Rain

As I watch the fire
And the flames grow higher     
And the air’s turning colder
I am with you once again
When we hiked so high
‘neath a mountain sky
With your arm ‘round my shoulder
The clouds full of rain

The high meadow where we lay our blanket down
With the wind whispering it’s secrets all around
And we lay listening for the rainfall
And we lay breathing in the beauty of it all

Though far from me
I will always be
Up where the wild grasses sway
When we found our way
To a place we’d never known
And waited for the rain 

The high meadow where we lay our blanket down
Where the wet, autumn golden leaves fell to the ground             
And we lay closer than a heartbeat
And the sky opened and the rain came pouring down

Though far from me
I will always be
There in your sweet, warm embrace
In that sacred place
Where I fell in love with you
Surrounded by the rain

Down To The Bone

A blaze of solar wind must be your father
You must’ve heard the music of the spheres
You’ve wild ideas of what it means to love me
Look right here, I’m right here

I walk this earth and wander through the canyons
At dusk I rest in caverns till the dawn
Excavate the stones for buried treasure
Then you’re gone

Down to the bone
That’s where you’ll find me
You’re dazzling show
Will only blind me
Down to the bone

Last night I dreamt about you, you were flying
Your face upturned, your arms stretched out in the air
You thought that you were reaching for me babe
I wasn’t there, I’m not there

I’m standing on this island in the ocean
The water scatters diamonds to the sky
I search for you up there but still I’m left here
Shielding my eyes
Down to the bone
Land on the ground for me
Your dazzling show
Only astounds me

From star to stone
I search for a friend now
Am I alone?
Or will you descend now
Down to the bone

(Bridge)  Where are you now?  So hard to see
                Are you circling the sun?
                High above the trees?
                Must be lonely there
                Will you fold your wings and fall to me?

A blaze of solar wind must be your father
You must’ve heard the music of the spheres
You’ve wild ideas of what it means to love me
Look right here, I’m right here

I walk this earth and wander through the canyons
At dusk I rest in caverns till the dawn
Excavate the stones for buried treasure
Then you’re gone
Again you’re gone

Down to the bone
That’s where you’ll find me
Your dazzling show
Will only blind me

From star to stone
I search for a friend now
Am I alone?
Or will you descend now
Down to the bone

You Were Never Mine

Opening my fingers letting go
Loosening hands
Hourglass of sand as it flows
Still
you were never mine
though our lives entwine
You belong to my heart but
You never were mine

We all know we’re only passing through
Here in this life
Felt a headlong fall into you
Still
You were never mine
though our lives entwine
A small burst of beautiful
breaking through time

Every ending brings beginning but what has my life become?
Loving you, only the best thing I’ve ever done
So I try to hold on, the years move on
and now what was is gone,
Finding peace to somehow,
Release and allow

Following a trail of breadcrumbs
in this life
When I look to find my way I find
You were never mine
though you are so much mine
You belong to my heart but
You never were mine
You belong to my heart but
you never were mine

Lee’s Summit

Out here where the wild flowers open to the sun

the golden summer sunlight spreads the morning over hills and trees
Cinching up the saddle, 
Leland’s bridal slips on easily

Gather up the reins in hand
Loping out and through these lands
Pressing heel to flank, old Leland flies

The rhythm of a hoof beat follows heartbeat as our breath aligns
A music in the movement
and the moment speaks in drumbeats of time

Comes a time to say goodbye
Comes a time to finally let go
Galloping, we climb to the plateau

I can feel the warm wind on my skin
On these hills, I take it all in,
Hear the quiet of my own unguarded path to my heart

From way up here, higher ground,
Slowly rein in, look around
And then once releasing all I thought I knew
Can see the wider view

Still standing at the summit, love surrenders as the trail descends
I’m letting loose the tether I’ve held tight to
 Now, at summers end
Find a way to say goodbye
Find a way to finally let go
Room for all the sorrow,
magic, joy and sadness
Out here,
Riding free and on our own
Out here,
Lee’s summit trail will guide us home

Out here where the wildflowers open to the sun

Calling Me Home

Out past the old bridge
of crumbling stone,
That’s where I’d run
Past the places I’ve known
So I could climb that old tree where
I’d sit all alone
Look to the blue sky
Doorway to dream
Gathering clouds
Scattered light in the leaves
Is it the scent of that wind that keeps
Calling me home?

Now, when branches are bare
I recall each breath as a prayer
Ordinary, extraordinary
It’s the beauty I remember
Quiet, sitting there still
Familiar grace
I will drink in my fill
Choir of birdsong is calling me
Sunlit and darkening
Twilight is beckoning
Calling me home
Twilight is beckoning
Calling me home.

