Dreaming Again - with audio

audio link

I was dreaming again, of untroubled time
But the watchers came and killed the dream
Dressed in hollow lab coats white and clean
With no ears to hear my scream
And secret words behind the walls were spoken
My head hurt and inside my words were choking
The labor of my hand was turned against my name
Wide eye stares and rubber faces
Official chicken gibberish words spake out
Till from deep in the earth rose up anger's shout
My mind could no longer see,
But the grabbing of their collars and slapping of their faces
My words had not syllable, could write no sound, no cases
For the hideous creatures shrieking had no gentleness
The skinner box was closed and the righteousness
Of the headless invisible ones crushed all that was good
Breaking heart and will, looking on behind darkened hood
Oh so tired to carry, that which needs be buried 
The boxer had no place to strike at blood and clay
For the shadows on the wall had all run away
Back to their places behind the day
Back to where they'd been before
Little dictators one and all
Gone home caning in Singapore
Do not chase them, let them go
For anger doth kill the mortal soul,
They like spiders run to count vibrations
Caught up in coolie whispered lies
Those black hole bellied spies
Sucking out all life from the hive
Till they fall fast like broken lines
From the weight of shallow hollow spines.

Long Lost Ladd - with audio

audio link

LONG LOST LAD

I'm lookin for a long lost Ladd

I knew him well,

I Knew his dad

I found him on the doorstep

Saw him on the dialpad

But now he's gone away,

I hope not angry,

Perchance not sad

He climbed the bears nest

Divined the sailors' shipwreck

Now on land,

Then again on deck

Where'd he go now,

This son of the Titans

To feed the waif

And fill the wayward

With food and tale,

Folksong and ale

About the meek and strong

Beautiful in every heart drawn,

Till all with sleepy eyes it seems

Are ready for the comfort of dreams

'Tis said a hand on the helm

Gives warmth to the soul,

For those who know the pilot's skill

And so the winds whisper still.....

Laddy, where have you gone to son?

A Moment With the Torah - with audio

audio link

I grabbed hold of the Torah and hugged it close,
My head going into it's cover
Pressing against the softness of it's velvet
With eyes closed and in a moment
Before we began to sing
I felt my soul travel off to be with Him
Enraptured and enfolded
By His Almighty presence
For an instant
All cares and worries faded
I thought to myself
This must be what it is like
To pass from this world to the next
No thought of responsibility, toil,
Nor the weight of this life and others
Just a short time of peace in the warmth,
Comfort and shadow of His outstretched arm
Knowing the Sabbath rest,
But more than this
To be all enveloped
In stillness without desire
No intent did take me there,
Nor did it bring me back
It was the sound of our voices
Canting the words of the Torah processional
Down from Sinai Moses descends with
G-d's holy word in his hands
It was an auspicious time
A time when G-d's voice
Could be discerned in dreams
Not a voice of anger toward Pharaoh 
But one of love and correction
So that we might know for ourselves
Beyond mere trust,
But rather by experience
King Davids words of Psalm 23.

Winter Night - with audio

audio link

I love the winter night
The cold dark so stark and bright
No one out, none in site
Walk on for miles in silent moonlight

So peaceful is the fair
Midnight cleansing air
That washes over me
As my dog and I pass there

Stunning the resplendence
Of its pristine clarity
Like a mountain stream falling
Making soft the mind's horizon

Gently flowing
Carrying us along
While others sleep well
We continue on

All of us wrapped up together
In the watchful starry blanket
A sea of souls, the Painter's brush strokes
Canvasing the texture of innocence

Like one who takes my hand and
Calms that which tries to comprehend
The unending unseen extending out
Beyond the steps I set about

On to the unspoken blowing whispers
Over the white snow and black Terran lake
So refreshing to this ethereal kite
Pure and beautiful, the winter night

Some Kind of Purgatory - with audio

audio link

When the travelers' sleep began to thaw
The shadows had not yet gone to rest
A moment in the wall of cold, then harnesses buckled
Once again the iron gate called out its ancient sound
Beyond the colonnade and gardens two sprites shown
A lone sentry watched as we entered his regard
Marking our departure from the place of dreams
A coyote, that crooked shade, paused, then flew across the way
Opening an unseen lock to let our vessel pass
His bushy pale grey tail flagged us onward
Out and into the main channel's current,
Between the mouth of the railroad's black underbrush
And the opposing forest of cobalt house shrubbery
We passed by in our heated soap bubble
Black shadows danced about on the corner
As if driven by an oven's pungent breath
Like black flames in some kind of purgatory
There in the tender wisps of white morning mists
Dangling like bait on unseen strings
Until the great metal Leviathan
Came down hard and fast with a wail and a snort
To swallow everyone, his soul and future
Carrying them off like Jonahs to Nineveh
Where had they gone, to whom would they prophesy
My head turned round,
There my little one was left behind
To bathe at sun up in a cheery water polo soup
While I drifted on into the hazy blinding sky at high speeds
Then coughed out and delivered on the doorstep
Picking up where I'd left off and
Stepping into the clock of the dream breaker
I Slowly awakened to glare of florescent lights
With the warm smell of strong coffee
Pouring through my mind

Sleep

For now to sleep
The bygone way
To leave behind
The things of day
To travel on
A darkened stay
Into the light

