Dancer
I am a hope in my mother’s heart
I am her first, an Illinois boy
I am a California convert, a flower child… Douglas Iris
I am a new teen in the summer of love
(Lead voice): I am, I am life, life simply is, and so we are
(Backing voices): Life is the Dancer, I am a Dance
I’m a prog rocker and a music major
I’m a New York dreamer and a city player
I’m a world renouncer and a spiritual spelunker
I’m a group mind disappearance, and
An awakened autonomist
Chorus
I’m an illicit lover and a vow breaker
I’m a guitar whisper and a life-long songster
I’m a committed partner and a garden romancer
I’m a son and a brother, friend beloved and the other
Step dude and mentor, incessant song inventor
I’m a rainbow wizard and a hawk brother hermit
I’m a deep connector with the Bear-Muffin spirit
I share the heart and I am the steward of this
Rainbowland dimension
I am the living remembrance in the hearts of those who knew me
When I was still the steward of this body
I am, I am life, life simply is, and so we are
Life is the Dancer, I am a dance
Never Alone
Who knows?…
Maybe the time is finally here
Whatever that means
Depends on what you believe
Living uncertainly
Birds sing
The animal world is fully alive
The Virus is here
People are filled with fear
Humans are dying everywhere
Is there a message in this?
Is there a reason?
Is there a god in the mix?
Virus is here… is here… the Virus is human
This is the answered prayer
The Virus is the answered prayer
The birds are abundant
The trees are vibrant
The river is flowing
The Virus is coming
Humans dance without a care
Time to get clear in ourselves
The planet is healing
Time to get over ourselves
Virus is here… its here… for the humans
Breathe deep in the moment
Breathe love in the moment
Someone is watching
Someone feels as we do
Into the darkness we go
Never alone
I don’t know…
Maybe the time is finally here
Where else would it be?
Now is a wait and see
In this time of uncertainty
Virus is here…. It’s coming… it’s us
Hold the Vision
It’s cold and dark, the wind is howling
I see beginnings of new light on the horizon
I hold the vision. I see it.
I see the shadows now receding
I see this light become the meadow
I hear the echoes of new life coming
The sound of waters through an empty creek bed
I hold the vision. I see it.
Pastel rainbow waves of light illuminate the darkness
Rays of hope are manifesting in my heart
I dare to hold the vision, I invoke a rainy season
Of earth rejuvenation, a heart-felt revelation
Of softness, kindness and love
I hold the vision. I see it.
Focus
The world where I live is getting smaller
And everything within is getting bigger
I can feel the moment disappearing into forever
There’s no expanding life without relationship
The spark of that expansion is a response
The magic in the moment comes through focus
The focus sparks the prana of life force
When you fly over a town, you see nothing
When you’re driving through a town, it’s shapes without a story
When you’re walking through a town, you see faces
When you stop right where you are
You see the light in someone’s eyes
You see the life that fills the tree
Through focus…
The magic comes through focus
The prana comes through focus
The life force is focus
Freedom
Freedom… what is freedom?
The space to be autonomous and unique
What is freedom
The respect of that autonomy and uniqueness in the other
Freedom is
A feeling of relaxation irrespective of circumstance or story
Freedom is
A knowing that while all stories will pass, all life continues
Freedom is unbridled and spontaneous in it’s discernment
Freedom is acting without hesitation
When the clarity of unresisted impulse is present
Freedom is honest, in thought, vibration and expression
In oneself and with others
Freedom is unconditional love
Where vulnerability is the measure of strength
The Dimension of Subtle Contrast
I can imagine living in a realm of subtle contrast
Vibrating close to center, with ever new satisfaction
Not craving new sensation, not wildly ecstatic
Without pain and misery, without all this suffering
A life-long meditation of focused inspiration
Of insight and discovery, expanding creativity
Understanding incarnation, while knowing my eternity
That realm exists within me, responding to my choosing
God Talk
This much seems clear to me
That the purpose of life is ever-new joy
And the inevitable result of life is the expansion of awareness
I recognize the vitality of contrast in joy’s becoming
And still as one reaching in to you from the trenches
I question the degree of your reliance on suffering
As the catalyst for that expanding joy
Suffering suffocates the spirit and scars appreciation
With vicious claws, you tear away the dragon scales of
Our insensitivity and our disconnection
But at what cost?
