In this episode of Wendy Says Things, I talk about how we may not get to win, but that’s okay, it’s not a battle or at least it doesn’t have to be.
Author: Wendy Kheiry
If Only – Acoustic Original
Lost and Found
Were you lost, then
Abandoned?
Were you left tied
And standing still
Did the seeds take root
Did they grow prosperous
From your own demise
And were you found once
By a ghostly soul
Running barefoot in the shade
And were you captured then
Alight within
Were you glowing to the brim
And were your shadows haunted
By a spirit or a sprite
Did hope grow there despite
The feelings gloom and dim
And were you celebrated
Were you cherished anyway
As she held you there forever
In her heart until this day
Were the past and future stunned
Did the moment steal your breath
Do you wonder can she feel you
Yet
So far away again
You can hear the answer
Can’t you
With the rustle through the leaves
She’s bound to come once more
There in the woods there by the glen
And touch you softly with her
Love and with her sin
Wendy Kheiry

Thoughts on Production
Yesterday as I was driving willy-nilly across Southern Indiana, somewhat lost and going in the wrong direction, Fancy Car came up on the playlist and I was so tickled with it I played it twice. This was followed directly by one of the songs from Celestial Tryst, Stargazing, and I played that twice too.
I laughed with delight. All of that hard work became this. If you could see me, I’m gesturing. My imperfect works out in the world holding what value they will to the listeners who hear them and play them more than once. Working with Rosalie on both Celestial Tryst and Patchwork Blue has been extraordinary. She pushes me past my perfectionist tendencies where I would maybe get bogged down by doubt and self-consciousness.
Even as I’m busy producing – audio, video, artwork, CDs, social media content, it was good to be lost driving and going the wrong direction because it brought me to the realization of accomplishment, a moment to enjoy something I created.
I found the way to my destination eventually.
If you haven’t taken a moment to listen to Celestial Tryst, I hope you press play and listen to all three tracks. We worked thematically on these songs. I hope you enjoy them.
Thank you for your support and encouragement.
Acoustic Project
I’ve been in the studio playing and recording some acoustic originals.
This is the accumulation of the past year’s playing out at open mics, writing lyrics, composing music, and honing each song. There’s still some work to do before the tracks are ready to master and distribute, but I am and I will be adding tracks up on SoundCloud to preview.
I, Caress
I, Caress
Tickling the leaves on the trees
How they dance with delight
I lift a strand of your hair
But do you hear my giggle
A touch on a bare arm
I lift the autumn colors
Swirling and skipping along
The concrete, the grass, the asphalt
In another moment I stream
Warm and soft light from the source
I part clouds gently and touch the earth
Illuminating the flowers, a branch, a patch
The top of your head and the tip of your nose
But do you feel the hum of the universal
A deep breath and I dive and expand
A splash of a gull and the lap of a wave on bare feet
I rush the shore again and again pushing pebbles
Mixing sand into my rhythm
It is elemental
This transformation
A remembrance of otherness
Free spirit takes any shape or form and connects
I, Caress
Life itself with a tender touch
My friend, I will never leave you without this I spark in the pit flames leaping radiant to the sky
One with the stars
Do you see me there in the fire while you burn inside

Silence Became Her
Sleeping voice
Dreaming
Every letter hidden
Every word saved
Precious
Planted
In the dark

Celestial Tryst Released Today!
Streaming everywhere today, these tracks of love and hope are available everywhere you listen!
More about the behind the songs, find the lyrics, and embedded tracks here
Related links and music platforms here
Photo credit: Ashley Arnold
Thank you all so much for your support, for listening, and for your great big hearts!

Weeping for Abigail (With audio)
Sunset certainly the sun glowed orange yellow pink
Near the lake by the huge weeping willow
Glinting lies rippling across the top of the water rustling
Now smooth
And it rained
Circles overlapping one another in impossibilities
It was always raining
The low clouds hugging the spirit in a damp uncomfortable grip
Meaty fingers digging into arms or thighs
Faint hint of juicy fruit gum and aquanet
I should pick better words for the sunset colors
What word is more pink than pink or that shade of orange which
Hovers and blends between the hot pink and the glowing yellow
Golden salmon peaches blues
And the dark dark water under the glinting
swallowing the colors
Until they shine palatable
The grey tabby brushes loose hairs against
Knee high socks
The design is lovely, not quite lace but pointelle
I want to pet her and I reach
The reprimand is as fast
I pet anyway
I belong to no one
Hissed rebukes and I will pay for it later
I would no matter what
Pets or no pets
The tabby and I are commiserating
There is too much noise and nodding and tight smiles
Grief stricken eyes but they don’t know the depth
And breadth of it
They think they weep for the person who died
That they weep for those of us left behind
But in the end I am sure
Everyone is weeping for Abigail
Look at her she purrs
Her fur is soft and gently striped
Her whiskers are white and stiff
A minister says he and she and they are with God now
And no longer in pain
The water glints
Are you sure about that
Why then do we weep for Abigail
If big Ned is no longer
And Sissy’s in the grave
And Aunt Delila’s coffin slowly lowered
And the dirt’s thrown down
A clod
Pad pad pad and a soft strike
Retracted claws and still there’s a snag
On a pointelle knee high sock
It’s grey too the socks
The corduroy dress, the thin kind not that
Ropey thick stuff
Shoes are tossed in a corner by a door
Wooden floors beg for sliding
Even as the dirt comes out in hushed whispers
No one is good enough to avoid speculation
Was it the pills or the heart
Had someone found out about a scandal
Was there a scandal
How scandalous that there’s nothing to speculate
Was he or she or they just boring and dull
And the sun is setting and setting and will never
Fall beyond the horizon and this is hell
This landscape of midwestern church clothes
And sensible shoes
And corduroy and tabby cats who speak in gestures
And rolling throat noises
Feet are sliding on the wooden floors and someone
Says stop that
And someone else says let her be she doesn’t understand
But we are all gathered together for ever
Weeping and weeping for Abigail
I’m sorry you are weeping too
I’m sorry no one escapes it
The Sun sets and the rain falls and the water
Absorbs more water and the circles overlap
And the weeping willow falls into the lake
Drowning
The earth has a gap now
A ripped up shredded space where a giant
Of motherly love once stood
The secret behind every tear drop
Is the how the blood of the tree flows
Without ceasing and everyone who has ever
Laid on the floor and cried
Or faced the ceiling as silent tears slide onto a pillow
Weeps for Abigail
All weeping for Abigail
And they don’t know it yet
But when they lie stiff in satin lined boxes
Wearing the nicest set of clothes they hated
Their spirit has finally understood what it means
Because the stocking covered feet no longer slide on the wooden floor
No one is there to pet the grey tabby
There’s no thighs or arms to pinch and grab
No laughter shouting crying out defiant
There is a ghost animating a body
Abigail is dead and they can’t see her until
They cross the veil
They know then they were always weeping for Abigail
They know then they were always Abigail
A ghost animating a body and not understanding
The glinting of light on the water
Or how sunset lasts forever
Or that it’s good to be notorious

Quill Unsheathed
How quickly some learn
To rewrite reality
With carefully chosen words
Replacing illusion for truth
They have chosen the quill
Wielding ink carefully
Constructing the vision of the world
As they wish it
Avoiding accountability
For they have written only of their innocence
Denying their misdeeds with accusations
Clever, clever
A brief smirk gives them away
Though they now feel invisible again
True nature hidden
They sigh in relief
The one who sees
Allows this for now
Having long battled the quill
Implacable and unresisting
Standing strong in the truth
Knowing the accounting comes for us all
One day