Of thoughts and sprites
Forgone and last
To wrongs and rights

Beneath the mast
What cannot be
He must work past
In hungry rings
Of future's Milky Way
All the things
That we conceive
Flights of spirit,
Souls, you and me

G-d rocks the cradle ever gently
Into the not yet and spectral jello
Beyond the reach of fractured sun-ray

Blanket and pillow
On silken bedding bare
In the quiet stream
Of cool night air
Befuddled, troubled,
Peaceful, clear
Looking for one
Who passed by here
Through hallways long

In garden passages
Delighted to be swimming
Up in the breezes

While yet resting
With princes and sages
Unseen family testing
Help turn the pages
Enter one swept onward
Brave blind coward
Doors and currents please
With lilting birdsong
Unknowable day to seize

Clouds recline and kiss the dawn
Misting joy on sunlit buttercups
Bid the morning haze begone

Spreading out far and wide
Lifting spirit and every eye
Telling of the news
Herein lives another day.

Horse Hoof and Hound - with audio

audio link

Upon hearing the sound
Of  horn, hoof and hound
Like mountain streams gone river bound
Refreshing waters underground
In canyons deep where oceans abound
Done round and round and round
He ventured and stumbled on like a funny clown
To the peopled boroughs where the lights shown
Up and down around the mounds
Over the hills and statued lawns
In distant floating nights
In breezy chirping dawns
On his face grew dew and sun
Guiding to the place and town
Of schooled and steepled vagabond
Where the only safe one
Was the rabbit on the run

The glory was great and wine ran freely
Kisses like roses, fragrant, blushing and lively 
Those in tails and wedding gowns danced gaily
Rocking babies in their cribs slept well
Old ones rested and blessed the spell
With stories long gone and present to tell
So the spinning spun along in the dell
And all things seemed well done and said
When on the green the fox turned red
Startled by the black sound of a gun
Well before it's shout the race had begun
Come spring, come summer, come fall undone
For life and horizon
Origin and destination
Cursing, fighting and alienation
Creating, loving, with much dedication
Toil, blessing and damnation
Prayer, song and coronation
Flowers, fowlers and commendation
Prosperity, fools gold, joy and lamentation
Of living, dying and regeneration

Till the muted coo coo looked on without animation
In the pasture cows lowed to slow the expectation
Time's point ever sharpening while dulling sensation,
Shot an arrow from a distant quiver
Below, Country and  town  began to shiver
Breath on his lips was fleeting, and the clouds fickle
Southward Ducks and Geese looked down like angels
Upon each newborn calf, lamb and foal
The bell in the in the market place began to toll
With howling the windswept snow-squalls flew
Slowly hands of ice on placid waters grew
Then all was calm in his mind's landscape view
All he had been and done, those he'd loved and known
'Till the days were gone and scattered shadows shew
Now lain aside were cap and gown
As vacant white sleep lay quiet on frozen ground
Silently, fly away, fly away sight and sound
Far from his bosom, where he lay down 
With the earth his bed, the cold his blanket,
The snow his pillow, G-d his comfort,
And death his crown.

The Well of Night - with audio

audio link

The Well of night is frightening
The dark hides many things
To look therein is fearful
What is found there is terrifying
Inside the broken rings it brings

The Sunlight sinks down upon the barrier
Reflecting on the surface of it's pool
And gives me strength like a warrior
To carry on strong, yet my heart is cool
I dare not peer into that place

For this strength is weakness that must pass
In that day far away but sure
When tidal season brings the rain
To wash away the dredge of sludge
To drain away the underwater pain

When night is broken and peace shall reign
There baby and elder, sick and unwanted
Large and insignificant are to gain
Then I will lose myself in clear blue sky
On resting vapor's floating sigh

With stars for companions by and by.

A Prayer for loved ones - audio link

 audio link

Oh the pain, Oh the pain
For my loved ones
And their fading strength
Like a breath that I cannot catch
Like the fleeting moment that is past
As I climb a mountain of emotion
To the pinnacle of prayer
There I spy release from evil's lair
For my beloved ones tender and slight
To see them struggle against darkest night
Oh Lord fan the spark of life
His assurance calms my fright
I do not know where they travel
In His ship of peace can be no evil
I take comfort in this right spirit

Oh the pain, Oh the pain
Of my loved ones ripped away
Their faces fade to black and white
Speaking softly in my night of their day
Showing me things I'd long forgotten
They clap for me while I play
Silently they tread away
From my field of cotton
In their eyes a knowing look
Welled up with tears of joy
My heart is sad and lachrymose
With the longings of a boy
To be enfolded again in arms now lost
Where they are I cannot be
Where they be I surely go
To the deep black night of heaven's sea

When the sun shall wash away our memory
And we embrace at the end of day
Restored anew in Love's endless country.

Time and Being - with audio

audio link

The twisting cloudy mists
Of all that we seek to grasp
Slips away to become
That which we think we wanted
And when we find ourselves
In the place of our desire
A pebble comes to break up
Our reflection in the pool of vision
At that instant the crash of time appears
Violently to rip away part of our life and
For a fleeting moment we come
Face to face with our mortality
In the cold damp tomb of
Our now uncertain future
No matter how we distract ourselves
In the flurry of life
A piece of us shudders
Waiting for the shock of death
To deliver us into
The still and roaring presence of the Eternal.