Returned to bird sounds
and rustling grass,
the morning quiet
nurtures my soul.
Glaciered mountains
span the far horizon
as the broad sea
slowly moves
in ebbing tide.
I forget to remember
what I’ve left behind
and with hunger quenched
by sweet beds of clover,
I wrap myself
in green world peace.

Reading of “Hunger Quenched” with sounds of blackbirds singing

The sun rises
and I rise,
welcoming the light
of summer’s warmth
spread across the sea.
I rest within layers of stone,
take flight with sparrows,
dream of dogs
and weave word spells.
I am healed
and I am healer,
no longer waiting
for those who came before,
alive in the mystery –
a cape upon my shoulders
and blanket under starlight.
Nowhere to go,
no one to be,
I am here.

Reading of “Alive in the Mystery” with music by Colter Wall

There’s light in the distance
where water shines
though the island lies under gray clouds
beside a gunmetal sea.
Years past the story goes
we fell under the wings of a dark angel,
so long ago we can’t remember
original color or the taste of freedom.
“You best be still and accept your fate”
the elders told me, while by my eyes
they knew I wasn’t a believer.
Most of them are dead and buried
while I keep dodging bullets.
Silently I move from word to word,
runes carved and lit with fire
to melt the bonds of the sleeping.
Awake in the greenwood
I tear another page from the Book of Life
and feed it to the wind.

Reading of “Tear Another Page” by the author

Light in the east
carves an opening
in the mass of clouds,
checking the rain with a sign
the storm may soon break.
We will yet suffer,
have to carry through
this dark night,
but in the end
the sun will rise
and we will find ourselves
in sight of the green land.
Noah will be there, and Moses,
Mary and her maidens
who treasured their oil
and kept a flame burning.
I will be there, looking for you,
remembering your face, your voice
and how you persevered.
Keep faith my friend
as I will in this struggle.
We have the promise
written across the sky
in rainbow colors,
foretelling the new earth
in all its bright rimmed glory.

Reading of “Written Across the Sky” with music by Daft Punk

I offer silence
on the altar of the earth,
preferring assurance
to foolish talk.
I’ve known confusion
and lost the will to live
but found strength
from voices beyond time
and in the blessings
of the green world.
Silence is not absence,
rather the presence of a knowing
in the flight of hummingbird
and the space within
to resonate with the song of life
in morning quiet.

Reading of “Song of Life” with music by Van Morrison