankfully, most can have conflict of thoughts that go no further than just argumentative discourse. However, the most extreme expression of opinions is war.

The reality is that for civilisation to continue being vibrant, progressive and dynamic, in contrast to being sterile, stagnant and uniformed, expressions of rebuke and rebellion, including war, are an inevitable part of the human condition.  It doesn’t mean I like it, but rather I accept it.  The Universe is both a place of great beauty and great violence, and we are an inseparable part of this equation.  Like a river, there will always be times of calm and turbulence, varying in length and intensity.

As that may be, I find it worthwhile to try to contribute in whatever way, towards encouraging positions of peace, calm and non-violence, in an attempt to quell unnecessary suffering and conflict. There is always an alternative to violence, and those heated by passion and anger, must be reminded so. No blood need be drawn for any ideological posture we uphold. We must ALL hold paramount the sanctity and quality of ALL life, even with those we disagree with.

Photography by El-Branden Brazil

Photography by El-Branden Brazil

An Epiphany

A random moment allowed me to be conceived. I gestated in the womb of my mother for nine months, unaware of the life that awaited me outside. On the day I was born, I breathed my first breath. As time passed, the world slowly came into focus, as I gained the awareness that comes with growing pains.

In my teens, my place in the vast universe became apparent. I would sit out in my parent’s garden, on cool British summer evenings, staring at the seemingly endless starry sky above. Sometimes, I felt a cold loneliness. Whilst at other times, a sense of oneness.

As I continued to mature, I began to sense and question deeply the social restrictions enforced upon me by individuals I did not know, but who seemed to think they were empowered to control my destiny; my brief, fleeting moment at existing. I looked around, and saw so many of my colleagues and friends accepting this status-quo, as if it had been written in the very fabric of space and time. That life should be routine, rigid and monotonous. That it was okay and expected that during our brief moment to live, we should commit our precious time to endless commuting to workplaces, embrace soul-crushing conformity and the conditions laid out by companies, whose only interest are profits and how best to enslave us, without us noticing. Their trick, to just barely reward our efforts adequately with nothing more than pieces of paper, we are told to be of some worth.

In this twisted vision, so devoid of any connection to true reality and the long-forgotten cyclical rhythms of the precious planet, we wallow in the madness of greed, dependency and apathy, whilst the elite continues to grow ever more powerful, gorging itself sickeningly upon the spoils of its victories.

And let us not forget, how easily young men and women are sent to their deaths upon a distant battlefield, that those manipulating reality will never see with their own eyes, or be prepared to spill their own blood upon. They will just sit comfortably, monitoring and collecting data about the legions that we make, imprisoning and questioning anyone whose eyes have been opened.

The present world order is a rigged game, created by a few. It doesn’t have to be this way. This is OUR world! We have a birth given right to do what we wish with her, and that should be to do nothing, other than to realign ourselves with her rhythms again. To respect her. To share her fairly, so that no one need starve again or live in horrendous poverty.

As Machiavelli pointed out in The Prince, a king can only be a king if the people allow him to be. Of course, the king will try to coax and manipulate the loyalties of his subjects, through either rewards or punishment. But, the people will always have the power. They just need awakening.

Photography  by El-Branden Brazil

Sunrise On The Nile – Photography by El-Branden Brazil

The Day Has Come

The day has come!
We knew it would.
We waited patiently.
The birds have stopped singing.
The skies have turned black;
Within the clouds we see.
What can we do on such a bleak day?
What can any of us say?
I sit,
I lift a violin for a melancholic tune,
While television continues to drivel on
And the radio tells us how to tell.
A signal bursts forth to assert
Conditions of life in the Afterworld.
Now materialistic folly observed;
Why did it take this catastrophe
To tell us what it’s really worth?
And all that we have built
Has become worthless, pointless, short of Spirit;
An aimless hording of all we value;
A failing the cause of our reckoning.
And now it’s here upon us bare –
The Inevitable Day:
The Foresight of Aeons.
The loss of one is always startling;
The loss of all is desperately overwhelming.
The cultural ego of our race
Broken, torn and to be erased.
Nothing can save us –
Nothing will,
While our minds visualise their final resting place.
 
– El-Branden Brazil
Copyright 31st July, 1999 –
Painting by El-Branden Brazil

Painting by El-Branden Brazil

Hollywood Film Noir

When I recently visited Los Angeles, I wanted to create a shot of the world-famous Hollywood sign that captured a sense of foreboding and danger in the style of a 1940s film noir.

Photography by El-Branden Brazil

Photography by El-Branden Brazil

Forgotten Burma Photography

I love revisiting folders of photography I shot a few years ago.  Inevitably, I always come across images that somehow were overlooked and forgotten.  It is amazing how the passage of time and a fresh eye can often reveal hidden gems.  Here are some forgotten images I took in Burma, in 2012.

Photography by El-Branden Brazil

Photography by El-Branden Brazil

Photography by El-Branden Brazil

Photography by El-Branden Brazil

Photography by El-Branden Brazil

Photography by El-Branden Brazil