Another of fellow Dorset based poet CJ Harrington's pieces set to music

Check out his soundcloud https://soundcloud.com/c-j_harrington and website https://gate.sc/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcjharrington.co.uk%2F&token=19a002-1-1615131688735

THE RAVEN
The dark bird caws an aching creak, jarring
high in the branches of my twisted hazel

Light drips thickly - like warm blood or hot metal -
from the anvil angles of its beak, cuts short
breeze, divides still water, and settles
deep in the silence of the little pond beneath

It is not the tawdry light of the mind
where still limbs, still torso, still breath pull close -
become justified - where truth is vulnerable to age

Nor is it the light of secret gardens, of mists
unsettling and godless clarity eclipsing everything

An illusive bat mapping shady new worlds
by shriek and wail.  The old owl's careful murders
These fears swoop in the cool of night

But this raven comes with the light.  Hopping and strutting
Gently tip tap tapping.  Its black glint encumbering
ornamental cherry trees, beach and oaks with ease

And it brings the white-hot light of fear.  The clarity of danger
The fat weight of doubt that lingers near
The crack in peace.  The spark of both death and change

The Raven (featuring the Poetry of CJ Harrington)

Just around the corner

This is a joint project between Janine Levinson, beSRK & Guitarbeard, made in 2017. 

Music by @beSRK
Melody, lyrics, vocals by @janinelevinson
Guitar by @guitarbeard

Buy https://guitarbeard.bandcamp.com/track/quit-wasting-my-time

Quit Wasting my Time

I don’t reminisce
I won’t look back
It’s a bore and the opposite of invention

“Remember when”
That’s a useless phrase
Learn from your past and get on with living

I don’t complain
I don’t bother to blame
It’s a bore and a massive waste of time
You will learn or you won’t
You achieve or you don’t
And when I talk about blame it will be mine
Quit wasting my time

I don’t reminisce
I don’t look back
It’s a fruitless tree and not worth shaking

And “if only I had,”
That’s a pointless phrase
Life gives you chances and you take them

I don’t explain
I don’t owe you a thing
It’s my life and I’ve got limited time
I live for today
Just stay out of my way
Keep hold of yours, leave me mine
Quit wasting my time
Quit wasting my time

I’m not gonna gossip
I don’t want to chit chat
It’s a bore and the opposite of conversation
Don’t pander to me
Don’t smooth out your words
That’s intentional soul deprivation

I won’t explain
I don’t owe you a thing
It’s my life and I’ve got limited time
I live for today
So stay out of my way
Keep hold of yours, leave me mine
Quit wasting my time
Quit wasting my time

Butterfly

Quit Wasting My Time (Janine Levinson, beSRK & Guitarbeard)

@ApproachToSilence(6.10.18 / 22.3.20)
https://open.spotify.com/album/4ks9fwOzWgh9WR0C33rwJ3

ApproachToSilence_2018

Vertrautheit

MusikLogo SwingTheJazz KF011231 BiaB 01.Jun.2020
Instrumental Adaption of Fly Me to the Moon
(Bart Howard/Quincy Jones/Frank Sinatra)

SwingTheJazz

Remastered version of song #1 on RAKEHELL's Totally Todd EP, available for sale on digital download at https://rakehell1.bandcamp.com/album/totally-todd-2.

Chain Letter [written by Todd Rundgren]

Minor Statement

It has been brutally hot this summer across most of the US and especially in Texas.  I thought I would do my part to cool things off a bit with a little ditty in an Irish style;  a toast to over 10k listens, and you the cherished listener:) Cheers!

An Irish Toast

Written and recorded 15/16th August 2020

My first post-lockdown 'one-weekend' song...

The lyric is based on my experience of visiting the Fushimi Inari shrine in Kyoto in 2018, a magical day that I will never forget.

Photography by Chris Syme

Lyrics:
At the foot of the mountain
I contemplate the journey I'll make
To be enlightened
To be enlightened

I never doubted
That this would be the fate that I'd face
Gateway to Heaven
Now and forever

At the foot of the mountain
I find I'm in a dream-like state
Tranquil and silent
Into the silence

Foot Of The Mountain

@janinelevinson: Inspirational additional lyrics and wonderful vocals
@rick-4-1: Real drums
@burn-it-smith: Real piano
@phil-mcwalter: Other stuff

(New Version of https://soundcloud.com/phil-mcwalter/and-so)

SOUP OF THISTLES 

Returning and turning in the widening gyre 
The falconer holds out a golden ring from the tower 
Captive and burning and full of desire 
The falcon pulls feathers from her wings to count the hours

And so
Ad infinitum 
Is the crow 
Compelled to steal
And so
Ad infinitum 
Are we drawn 
Into the wheel
Into the wheel

Turning and burning in the heat, of hearth and fire 
The feathers, the letters, the fingers form a winged spire
There’s flapping and scurrying aloft up in the rafters 
Where the bats are left to read and the finger moves on higher

And so
Ad infinitum 
We forget 
Why we were singing
And so
Ad infinitum 
The choir cannot lift the ceiling
The spinning wedding ceiling
Stealing
And so
We go

Around and around  and do it over again! 
Ad infinitum
Around and around  and do it over again! 
Ad infinitum

Returning and turning in the widening gyre 
Unseen by the hawk was Icarus flying higher
Why do we love when we know it’s trespassing
A puppet heart managed by the clock – foolish arms flailing

And so
Ad infinitum 
We watch for 
Six jet planes’ trails
And so
We prepare  our soup of thistles
And we settle down to feather 
And we wonder about the weather
Listen for the 
Falcons' bells together and
Cover our eyes with leather
Oh Icarus dear boy
Waxed and waned
Ah Amelia dear heart
Tarred and feathered...

Levinson & McWalter- June 2020

And So

Soup Of Thistles

Echo by Keri Johnson

#No to cruel lockdowns#Lightthedarkwinter#findourwaytogether

Photo image/credit Denny Muller

I wake from a dream, calling out your name
it seems so real- I ask myself, what does it mean?

Racing of my heart, as I stumble thru the dark
Trace my way to you, tried to run, could only walk

We- we can take the night, we can shape the night, set it free
We- we can break the night, we can taste the light or go hungry
(Echo)

I brace as the seams are slowly torn apart
break, unravelling these chains around the heart

A face that I can't see- when will we breathe free again?
Afraid of what will be if this nightmare never ends

We- we can take the night, we can shape the night, set it free
We- we can break the night, we can taste the light or go hungry
(Echo)

BR
We are here to watch it all unfold- light the dark together, not alone
We are on this journey of the soul- find out way together, not alone

Keri Johnson's Album

Echo

I keep bees and write music
Big thanks for your support!!! You find my music also on Drooble https://drooble.com/sergey.chuprikov and Hearthis https://hearthis.at/sergey-chuprikov/