These are clips of the song Drummer which I wrote while I was in Milwaukee. I’ve been holding rehearsals with myself, and I had fun with this song because I added in some extemporaneous bits. Still catching up a bit after vacation, but almost caught up. Almost.
Tag: freedom
One Day, I Wandered Away
I drifted off on a warm summer breeze
There were no good-byes or tears to cry
Like the turning of a page to a new chapter
A different place, a new life, a strange way of being
Above the roads and trees and lakes
Floating higher than the birds and planes
Gravity holds me down no longer
Pure spirit in the world beyond
Am I alive or light or energy
Am I you and me and all that is
All that could be
Every potential disaster
Every possibility of joy
I hear you speaking to my home
But I have gone away
I’ve grown
I’m the tree standing in the forest
I’m the placid calming lake
I am the tallest mountain
The fastest winding snake
You ask me if I heard you
That and one million sounds as well
The scraping of the seam against my shoulder
The sock against my ankle shouting
That fly around the ceiling light is buzzing
Light hits a dust mote like a drummer drumming
I know you
And your violent ways
I’ll come back when you are finished
And speak gently to each bruise
One day I’ll take my body with me
One day I wandered well away
One day I was through with you
You melted in the river
Dissolved into the sea
You’ll never cross my path again
On that day, I will be free
So long now, I’ve been free

Released
Untangled heart still beating
Still
Each beat slowed
Steady
Strong
Ready
Not waiting
This day is unfolding in sunshine
This day is happening now
Inhale love
Exhale love
The world awaits me
Time’s grand illusion
Existence
When all there has ever been
And ever will be
Is right now
Full of magic and hope
Uplifted
Released
Glowing in the light

Tail Ends
There were stories told about her hair
How dangling out the window curved
A brave lover dared to climb
Who woo’d her time and time again
Until she fled captivity
Did she bundle up her locks to flee
Did she sheer them off and hide the key
Did she stay the course with lover dear
Or did she veer away when the path was clear
Around the campfires late at night
They sing the tale of tail’s poor plight
How clumps and strands of golden locks
Were found within the Bear’s porridge
Wrapped around the table and every chair
Mounded on each size of cot
No footprints leaving through the mud
The theory is she’d had enough
Grew wings and to the skies she took
This is how the golden eagle came to be
When we reach the end of gilded tails
Look up and tell me what you see

Sing Me
Hold that first note
Long and low
Walk down the scale in time
Those minor keys
Unlock me
Sing the cage door open
With harmonies I fly
In melody return
Lift up a voice that’s true
Sing me back together
Climb again the mountain
Sail upon the sea
Lose me in the forest
Rhymes and rhythm captured
Spirits freed enraptured
Loose me from this prison
Sing me pure and good
Sing me real and gritty
Sing me one more time
Sing me back to you

I Left You In the Mirror
Maybe you are crying still
Our eyes met briefly through the pane
When I walked away with no glance back
I thought I heard your hand tap gently
On the golden gilded frame
It’s been years since I last saw you there
Generations past
I think I see your shadow waver
Glimpses through the looking glass
I shut my eyes and turn away
This path is long and neverending
Quietly descending
Then loudly challenging the force
Of gravity’s heel clutching fingers
I won’t look
I left you in the mirror
And as far as I can care to know
You’re standing in there still
Yet I write these letters
Hoping that you’ll see
We’ve almost made it home now
Almost there
It won’t be long now
Almost free
And in the morning misty air
Shower fogged and steamy mirror
I thought I saw you wave to me
Still safe behind the glass
I held your gaze a moment
And made peace with the past

I went into my draft folder to delete this morning’s draft and found this titled, but unwritten post. As they do sometimes, the words flowed easily. When I went looking for a photo, I found this one captivating, and better than the image I thought I had been seeking.
Daily Poem – Constellation (with Audio) 11/24/2020
(Reposted with Sung Poetry link)
Take the shot, they said
I ran my finger around the rim of the glass
The fumes of insults bitter rose
Hard liquor is not for me, I tell them,
I remember when I drank that poison
Dancing lightly to the tune of other people’s dreams
I just slip out the back door, now
To smoke freedom in the alley
Walk out onto the sidewalk under lamp posts
Glowing golden in the night
To wander empty city streets and dream
Of communal integration and
Hopes of equitable contribution
My thoughts become a world renewed
By pleasant innovation
Before I know it, I’ve gone home
A waiting invocation to a peaceful
Destination brought by sleepy
Contemplation
In the morning, I will rise
Put some plans upon the table
Avoid stinging tribunals from defenders
Of the status quo
Fanciful rebellion built from cotton candy
Musings
Holding sacred all the precious beauty
Which has become the inspiration
For each flowering consolation
What is love if not the logical progression
Of earthly preservation plus
The deeply cultivated reverence
For each human’s common situation
Temporary permanence
On a trip or two around the sun
What have we won with greed
What have we lost with need
Unfulfilled and
Running headlong in between
The birthing and the grave
Full stop
Give me your hand
Let’s watch the sun caress the sky
Whether rising
Whether sinking
We are written within time’s eternal
Constellation

Dismantled
Apart came the cassette player
Tiny screwdriver unwinding tiny screws
The music box with the ballerina
Slowly spinning static above red satin
The fabric tugged out carefully
A mysterious mechanism released from its hold
No longer attached
Free
The work took place in secret
Spaces during times unlikely
To be distubed
Taking it all apart
How romantic
To try and see how it all worked
Springs and metal tines
And a spindle with well positioned bumps
Made music for the dancer
Why did she dance
How could she not
But
I was stymied at the circuit board
For recording every note
A small city with sculptured silver pyramids
Barrel buildings on their sides held aloft on metal legs
How poetic
To wonder what mysteries were held
In the little spaces
Colored beads of wonder
Against the green
And to put it back together
And to insure that it would work
Nothing broken
Nothing loose
No shred of evidence behind
Tiny tools were hidden
Until the next time
