Advent

week 1

fingernail cuts into

tender porous surface

and you begin

to carefully tear

off the peel

tiny citrus jets

waft into air

scent of newness

of early morning

fingers moist with it

and anticipation begins

mouth ready with wetness 

week 2

break into sections

each one holding

promise for future

fulfillment of sweet

juicy release

and gently with

thumb and forefinger

clear away strings

of white pulp

putting them into waiting mouth
a satisfying cleaning

week 3

use teeth to
scrape away last of pulp
baring section to
naked orange goodness
sometimes a squirt
of juice escapes
heightening anticipation

week 4

bite into bursting pocket
let sweet juice
fill mouth with
eye-opening joy
as angels sing
and shepherds run

family storm

gathering awaits

through double doors 

and we start out

carving path through new snow

on road heading to highway

with wind pulling and pushing the car

and snow obscures vision

drifting across asphalt in

curling serpents of

pride

and innuendo

and anger

going slow through

built-up snow  

so we turn around

and go back

fighting wind on the

other side  

we’ll try again tomorrow

when reading from Luke 2

and heartfelt prayer can begin

to bring peace to these

stormy hearts

Christmas morning 2013

hazelnut coffee aftertaste lingers in mouth

here alone while the cat complains it is still

dark outside fresh snow feathers edges I

plug in Christmas tree its mini lights glowing

the morning all the presents wait underneath

for children now adults memory stretches

back to Santa days when house hardly contained

excitement of three children finally able to

empty the stockings and unwrap the dreams

come true and I wonder what Christmas dreams

will come true today as the day lightens and my

feathered soul readies itself to hover one more

time and catch the magic of family music and

savour the aftertaste

December engagement announcement

simple statement flies through the air

on wings of a bursting

smile  

gentle carols play background and

jigsaw puzzle of family

festiveness  

flavours rise from mugs of tea and

eyes dance delicious chocolates and

cookies

 

and our ears catch the wondrous

words of attachment and lasting

love  

adorned by simple necklace white pendant

and silver ring    gifts of radiant

abandon

Vivaldi's Gloria

red-tied notes begin sounding octaves

heralding praise

announcing prince of peace born on

earth  

and we shepherds stand in awe

gazing up at

dotted rhythmed Gloria a repeated

exclamation mark in the heavens pointing to  

expressive minor peace on earth

suspensions lingering

labouring to resolve into

warm harmonic union  

all inspired by holy

incarnation

incarnadine

cry of joy

winter wonder

I drive this frosted road

on this winter morning

numb and sleepy car struggling

to warm itself into fourth gear

and on my left the orange glow

becomes the glorious sun

dominating perfectly straight horizon

thinking I am alive when this happens

alive to the wonder of a sunrise on a

dark cold world

waiting               watching for incarnation

Madiba

our meagre house lights colour

darkness

in this month of the Christ

event  

and then one Thursday

a white-haired

gentle

giant

slips away from this weary  world

leaving vacuum

the closest we came here

to the essence of Christmas carol  

fighter in the ring

turned freedom fighter

turned prophet in prison

languishing leaden soul

released to calls for vindictive revenge

instead called for

reconciliation

forgiveness

peace

and by a force of

giant

gentle

will

brought it about  

  

staff party

feels like we should sing

Silent Night

in this big house near Cooks Creek  

slightly chilled and dark

candles and flashlights glowing

power went out on coldest night and

we gather to party Christmas  

is this the right place

she said that we would be able to

see the lights  

and we sit

huddled into ourselves

body heat emanating

barely making out faces in the near darkness  

but laughter and talk begins

to drown out dim coolness

that threatens ears  

and instead I hear

that old impromptu song

written when the organ didn’t work

and which now defines the season

celebrating the one born in

makeshift cradle

with only the stars for light

Christmas cookies

she

starts

from

scratch

the basics

elemental ingredients 

aniseedcocoachaiwalnuts

sugarflourgingerchocolate

ammoniabuttervanilla  

mixed

formed

baked

into bite-sized sweetness

into dozens of delights

into warm wonders

into celebrations of

the basics

 

