Ridin’ Along

Sometimes Baby, week seems so long
Seems like maybe it will just keep going on…
Ridin’ along.
Can’t get back to your arms.
Stuck here ridin’ along.

Oh, I’m ridin’ along, ridin’ along,
Ridin’ along, ridin’ along.
Can’t get back to your arms!
Oh, I’m stuck here, Baby.
Stuck here ridin’ along.

Well, the stars won’t shine, and the moon won’t glow.
All d*mn night I’ve got no— nowhere to go!
I’ve got nowhere to go.
If I can’t get you close,
I’ve got nowhere to go. 

Well, my sunrise will be your face
Shinin’ like the sweet light of Grace.
Sunrise on my face.
Oh, when I’m with you, Babe,
Feels like sunlight on my face.

But for now I’m ridin’ along, ridin’ along,
Ridin’ along, ridin’ along.
Can’t get back to your arms!
Oh, I’m stuck here, Baby.
Stuck here ridin’ along.

Well, I’m seeking out something fresh,
Seeking something better, better than this mess!
This workday mess.
Well, you know you’re something better
Better than the rest! 

So, I went down to wander ‘round.
Went down, went down to take a good look around.
See what could be found.
But when I get back to you,
No more wandering around! 

Oh, I’m ridin’ along, ridin’ along,
Ridin’ along, ridin’ along.
Can’t get back to your arms!
Oh, I’m stuck here, Baby.
Stuck here ridin’ along.  

Yes, I’m ridin’ along, ridin’ along,
Ridin’ along, ridin’ along.
Far too long!
Oh, and I miss you, Baby.
Stuck here ridin’ along.
‘Til I see my sunrise, Baby.
Stuck here ridin’ along.
Wanna see that sunrise, Baby!
Be no more ridin’ along.

Take Shelter in Love
(feat. Joe Jencks)

We’ve got to love one another,
and not just 'cause someone tells us to.
You don’t have to walk on water
To look inside and seek the truth.
Oh, can’t we care for one another?
Because this world is hard enough
Without us turning against each other.
All we need is love, love, love.

Take shelter in love.
Take shelter in love.
When the tides of hate
come crashing at the gate,
Take shelter in love.

We’ve got to give to one another
Without this fear there’s not enough.
Looking out for one another
Whether the seas are calm or rough.
Will you hold my hand
When I’m not sure which way is home?
And I will hold your hand
Until you’re ready to let go.

Take shelter in love.
Take shelter in love.
When the tides of hate
come crashing at the gate,
Take shelter in love.

When we slip the yoke of inequality,
When a day’s work provides for a day’s needs,
That’s when the livin’ will be easy.
Until then, there’s you and me. . . .

We’ve got to learn to talk with one another,
Speak with voices form the heart.
So that we can bring together
What has so long been apart.
When we feel that we are one—
One blood, one breath, one Earth, one sky—
Then at last we shall overcome,
And on the wings of freedom fly, fly, fly!

Take shelter in love.
Take shelter in love.
When the tides of hate
come crashing at the gate,
Take shelter in love.
Take shelter in love.
Take shelter in love.
When the tides of hate
come crashing at the gate,
Take shelter in love.

Eclipse

Sitting by the side of a dusty Nebraska road
Watching space and time unfold.
Each yellow wildflower
A small sun against the vast blue sky,
And you, my sun—my son nearly grown
There by my side.

We waited ‘til we saw the rippling moon shadows,
The atmosphere dancing with the Earth below.
A silent ghostly memory
Of an ancient shallow sea.
I’ll wait and wait until you’re ready, son
To share what’s haunting you with me.

Let no eclipse obscure your light!
Let no shadow fall across your face.
When skies fade to gray and your sight fails you,
Hold on to the essence of your grace.

Then, glasses on, we looked straight into that fiery glow.
Looking farther than you could ever go.
So close in that shared moment,
So apart. Aware that nothing stays the same.
As the moon swallowed the sun,
Darkness fell midday, and I spoke your name.

Let no eclipse obscure your light!
Let no shadow fall across your face.
When skies fade to gray and your sight fails you,
Hold on to the essence of your grace.

From the Earth we rise
To the Earth we fall
No matter how we cling to this orbiting ball
Circling the sun our whole lives long
Another year gone.
Another year begun.
Fly free, fly true, and know I love you!

Let no eclipse obscure your light!
Let no shadow fall across your face.
When skies fade to gray and your sight fails you,
Hold on to the essence of your grace.
Hold on to the essence of your grace.
Hold on to the essence of your grace.
Hold on to the essence of your grace.
Hold on to the essence of your grace.
Grace! Grace! Hold on! Hold on!
Hold on to the essence of your grace.
Hold on to the essence of your grace.
Hold on to the essence of your grace.
Hold on to the essence of your grace.
Hold on to the essence of your grace.

O’ Pacific Shore

The trail winds down to the beach.
A circle of light, a tunnel of trees.
Wild blackberries melt on my tongue.
I step through the arch and into the sun.

O’ Pacific shore, soft water, smooth stones,
Grey foamy sand, cool on my toes.
I left as a child, returned as I am,
With weather-worn heart and wide open hands.

My son’s gone ahead. He’s got boulders to climb.
I sit with my past and gaze out for a time.
For time is an ocean, and I am a stone,
By grace carried here to this beach in the sun.

O’ Pacific shore, soft water, smooth stones,
Grey foamy sand, cool on my toes.
I left as a child, returned as I am,
With weather-worn heart and wide open hands.

