River Kind

Song For Fall’s Turning

Leaves Changing - Doe

Words from Sophie Strand
Melody by Doe

Teach me how to root in place
Teach me how to create connections
So feral and far reaching
And make me resilient with otherness
Teach me how to flow into the forest 
Teach me how to flow into the forest

Fungi Song - Doe

This song came to me while sitting on the shore of the Mississippi River in October 2021. This was the month the Line 3 pipeline became operational, after years of prayerful Indigenous-led resistance to protect the waters and vulnerable ecosystems in Mni Sota and downstream. I felt sorrow, and I just wanted to sing a song for the river. So I just started singing, and soon it felt like the waves tossed this song back at me. Over the next day the remaining harmonies revealed themselves to me too.

I invite you to sing and share this song. Will you sing to a specific river? To the River of Life? To the Spirit? Will you remember your kindred connection with the waters of life?

Lyrics:
River, river 
it's been a long time
Yet even so 
by your shores I find
I am kind, I am kind

Teaching suggestion: Think of all the parts coming together like an immersion into a river of voices. This song can be repeated for awhile. I suggest ending the song by changing "I" to "We" - "We are kind, we are kind."

Many, many thanks to my dear friends Galen, Max, Tere, Theresa for singing on this track with me. We recorded this on the shore of Gitchi Gami (Lake Superior) in September 2024.

River Kind - Doe

ten thousand (tree song)

Here are six recent songs that I have created and recorded for a scholarship application to seminary. Three of the songs (My Body Knows the Way; Gentle, Tender, and Slow; Like the Wolves) arose through a process of sitting with another’s intention for healing during this time. The recordings repeat each song many times, holding a particular energetic frequency, as I imagine them as a teaching tool to sing along to, play with harmony, or listen to while in meditative rest.

Alison Doe

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