Somewhere Up The Street

I loved you best
In the ocean waves
where you felt the most alive Before the break
you’d let go of me
and that’s how I learned to ride

A perfect world
in those tender days
just before it all went bad A little girl
dreams of it this way
just to look up to her dad

(chorus)
Home fires rage
a heart skips a beat
One glance at your face sometimes the safest place is somewhere up the street Somewhere up the street

A booming voice
did you call for me?
oh, so much I had to learn
A big mistake
reaching out for you
Pull away, my fingers burned

Somewhere Up The Street

Confusing world
never free of doubt
So to sense the swelling tide A growing girl
learned to shut her mouth and the places best to hide

Home fires rage
A heart skips a beat
One glance at your face Sometimes the safest place is somewhere up the street Somewhere up the street

I love you best
in the ocean waves
where I feel the most alive My stroke is strong
Now I navigate
when the water gets too high

A perfect world
in this alchemy
from the fire where you lived
That little girl, she found a strategy and she’s fought hard to forgive

Somewhere Up The Street

Home fires rage
A heart skips a beat
I still see your face Sometimes a saving grace is waiting somewhere Home fires rage
a heart skips a beat
One glance at your face Sometimes the safest place is somewhere up the street Somewhere up the street

I loved you best in the ocean waves...

Full Moon’s Daughter

I dress in the color of the sea before a storm
Your tone of voice is hard and sharp as steel
I pull my shawl around my shoulders to keep warm
Your eyes of ice numb everything I feel

As if a rope is cut between us and my life boat is tossed
through a vast expanse of turbulence and water
I’m set adrift amidst the tears and though alone and lost
I remain and shall remain the full moon’s daughter

Feel all of it
Do not shut down
Do not close off any part of it

What is not or is spoken
How to guard, to keep open
the unshielded heart of a
full moon’s daughter

Expectation leaves me weary and your judgement wears me down
to where seemingly there’s hardly any choice
but to swim these seas at twilight and to pray
that I don’t drown
in the salty taste of swallowing my voice

As if a rope is cut between us and my lifeboat is tossed
through a vast expanse of turbulence and water
I’m set adrift amidst the tears and though alone and lost
I remain and shall remain the full moon’s daughter

Feel all of it
Do not shut down
Do not close off any part of it

What is not or is spoken
How to guard, to keep open
the unshielded heart of a
full moon’s daughter

Far Away

There’s a chill rising in the air
Out here
The breeze has knotted up my hair
The fields are turning gold
I’m up against the cold

I lean toward the warmth of Chico-le
Out here
My quarterhorse paint, he knows the way
Wind’s tangled up his mane
We’ll lope before it rains

And Chico, he doesn’t mind
a bit of human frailty
The wind out here catches my breath
and speaks music to me

Far away, take me far away
Let me breathe horse sweat and dust
Where I ride to loosen places
long since turned to rust
Take me far away, far away

There’s a chill rising between
You and me
We say things we don’t really mean
Torrential as the rain
I find I can’t explain

So I lean toward the warmth of Chico-le
Him and me
There are things that I don’t need to say
Every secret that he’s heard
has never needed words

And Chico, he doesn’t mind
a bit of human frailty
The wind out here catches my breath
and whispers things to me

Far away, take me far away
Let me breathe horse sweat and dust
Where I ride to loosen places
long since turned to rust
Take me far away, far away

Far away, take me far away
Through nasturtiums and the sage
To mend the broken places
from a battle waged

Take me far away
Take me far away, far away
Let me breathe horse sweat and dust
Where I ride to loosen places
long since turned to rust
Take me far away
Far away

Mudra

With our hands
We can turn our thoughts around
With our breath
There is space within the sound
When I look into you
I see how it’s begun
From the warmth of the touch of your fingertips
To the blaze of an inner sun

With our hands
We touch the flow of tides
With our lips
We blend where we collide
When I look into you
The ocean in your eyes
We slide through the swirl of a thousand things
To the sweetness of a still mind

In the language of our silence
The curve of a wrist
Through the voices of our senses
We fall
Through it all
With our hands in mudra
Intertwined
Slowing down the circles
Slipping through the wheel workings of the mind
Hands in mudra
Camouflage
Now washed away
We become
The interplay
Moon and sun
Swirl in a starlit sky
Bathed in the light