I submit that it is too much to ask of
Your vehicles of experience
It demonstrates a heartless inhumanity
And in that, you set a bad example
With omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence as your resource
It’s not unreasonable to expect better from you,
I will be watching for signs of your improvement
But I see… the signs of my improvement
They will be the signs of your improvement
Check mate… you got me… I give
One Heart
Go deep enough, we are of the One Heart
And yet, at the surface of incarnation
We are different, we are disparate
Is it not amazing, that the One Heart
Found a way to navigate these disparate expressions
To overlap in loving connection… for a while…
The we returns to me, as I return to the One Heart
Amidst the crash of breaking worlds, there is softness, kindness and love
Go deep enough, we are of the One Heart
These Old Eyes
These old eyes get blurry
They don’t see all that they once did
I can still see the colors in the clouds
Disappearing with the sunset
These old ears are ringing
They might miss a word or two
I can still hear the river from a distance
And the joy of morning birdsong at sunrise
And so my friend, my wish for you is this:
May your life be long in gratitude and short in suffering
These old hands are getting stiffer
And the fingertips are tender
I can still hold a chord on this guitar
And play the melodies that Muse is offering
This old voice is getting crusty
Doesn’t reach the high notes any more
Still somehow it feels more beautiful
As it’s singing from this old heart
And so my friend my wish for you is this:
May your life be filled with kindness
And emptied of resistance
Firm with integrity, gentle with compassion
Place importance on laughter
While laughing at importance
This old heart gets fluttery
Steady pumping, many years
All that pounding has brought softness to my spirit
And a love that is life’s meaning
I may grow disillusioned with humanity
That can happen, time to time
I can still greet my neighbor with real love
And gratitude for kindness and recognition
In a perfect passing moment, of this morning walk
Hong Sau
There go my thoughts again
This annoyance, that apprehension
This nostalgia, that little chuckle
Meandering, engrossing peripheral distraction
Hong Sau
And here, awareness changes
A vibrant stillness, a simple knowing
There go my thoughts again
This enticement, that disillusion
This estrangement, that inspiration
Meandering, engrossing, peripheral distraction
And here, awareness changes
Inner belonging, connected, integrated
There they go…
There go my thoughts again….
New Life
Releasing resistance is courageous
Let go resistance is a mantra
The other side of letting go
Is stepping into new life
Exhaling, Inhaling
Asking, Receiving
Dying into new life
Discovering the center
With each passing swing
Focus on the center
Celebrate the swing
Exhaling, Inhaling
Asking, Receiving
Invoking, Becoming
Surrender, Allowing
Halo
There is a halo
As the morning sun arises
And the landscape, foreshadowed
Anticipates the arrival of first light
The halo brightens to blinding
And the shadows hasten their retreat
As a single bird breaks the silence
With annunciation
First hilltops are illumined
And the light flows like water down the canyon
And the sun appears in triumph
I’m compelled to turn away
Instead I see dominion
As the sun commands a new day
Sister Renaissance
You dance with Mother Nature, you’re ambivalent with god
You believe in the human spirit, in that, your faith is strong
You’re constantly creative, you love to find solutions
Your friendship is foundation for all those blessed to know you
Sister Renaissance
Your heart feels, your mind sees
Sister Renaissance
Your heart knows who you are, as does your mind
And you dream… you dream it into being
Your offspring are your students whose hearts you have illumined
Now grown, they still remember Miss Rice, their early compass
Your songs are rich in melody, your poems deep as oceans
Your paintings shine with radiance, your presence is devotion
You’re out there on your tractor, the hillsides are insane
You’re designing clever systems so you can collect the rain
With Wilson as your companion, a fierce and faithful friend…
And your love is always with you, his presence never ends
Such a joy to be big brother, a gift beyond all measure
Our spirits are connected, a bond that we both treasure
You’ve reached the age of 60, the numbers flying by
Your spirit is eternal, like the twinkle in your eye
Sister Renaissance
Your heart feels, your mind sees
Sister Renaissance
Your heart knows who you are, as does your mind
And you dream… you dream it into being
You make it happen, you make a difference
For anyone blessed to know you
Sister Renaissance
