Salutation

A couple couplets more, until then,
May the wind fare thee well again and again ..
- and to all, fly ye like the wren,
Far above the company of common men,
Nay, beyond mear words,
In the peaceful presence of the great - I Am.

In the Green of Eden's Shade

We the ones that He hath made

In the green of Eden’s shade

Shall we not in this new day

Unto Him render praise

Glorious in power

Wonderful in might

Follow we His holy light

In His Prince do we find peace 

Gracious mercy our hearts to keep

High upon the mountain shelf

Kiss the one who is our help

Upon Him cast our entreaty

Who holds creation in entirety

Great, the Lord strong and mighty

Come to Him for every good

Away with evil stone and wood

Cry out in the darkest night

To Thee o star of morning bright

Calms He the lion and ocean’s roar

Standing by the fire, on the seashore

Knocking at one and every heart's door

Blessed be He who comes in the name of the Lord
Holy is His Name now and forevermore

A False Prophet's Bed

It’s not right, just not fair
The purity, justice, honesty
So hide the sunshine, sow despair

Too many varieties of  flavor
Rather, show an empty chair
Not Vanilla, nor Chocolate spice to savor
No, offer but water scented air

Slap the tender cheek
Report the action kind
Mislead and maim the meek
Bring roses and lavender to mind
While serving the rotting rind

A curse upon your tongue
A blight upon you hand
Within you flames have begun
Beneath your feet sulfurous sand

If this pen of grief and anger
Could but become an ax
‘Twould gut this play asunder

Nobody to listen
No one to care
Looking out the window
Nary a one there

A bus load of empty seats
A trick without treats
The stupidity continues
None questions or seeks
No original syllable speaks

Social thought control
In each plebeian soul
Flatten every forehead
In a fight for old bread

Yes dumb it all down
Lend a thoughtless frown
Repeat and regurgitate
Think hard and meditate
Imprison minds and then restate

Tell the sheep what is fair
Then all may march
Single file without care
But for the grace of Truth
Go we all there

Does the voice make your head
A false prophet's bed?
Do the words in your heart
Tell you where to start?

Television grows the mold
Allows dark fear to take hold
Hide the shepherd, do what is told
Clever black contemplation
A corrupting manipulation

No content to the schools
From empty headed fools
Teaching politically correct shoulds
And silly faux science falsehoods


Sober shouting common-ism
Parading with fanatic fatalism
But we say nay to faceless oligarchs
In the headless speak of media arts
And scribbling lines in legal courts

We’ll not trade in our parents
To buy pawns with magic talents
Nor purchase pairs of Nike shoes
With our souls for your empty blues

We’re not changing our religion
So unwinds the mechanism
With the help of love from God above
Eyes and self, averted from the perverted,
From the cold edifices of heartless love

Unseeing, unknowing in demise
Yet, self proclaimed as wise
Despicable and broken in disease

Rejected and ejected
Now unprotected
Not one suspected
Un-whole and dejected
The unholy thing reflected
Thoroughly disrespected
Evil unelected
Deceptions inspected
Propaganda dissected
Destroyed and disconnected

Grieving tears cleanse all the earth
Washing away ideas without worth
And the bloody corpus lay slain
As many spirits arise in rebirth
Lifted far above the dull and vain

As the weathervane
Points toward heaven’s plane
The tides of consequence fall
Blanketing death lies in a burial pall

Covering the green ivy’s stain
Of the utopian power in shame 
Each owner to frighten and appall
Red faces turned ashen in pain
In the Light cast down upon all.

Red Wine Divine

The red wine
Is divine
Softens I suppose
The Lachrymose
Symbol and sign
That rising overflows
This heart of mine.