lovejoypeacehope

tree angel

angel in white wings

warily perched on top of

sparkling artificial

Ave Maria

no telling where the mystery will penetrate

the soul it could be in a gym with bleachers

and rafters and shuffling kids wiggling on

plastic chairs and I’m standing in the back

listening to waves of purity coming from

choir on the makeshift stage young voices

sing the mysterious mother of God and

I am winded doubled over punched in the

gut with beauty and the

truth of love

Christmas Cactus

tender red petals

emerge prickly green stems

of small plant in small pot

resting serenely on round glass platform 

window behind it provides

pure white background of new

snow  

as winter winds its

fingers

around the throat of

warmth and life  

and we enter the

tunnel of advent

with our brave petal headlights

on

Loreena McKennit - 1992

strings vibrate colour

long locks flowing red shoulders

melody aloft

Sarah Harmer - 2010

sun glances left side

right side shadow

auburn hair glowing passion

red maple in autumn

you face us straight on with honest voice and

true song 

my daughter and I sit

thrilling

and sing along 

we know you

we think

no pretence

no extra show 

just singer

in sun

 

and shadow

David Amram - 1976

you adopted us

sisters and brothers  

french horn

penny whistle

drums  

long curly hair t-shirt adidas

vibrating energy exuding

all for the music

and the rightness of the moment  

adopting all folk

and all tradition  

synthing symphonic humanity

creating 

and we followed

clapping

singing

dancing

seeing new possibilities

when we take down fences

and become family

Peter Paul Van Camp - 1983

COMPARE AND CONTRAST

Calvin bellows

standing in a sea of summer stanzas

waiting to be written

while everyone else screams for

DAIRY PRODUCTS

and the slight

bearded

bow-tied

man on stage knows they want

“A Milkman at Heart”

round rims glinting below  slicked 19^th C. hair 

Calvin knows it’s a losing battle

but this is part of our ritual here

in this field transformed into

small city and then poet begins his

milk masterpiece it’s

like Homer reciting the Iliad

but not much

kd lang - 1985

I was 23

married less than a year

small apt. on Roslyn

about to start a career

teaching bandchoirenglish

treading lightly on the earth 

you were 23

strutting stage

voice blasting a hole in the universe

behind the sound booth

usually we wait until it is darker

around 9:45

to weave our way around

tarps blankets feet

to open                space

behind sound booth

where crowds are walking back and forth

to get food

or find their spot  

and then we dance to the setting sun music

might be blues

or rock

or celtic

or bluegrass 

it doesn’t matter

we just dance by ourselves

or in a group and we

watch the parents

with children and remember when we danced here

with our one-year-old perched on my shoulders

giggling ringlets bouncing in the

last rays of the day

Great Big Sea - 1986

white foam waves

crash

against rocks sending

up spray 

tiny droplets rise and fall

just in time for next

upsurge  

wondering

what can survive here

         battering rhythm beating time

against a country new and old

rugged and weathered  

song sung by

boisterous baritone rocker

beats against our rocky souls

even though we are

flat

sea-less

prairie

 