Big Easy Chair

My girl and I gotta style
for takin’ it slow
Big easy chair
there’s nowhere
that we gotta go
She makes me coffee
I brew her tea
and waking up her sleepy eyes
look lovely

I come alive deep inside
when she flashes that smile
She’s gotta knack
for kicking back
and talking awhile
Softly she says she’s
crazy for me
Our fingers intertwine
so easily
so
maybe we’ll melt in the magic
or maybe we’ll blow in the breeze
she and I know that together we are
part of something wonderful and
maybe we’ll sail through the sunlight
and sky
She and I
living life, our arms open wide

My girl and I gotta way
of taking our time
Soak up the late morning light
till the two of us shine
We’ll take the long road
just for the ride
Slip into sunset’s sultry
downhill slide
so
maybe we’ll sit by the shoreline
or maybe lie under the trees
curling up, side by side
in a winding whirl of love
in a big easy chair

Stones

In Connemara, River Erriff flows Through time and tides
It meanders its way to sea
I was a girl there, born in a Small harbor town

Where I found what the ocean Gives free

There was a young lad, open sky blue eyes We would wander
The shore, he and I alone
At every moon tide

Kneeling down by my side He would give me the gift of A stone

Beyond the Green Road He’d gather me stones The sea mist clouds low On the hills

A mind may drift, growing old Risk letting lifetimes unfold Given over to love
Lingering still

In Connemara, rivers flow toward home To the swirls and the swells and
A girl’s garden of stones

Beyond the Green Road
He’d gather me rounded stones The sea mist clouds low
On the hills
A mind may drift, growing old

Risk letting lifetimes unfold Given over to love Lingering still

In Connemara, rivers flow toward home

Toward the slide into moon tide,

A girl’s garden of stones

To the swirls and the swells and A girl’s garden of stones 

Whispers of 4 am

Between the hustle of the mornings
and the coffee in the afternoons
and the working and the playing
and there’s always too much to do,
There’s the kids and the homework
and the driving them home again
but there’s a quiet sanctuary in the whispers
of 4 am

In the small quiet hours
when the world is so dark and still,
when the warmth of your body
seems to melt away the morning chill,
I awake next to you and I’m breathing in the scent
of your skin
and I ease you from your dreams
with the whispers of 4 am

Let me ease you from your dreams
with the whispers of 4 am

Too Far Down

Too far down and it’s all uphill

Ghosts sitting on my windowsill
Drapes drawn but my body needs food
Guess it gives me a reason to move

Parched land with no hope of rain
Dry sand, all the colors drained
Somebody else has moved into my skin
All I’ve done don’t amount to nothing
Nothing I’ve done

Snake mind and it’s speaking in tongues
Dreamin scared but my feet won’t run
In my head dark clouds of sparrows
Pulse rate’s getting closer to zero
Look around but there’s nothing I see
In the mirror I don’t look like me
If there’s a tether then I lost it somewhere
Throw a rope if there’s anyone there
Throw a rope, anyone

My heart is pumping novocaine
And every day is just the same
Got no voice to shout
Can’t climb my way out
I’ve fallen too far down

Too far down and it’s all uphill
Ghosts sitting on my windowsill
Yellowjackets, I’m gonna get stung
Hornets’ nest, they’re swarming the sun

Black crows caw, picking at bones
Broken line on the telephone
Just don’t know who’s living in my skin
All I’ve done don’t amount to nothing
Nothing I’ve done       

Desolation leaves a stain
And every day is just the same
I got no voice to shout
Can’t climb my way out
I’ve fallen too far down

Fallen too far down

Sparks and Seeds

Leaving the road
Leaving the lights
I find myself wandering
I want to wear out
these hiking shoes
and sit in the campfire’s glow

Leaving the noise
Deep into night
As stars spark up the sky
Through pathways of pine,
The greens and the blues
in the pulse of above and below

The flare of a flame
as it snaps and sparks
With eyes half closed
it will draw me to dream
of the seeds that might sprout
from a heart’s fertile ground
in the dark and bright
in between

Lost in my thoughts
Lost in my life
I find myself wondering
how I might wear out
these worn out ways
and breathe in the clear mountain air

Beyond the path,
deep into dark
The moonrise through the trees
Between all I’ve lost
and all  I love
is the light on the lake and a prayer
The flare of a flame
as it snaps and sparks
With eyes half closed
it will draw me to dream
of the seeds that might sprout
from a heart’s fertile ground
in the dark and bright
in between  

I want to walk with the spirits
of earth and the sky,
Breathe in the scent of woodsmoke
Taking in the peace nearby