The willow bends

The willow bends over the water
Like a wise old friend
Like a sad old man
I want to bend with it
I want to hang from its branches
And let my hair fall
and touch the water

I want to touch the water
Like the willow with its weeping arms
I want to cry tears into the lake
With the ripples of its fallen leaves

I want to stand like the willow
It is alone
But it is strong
It bends so gracefully
Over the water
I want to bend with it
I want to bend with it.

Come and stay

Come and stay with me awhile
On this calm night
In this cool place
This quiet hour
The world has turned again
And all things for a moment
Seem in their place.
The purple light will touch
Your face and mine
While Time is still
While crickets chirp
Their evening song
While birds sing their
Goodnights.
How I long for you
In this peaceful dream of light,
On this loveliest of nights
Time will show us kindness
As we drink the breath of moments,
As we taste the sweet of life.

To a fairy

On a summer's night
I found you
Glowing,
Shining like the moon
Or starry light,
Lying unaware
Upon the petal
Of a white, reposing lily
You were thin, and fair
Your fragile wings
Draped o'er you
or a blanket
Though transparent
So you bare
Your tiny body
To this unexpected stare.

How could it be?
I asked myself
That you have lived
So close to me
And I have never seen you there?

I breathed a sigh
In awe of thy
Luminous beauty
But sensing,
You awoke
To find this stranger's face
Stooped o'er you
in the air.

A tiny gasp -
And you were up,
You lighted past
So swiftly
Like the quickest flash
Of sunlight
On the glassy top
Of ocean
Or a flowing fountain's
Sparkling glare.

But as you flew away
I thought perhaps
You turned once back
With a coy glance
And turned a smile
Before you vanished
-Never to be seen again -
Into the cool night air.

Listen to the rain

Listen to the rain
It is whispering my pain
It is crying all my tears
For me

Look into the sky;
The great storm-clouds rolling by
The roaring thunder tells
It knows
my
story.

Wind!
Come and take it now -
All of this past,
Your rushing blast
Will open up the path
Before me.

Then,
When all the Storm
and Raging's passed
These sorrowed clouds will part
At last,
And out will come
The Golden Sun;
Its healing rays
outstretched
To Save
and
Warm me.

Awaken

Awaken my ears, awaken my mind
Show me how to hear
Show me how to find
True freedom.

To understand music...

Look! I see so clearly
Now and then
The thing that I am striving
So to be - 
I hear a greatness
Trickling deep inside
Like of that of water -
But behind the trickling
Is hiding
A giant fountain -
Waiting to spring forth
And building pressure,
Every moment -
Do not hesitate much longer,
Oh ye rocks - Ye shall give way!
These blocks shall be removed
With one fell sweep
And then the flow of understanding
Will spring forth
Like a great river falls,
In beauty everlasting.

All of me

You have sold your soul to me;
With every breath you breathe
You give it to me more;
I bought it with my heart -
I pay you now in full
I give you all, at will
I wear for all to see
That you are now to have
All of me.
I am yours and you are mine,
And this is how
T'will ever be.

Have me

I want to run away
Runaway, yes
And find a way
To bring you back
To bring you with me
I want to take you with me.

I want to run away
Run away, yes
And find a place
Where I can keep you
Where I can hold you
I want to always have you with me.

I want to run away,
Run away, yes
And never come back
And you shall always have me
Yes,
We would never be lonely
No,
You shall always, always have me.

February 12, 2009

Strivings of a Pianist

I just found this poem in an old google document I had...


New, New, New
Life brings
Something New

Life turns
Away from the old
And into something
Fresh

Change,
Must happen
Inside
Outside
Everywhere

I cannot move
Without changing
I cannot live
The same way
anymore
Everything
Must change.

I cannot let go
totally yet
But I am yearning to
Living to
I'd die to
Change into something
Better

I must become
Different
I must become
Stronger
Calmer
Wiser

I musn't be
Afraid
Anymore
I must know
That all will be
Alright

I must know
All so well
That nothing
Can fail
I must know
that
All is well.

