Cross My Heart

Sticks and stones
are hit and thrown 
words hurt down inside
Rubber & Glue
what sticks feels true
it bounces round inside

I swept enough
Under that rug
Forgot what words were said
All the kids inside have their own voice
they’re still spying in my head

On Pirate Ships we swear and spit
Mother may I tag your it
I’ve been playing those games for years

I’m left with all these old broken crayons
Swinging from the Monkey Bars
This Teddy Bear got lost on his Picnic
Cross my heart and hope to die

Who’s the rotten egg
Who’s the teacher’s pet
Who doesn’t make the team?
from the dodge ball rules
to the red rover fools
as we merry go round this dream

I skinned my knee
I bruised my heart
Felt like I lost my nerve
All the kids inside have their own voice
what do I think I deserve

These inner voices Kids making noises
Each one WITH their own rules 
The cheat the liar and the schemer too 
The bully the joker the clown and the fool
Listen up me cause I’m talking to you
They all live there inside
They know that I can’t hide

Cross My Heart

If I bounced my kisses off the moon 
Could you catch them falling in your night
If I hold you warmly in my thoughts 
Do you feel your temperature rise


Bounce My Kisses Off the Moon

Heraclitus: "No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man."

Let the River Decide

Babbling trickling whispering river flowing and it’s Babbling trickling whispering river flowing
wandering to the sea 
reflections of life in harmony
	
Changing , moving lost in time
leaving traces far behind
water falls as the mountains climb

Never sure what we’ll find 
Never sure what we’ll find 

Let the river decide 

Turbulent violent roaring-foaming river flowing and it’s 
Turbulent violent roaring-foaming river flowing
Turbulent violent roaring-foaming river flowing

Charging into the sea 
bracing for what will come to be 

Dangerous rapids float or drown 
like a rag doll tossed around
under water pulled further down
Carving earth, the rock, the ground
leaving traces of what we’ve found
traces of what we’ve found

Let the river decide 










Let the River Decide

This is a song of love and longing. Lyrics by Rachel Amey (UK) music by Daniel Mandel. 

Rachel and Daniel are looking to explore how to use their artistry for good. This song is a fundraiser for Doctors Without Borders. Please consider contributing to this campaign given the great need in today's world for medical assistance. Follow this link to donate: 
http://events.doctorswithoutborders.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.participant&participantID=2599

Performance by Enlightened Madness:
Backing Vocals and Arrangements - S. Henry McCoy 
Keyboards - Scott Bodarky 
Vocals | Guitar | GuitViol | Upright Bass patch - Daniel Mandel 
Percussion (Various hand percussion, rattles and Udu) - Steve La Porta 
Mastered by Ken Lee 
Artwork by Tamsin Haggis (tamsinhaggis.blogspot.com)



Sister Over The Sea

This excerpt is from a public teaching given by Lama Padma on September 7, 2014 at Chagdud Gonpa Rigdzin Ling.


Thoughts, Emotions, Meditation, Awareness | Lama Padma Gyatso

After an "incident" at home, I wrote this...

i was cleaning out the toilet bowl
when the brush broke into parts
sucked right up the flushing drain
like a daggers to my heart

but then these verses started
going through my brain:
never not here, are you?
since there's no more here again

no matter how you've tried
you never wanted in
but you never wanted truly out
when it began to begin

the versing paused
and i poured
a simple cuppa tea
black river, gong fu style
it calmed me instantly

i took a sip in principle
and again began the verse:
every goddamned thing you do
is making it all worse

it never happened anyway
the holy spirit says
there is no you beneath the poo
that's flushing in reverse

i took another simple sip
that the ghost (had) offered to me
the verse resumed inside my mind
as if by destiny:

in one hand
is the crap of life
in the other ecstasy

make your choice
and plunge right in
that's your remedy

so i pumped that poop
on down the drain
with several patient flushes

i took the verse
and drew this poem
with life's apparent brushes

your you's not wrong
it said to me
but neither is it right

the truth you are
exists without
a dog within that fight

i sipped the tea
and looked about
grateful for my losses

hoping i'd not clogged the drain
with too many dental flosses

but that's ok
since i can find
in any bottom cellar
a handy versifying tool
my faithful plumbers helper

Flushes

"Breaking Point" (2018) for Solo Piano

Premiered on March 20th, 2018 at Weigel Hall by the composer

Composer's Workshop March 20, 2018

Breaking Point

Recorded by Academy of American Poets staff for Poem-a-Day, a series produced by the Academy of American Poets. Published on December 8, 2019. www.poets.org

Georgia Douglas Johnson: "Let Me Not Lose My Dream"

MIGHT BE YOU

I come into the room
I couldn’t see the face the eyes
I couldn’t tell if it was you 
I couldn’t see through the disguise

From across the room
with a glance or two
and it Might Be You

this isn’t where I thought I’d be
Standing naked and exposed
waiting for the phone to ring
waiting here for you to show

and it Might Be You
oooh 
and it Might Be You 


When you saw me there last night
who’d you think that I might be
Or is that the fantasy?
Do you think it might be me?

From across the room
with a glance or two
and it Might Be You

oooh 
and it Might Be You

Might Be You 2020

Academy of American Poers: Rare and Unreleased

James Wright: "A Blessing"

time ticking, ticking, ticking by, until one tick you realize...

Flushes

outshining

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