Fight for Change

I remember a time when you were part of a hidden crowd,
The ones hard up, making show, the ones who talk loud.
You didn’t have the place to grow, to learn, to be, to love.
All there was was your own strength and pride to rise above –
Above the hands that held you back and kept you hangin’ ‘round,
The hands that cut your skin, who worked so hard to shut you down.
You didn’t know love from one who shoulda given first.
You couldn’t see what the fuck was on ya ‘bout to burst.
You found blood in your hands and darkness deep upon your soul.
You found yourself at the bottom of someone else’s hole.
To save the one you saw, in you, you found the will somehow,
Was all your doin’, babe, don’t let the past stop you now.

Baby baby – look up and see the sunlight
See what’s right here before you, who can help to make things right
Life ain’t all ‘bout the shit the others say you should do
Life and living’s ‘bout you findin’ ‘n bein’ – YOU!

The knives, the 9s – they were your partners to some end,
You felt like few in between could be for you a real friend.
Growin’ green was the way you could give yourself a life –
Your boys and you runnin’ from the ever cuttin’ scythe.
The hood your start, I wouldn’t ever want to change that fact.
But it ain’t the only place to learn “hey, man, you know I got your back!”
You been disowned, you been beaten to the earthly ground
But that don’t mean compassion’s just a fashion to be found
Storms be calmin’ if you quell out all the fuckin’ rage
That digs inside of you like you’re caught up in your own cage.
You are the world to an essence that walks this place
Goin’ back in time won’t do nuthin’ now but make you lose pace.

Baby baby – look up and see the sunlight
See what’s right here before you, who can help to make things right
Life ain’t all ‘bout the shit the others say you should do
Life and living is ‘bout you findin’ ‘n bein’ – YOU!

So listen here, I’m not dissen where you been at
Shit’s what makes us tough, becoming somethin’ this or that.
I know my words are small and simple when compared to yours
I’ll neva claim some rhyme that makes ‘em come tear down the doors.
But this I promise you, your life I’ll always defend,
With blade or ball or board, it’s you and me until the end.
Hear me now and get it through your skull and living heart,
You and me, our new direction, this is where it starts!
In your past you stated tough that you were never gonna change,
Yet now you findin’ life has nicely come to rearrange
And give you light to step through all the shit that’s in your past.
Here we are now, being strong and baby it’s gonna last!!

Baby baby – look up and see the sunlight
See what’s right here before you, who can help to make things right
Life ain’t all ‘bout the shit the others say you should do
Life and living is ‘bout you findin’ ‘n bein’ – YOU!

written May 21st, 2009

Elder

who, in the wind, hears the whisper
in the water, hears the flow
in the fire, hears the wood's timbre
or in the earth, hears the plant grow

who, from the bird, hears its sighing
from the wolf, hears a soul howl
from the otter, hears its jovial laughing
from the scorpion, hears its poisoning scowl

who, from the sky, silences the thunder
from the mountain, silences a stone's fall
who, from the depths of the river
silences the hurt in us all

For Kyle...

I love…

The way you laugh so freely
The way you call me your panda
The enduring grip on life you have that goes unmarred
The belief you share that you protect the ones you care about
The sense of adventure with which you see the world
The way you still find wonder in the nighttime sky and stars

The playfulness of your spirit
The warmth of your voice when we talk late at night
When you share with me the things you create
When you share your time as you do
When you share what you think are the silliest of things
When you share your thoughts of us and do not hesitate

When your fingers slide around my hand
When your eyes caress my soul
When you feel what I feel in a moment in time
How your arms feel wrapped around me
How you feel deep within, inside me
How it feels with your heart close to mine

How my laughter makes you smile
How my humor lights your own
How my voice can ease the pressures of your day
That we can make each other happy
That we both will do for the other whatever we have to do
What is there left to say…

I love the sound of your voice when you say “I love you”

written September 12th, 2008

Contemplation

it is a dark color i walk through
here amidst the sounds
of pounding raindrops on the window
i throw the covers open
and think of you
and how to be opened to you in such a way
would capture me boundless
i slide into white and wish
you were here to slide next to
pulling phantom weight of down
across my body
and wishing it might be your soul
to protect me against night invaders
the subtle current touches my skin
the cool air
brings the surroundings into awareness

and i am here
looking to the ceiling
like a gate into some secret place
where we might meet
there... just there
along the water of my dreams
i can't speak
save with my eyes
letting my last word be "hello"
sinking into the warmth of your eyes
where i lose time
by escaping its dimension

you
only you
can do this to me
laying waste to my senses with
ever sweet familiars
to be left
holding this heart over the universe

written whilst on a business trip and wishing such a person existed

Inspiration

I move through the day
and your hands are still on me
I hear your voice
like a soundtrack to my thoughts
I can feel
the warmth of your breath
against my cheek
your fingers
brushing my hair back from my face
before your lips brush mine
slowly…
Your heart beats against my palm
You are hungry
and I wish to feed you
endlessly…
And so …
in my mind
I walk with the feel of you
under my skin…
behind my thoughts…
never in words
but through sensations
of feeling alive
because of you

written some years ago on a misty day