for this is our shanty too

as they adopt us into the

fold

Elizabeth Cotton - 1979

had this cassette

from a scratchy record

of Libba singing  

freight train freight train  

old woman

singing little girl’s song

and then saw her

print skirt

buttoned up blouse

sitting with

upside-

down guitar  

picking the tune so full of longing and imagined escape

weathered face shining with kind eyes  

I wonder if she was buried on

old Chestnut street to hear

old Number 9  

and I wonder where that cassette is

Doc Watson - 1982

dark eyes clenched

wavy graying hair

side part  

fingers so fast and bright

he sees with the guitar

shining 

laying claim to the

sighted world with

wondrous phrases

kid's tent - 1995

I’ve heard this song a million times but it’s nap time

and she sleeps on my shoulder as I sit under the canvas

in our special space for the day listening to Al Simmons

but focus on the perfection I am holding ten toes ten fingers

totally relaxed and dependant on my arms for support

regular breaths oblivious to the uproarious noise from the stage

three-year-old sits on blanket eating a snack and thankfulness

floods through my heart

like an old song

Elvis Costello - 2009

those iconic horn rims

receding hair

black shirt with white polka dots

new wave jacket 

a ferocious G chord

singing what’s so funny about peace love and understanding 

we are standing on this

warm Wednesday night

watching

waking

wondering

wisening

and singing along

unafraid to wear our horns

and aim true

Randy Newman - 2007

and then you sang

Louisiana 1927

sky blue shirt  

behind piano

 eyes closed 

and I became an arrow

cutting through time to that basement room

wood panelled with a little tv

and I saw you for the first time

singing this song

         eyes closed  

you were the song  

and I went and wrote my first song

and became the song

washed away forever

Rickie Lee Jones - 2006

stood at the side

right by fence

my chance to see her up close  

plaid skirt

brown vest

long hair

clipped bangs  

cool voice hinting at melody

words more spoken than sung

but with matchless rhythm 

stories of down and out

of aching love

of hot pavement

summer nights in city

of tender people in a hard world  

eyes shining with

intelligence

of fierce understanding

up close

wedding poem #6 - Brian and Dinah

green is growth

life

       summer 

white is clouds drifting

in endless sky 

brown is the solid trunk

of firmly rooted trees 

two hands

with two gold rings

light two candles and move them together

so they share one flame

tied by a circle of green  

playful strings colour harmony  

and then

feast

toast

dance 

ever green

sunday morning - 29 years

I can look at flowers 

small red ones

that tidily line our garden

deep purple petunias

                that anchor old sandbox

playful orange tiger lilies

                so tall and bright

single yellow brown eyed susan

                more beautiful than the name

red roses at the front

and all the others that don’t tell me their names 

and see you

singing my life with colour and beauty

waving wind

catching rain

smiling sun

being love

dancing - 1979

there is this picture of me 

dancing

blue sky over all
horizon of trees

no shirt cut-off shorts
red hat over curls
ticket bracelet

all attention is towards the stage
smiling

and I'm frozen in mid-step
people all around are frozen in the same moment

as if a gorgon had turned us to stone

this is all that is left
music performer forgotten
don't know movements before

or after

joyful motionless dance

there is this picture of me

Steve Forbert - 2005

in this shady grove

that is not shady

sun bearing on bare skin

intense July  

sound bleeding from other stages bothers him

has to adjust his key to match  

stands stage alone

white shirt open at collar

signature curls

harmonica and

scratched scuffed guitar 

voice

not really a voice

a rasp that scrapes at the melodies  

singing

good worlds are hard to find  

this round patch of windless prairie

surrounded by Manitoba woods

is world now  

intense brain

connects

to our brains

 

each inner world merging into

community of worlds

rasping along

in one orbit

around sun

Leon Redbone - 1975

we thought we saw you then

timeless

mystery voice

a refined growl  

glasseshatmoustache

your costume

hiding a boy from Cyprus

who       somehow

found a soul in

ragtime religion  

and we believed

 

stood and

shouted and

cheered and

clapped  

until you finally reappeared

only to light an exploding cigar

creating a legend exploding in our

perceived

timeless mystic memories

Bruce Cockburn sings Mystery - 2006

always so polished and precise

but never like this  

me sitting alone

in open space

far away from stage

dark descending

many had left already 

it was a new song

simple

direct

hair now white

still round glasses

guitar glinting spotlight

black shirt

                rolled up at the sleeves

familiar fingers flashing 

and you sang about

mystery

and grace

and the beauty of gasoline 

and I nodded  

and then you sang

stand up if you think love rules

and I stood up

tears

dripping  

and I knew something

new

and timeless

had flashed in my heart  

and you took me there

mud - circa 1986

we trudge in high tops
ponchos flap rainy grey wind
song      dance counter mud

Don McLean sings Vincent - 1983

lying on blanket 

looking up at dark night sky

stars dazzling eyes with infinite mystery  

and I glide inside

to that place of stillness and truth

that we avoid at all costs  

and there I stop

at the cusp of an adult life stretching out

gazing at the future 

of me and you

and breakfast lunch and dinner

and times of doing 

 

and times of lying on the ground

in wonder at the starry starry panoply

of the lives we create  

with our paints brushes guitars and voices