I must pray
For God to help me
Find a way
To understand my music
So completely
So entirely
Inside out
and Upside down
I must not give up
I must not give in
To discouragement

I must continue growing
Continue learning
Continue knowing
And finding out the truth
Of everything
In everything
And about everything.

I must find out
the truth in sound
The information contained therein
I must find out the truth
About technique
The motions that will make me
finished
The restraint
That will make me
Free

I must not give in
I must continue
I must continue growing
Until I find I know
All that I need
to Play
And not be
Afraid

I cannot be afraid anymore
I cannot be
I must live
and not be afraid
of dying
I must work
And not be afraid of trying
and Failing

I must not fail
But I must continue
Until I succeed
I do not care how long
I cannot give up
I cannot give in
I must live
I must achieve this

I must play piano.
I am a pianist. 

January 5 2008

Each step

One day at a time
We take it this way
And so it goes
In life, in music, in art
And every other place
Day by day
We make our way
We shape our paths
Through little steps
Which don't seem much
But every one
Has its own
Direction
And thus they must
Have an effect.

I see the road ahead,
But not too far
Where it shall lead
I do not know
And yet I want to go
Along this road
Because it seems
To beckon me
With hopes
And not because I know
Just what the walk will be
How long or steep --
But I feel one day
I'll find myself
Somewhere
Along this path
And it will suddenly hit me
That I have been
Made free.

To hold everything

Today
We could take all these troubles
And throw them away
In one day
We could walk
And touch forever
We could look
And see that the horizon
Never ends.
We could take hands
And hold everything
And die,
And lose nothing.

Forever seems so vast -
Yet somehow I feel
We are holding it.

Loneliness

Loneliness
Surrounds me
From the inside
It seeps through me
Even with people
All around me.

How can one be lonely
From the inside out?
Who can reach
Into a lonely soul?
Perhaps only
God.
  
E. Hopper: A room in New York, 1932

This can be saved

I do not believe
That we
Are unsalvageable
More than this-
Unredeemable

I do not believe
That death is eternal
Or that
Relationships are temporary
Or that Truth
Is Negotiable.

I believe in healing
I believe in all healing
Of every person
Of every creature
Of every wound and pain
Of every size and kind, and age -
I believe
This can be saved.

There is a hole
In my heart
Where you used to be
It cannot be repaired
It cannot be replaced
A hollow, empty space
For only thee.

Write me prose

Write me prose
With words that slip
Like silver thread
Across my lips

And sound a silken phrase
A timeless thought
A chiming, rhyming lace
That sweetly captures
This sublime existence.

A Friend Called Childhood

A breath

Silent,

and soft



Alerts me

Of

Your presence



You,

A gentle friend

Pass through my doorway



You bring with you

The smell of daisies

Of warm grass…

Where have you been wandering?

This summer day

Your wind-blown locks

Hark back

To sunny pastures,

To sparkling streamlets

In hidden tree-groves.



You wear such a lovely dress;

White, and blue;

I gaze up at you

Like summer’s sky

You move, and

Somewhere inside

I know I’m moving too.



Your hands;

They’re brown and dry

Like pies

We used to make—

Of dirt and water

You’ve been mixing them today,

Haven’t you?

While I have been away…



I’m sorry I can’t join you.

Not today;

I must stay and watch the house

But you, go play -

And come again tomorrow

If your footsteps

Lead you to.



A true friend you’ve been,

A soothing whim

That scampers through the house

When I am lonely



You know I cannot play…

But you visit anyway,

When the walls around me

Feel too close or dim.



One day –

I’ll shut up this old house

If only for a while,

And run with you again

Through that grassy well-known mile

And we’ll nod and say hello,

To the horse across the way

And we’ll softly pet his nose

And the earth beneath will smile

To feel our naked toes

Against her once again.