Firebird's Flamenco

The curtain was black

The artists’ clothing black

Black was the night outside

In the darkened theater 

For what seemed an eternity
Then came the leviathan

Swimming steadily toward the surface

Through the ages of time and

Within the souls of each gathered there

As she broke through the waters

The sky fell in a red wall of pain

Wailing, the gypsy woman’s voice cried out

Again and again riding upon mighty waves

Outside the leaves in the trees trembled 

No word dared speak

No sound showed itself

So the spell began

A people had danced 

On the edge of sword and flame

Now one of those wanderers

Danced before the hungry eyes

Of all who huddled together 

For the comfort of something lost

There rising up from the ashes 

Then settling down again and again

Alighted the Firebird

Fierce and proud was her beauty

Noble was her every movement

Attacking and feigning

Sailing, swooping, striking

Stretching up to her sisters the stars

Moving to the rhythm of ancient melodies 

The guitars strummed and 

Picked out each note with excellence

The singers voices sang on 

Like a tempest of swirling emotion

Carrying all of our spirits with them  

Along the course of the starry heavens

Together with the moon 

They stirred the many waters

Given power from the sun 

They penetrated every beating heart

Restless the caravan again moved on

Like Bedouins heavy laden with memories

To a land peopled with bazaars and silk

Overflowing with Jasmine and saffron

Tea, rosewater, bright red poppies and poetry

Rising up in the smokers contemplations

Hopes and dreams climbed and fell 

With the waves of heat like a mirage

Hardships and persecution came

With riches, sweetness, children and tradition

But when oppression spilled over

Against her people

Like ink upon the parchment 

The Firebird fierce as she was 

Could shelter their souls 

Like chics within her wings,

For only a few dynamic moments

Great and powerful was her magic, 

Spreading out 

In graceful complexity 

In each step

Every challenge, 

Every regal pirouette

Commanding head cock

Noble bearing and generous gesture

Powerful and loving

But this handsome people

Flowed like a river 

Winding and cutting across the land, 

A majestic life force

As free and indomitable

As the Flamenco’s fire of red and black

A people that could not be counted 

A generation that could not be imagined 

Nor could their spark be contained

So the Firebird in her great wisdom

Summoned that most monstrous of sea creatures

The Behemoth , commanding that he 

Swallow up the vast stream of souls, and

Carry them far away to a place in the sun

Where they might live and prosper once more

The majestic and glorious Firebird 

Having accomplished her mission 

Bridled and harnessed the winds

Flying away with mighty strokes of her powerful wings

Radiant and triumphant

Over the curvature of the earth and sky

Through the suns rays and clouds above 

Until she reached the mountains of red clay

That place of old 

Where she and her children had once dwelled

But had long ago been cast out of 

There the Firebird touched down

The people dressed in black 

Pierced the silence 

Filling the earth once more

With their enchanted music 

The gypsies held each heart hostage 

A prisoner to the rich 

Undulating palpitations

Of their songs and words

Locking in our very being for a time

While the Firebird allowed her self

To unfold her magnificent wings

Dancing, strolling, strutting about 

Stepping, spinning, posturing

Freezing still, statuesque 

Gently moving, slowing time

Transforming herself into 

A beautiful rainbow plumed peacock

In order that she might now 

Express with exuberance 

The Joy and pleasure 

She had in the knowledge 

That her people were safe

The Firebird exalted 

In the pride of sharing 

The mosaic of their story

The artists in black played

Out of the black their voices sang

The curtain was black, and 

Black was the night outside

Inside the darkened theater

For what seemed an eternity
Then, the Lights came up

With them the audience also

At once on their feet

Overflowing in emotions 

Erupting with shouts and hands clapping 

The Midwives together with the Firebird 

Had labored feverishly and a child had been birthed

Arm in arm they danced and sang a little more

Once again the crowd stood up as one celebrating 

Bursting with happiness and wonder  

Swept up in the experience of the moment

While quietly hidden away

Intertwined with their effusive expression

Somewhere within themselves, 

In the inner chambers of being,

They also wept, having taken hold of

The scarlet ribbon of the Firebird’s Flamenco 

Leading back to the past

Remembering the rivers of Babylon 

Running deep

Beneath the myriad blessings and pleasantness

Of this present season. 

Brava, Bravo - Leilah Broukhim and fellow Flamenco artists