Oh, “Hush,” she sings, “Hush, hush.” The waves brush the shore. Ooh, ooh. . .
Oh, “Hush,” she sings, “Hush, hush, hush. . . . Weep no more, weep no more.”

O’ Pacific shore, soft water, smooth stones,
Grey foamy sand, cool on my toes.
I left as a child, returned as I am,
With weather-worn heart and wide open hands.
Weather-worn heart and wide open hands.

Standing

There are times when my heart fills with sorrow
There are times when I laugh with pure joy
There are times when I wonder how I’ll make it to tomorrow.
And there are times when today is all I need.

Oh, if I’m standing right here tomorrow,
And if I’m standing strong and free,
Oh, if I’m standing right here beside you, Love,
Then I’ll be standing where I want to be.

Do you feel the rain on the air tonight?
Do you hear the June bugs tappin’ at the screen?
Do you see the lightning flashing ‘cross the sky, Love?
Do you hear my heart calling your name?

Oh, if I’m standing right here tomorrow,
And if I’m standing strong and free,
Oh, if I’m standing right here beside you, Love,
Then I’ll be standing where I want to be.

Let’s stand out in the storm!
Know what it means to feel alive.
So full of longing and desire,
And still, so grateful to be home.

[dah, dah, dah, doo, doo, doo]

Oh, if I’m standing right here tomorrow,
And if I’m standing strong and free,
Oh, if I’m standing right here beside you, Love,
Then I’ll be standing where I want to be.

Harborage Road

If you go down Harborage Road, you’ll come to a graveyard
Where violets grow, May Apples spread umbrella leaves.
There lies a girl in the shadow of an ancient cedar
Hiding from harsh, sunlit memories.
And I ask of you, go to her gently.
Wake her from her lonely reverie.

Yes, I ask of you, speak to her softly.
Tell her, please, it’s safe for her to leave.
Long ago midst wandering woodland rovings,
she stumbled deep into this flowery glade.
Dogwoods blooming white promises of salvation
lured her here among century-old graves.
She fell in love with the ancient cedar,
Fell in love with the violet carpet lush and green.
She fell in love with solitude, sweet sorrow,
Fell in love as if into a dream.

So, won’t you go down Harborage Road, go swift, go surely.
Look for the girl, though the path prove overgrown.
Go as the wind, warm with scents of springtime,
Breath of new life in death’s forgotten home.
And I ask of you, go to her gently.
Wake her from her lonely reverie.
I ask of you, speak to her softly.
Tell her, please, it’s safe for her to leave.

Yes, I ask of you, go to her swiftly.
Bring her your love, for it’s love that she needs.
Oh, I ask of you, go to her fully.
So that she may at last be fully free
of Harborage Road . . . Harborage Road.

Milkweed

Like the Monarch butterfly, I
am in relationship
with you. Your silken fibers
ripen through the summers
of my youth.
Within cocoon husks
Stiff mouse-gray pods hide
palest yellow threads, damp
with newness, unready
for the air, for the earth.

Great-grandma recommended
your milk to cure
the warts on my big toe. Torn
leaves leaked sticky juice.
Curiosity suggested I force open
tear-shaped
treasure cases and touch
the moist tendrils concealed
like butterfly wings, fresh
from the gauze of transformation.

A butterfly touched
will die for want of flight,
but left alone you split
those pockets and spread
them wide for the wind or my breath.
Seed-weighted tufts
blown into the autumn sky
to soar, float freely, dip, drift
and fall
to foreign dirt
receptive or barren.

Will I Grow?

The sky will open up,
Swallow me whole,
Scatter me onto ground stiff with cold.
But will I grow?

Just before winter, the milkweed opens up,
And the best that it holds blows away.
Has our summer gone?
Has our summer gone?
Has our, has our summer gone?
Ooh …. Ooh…Ooh

From full flower
To empty husk,
The quiet strength to trust
Wind and earth will bring rebirth.
While I tremble…
While I tremble at the touch…
While I tremble at the slightest touch of change.
Ooh …. Ooh…Ooh

The sky will open up,
Swallow me whole,
Scatter me onto ground stiff with cold.
But will I grow?
Will I grow?
Will I grow?
Will I grow?
Ooh …. Ooh…Ooh
Ooh …. Ooh…Ooh
Ooh …. Ooh…Ooh

Time Wears Thin

I don’t need your sense of obligation.
It doesn’t carry its own weight.
You keep your bland communication.
I’ll keep my heart. I’ll keep my faith.
I don’t want to go on some vacation,
Some fleeting moment of escape.
I’m searchin’ for a road to take me home again,
Some old, familiar place.

Time wears thin as the Earth turns ‘round.
Holding each other is what this life’s about.
Can you hear the ocean in the prairie wind?
Can you feel my heartbeat beneath my skin?
Can you feel my heartbeat beneath my skin?

For months after I lost him,
Time doubled back, worn thin.
I fell outside of now,
Traveled between, apart, within.
And I found I could not touch life.
I moved beside in another plane.
And I found I could not feel love,
Only grief and loss and pain.

Time wears thin as the Earth turns ‘round.
Holding each other is what this life’s about.
Can you hear the ocean in the prairie wind?
Can you feel my heartbeat beneath my skin?
Can you feel my heartbeat beneath my skin?

Ley lines lie across the weary ground,
Meet where the world grows thin.
Can what I seek be found?
If I could only touch love, reach beyond time’s shroud.
If I could only sense light beyond the darkest cloud. . . .
If I could only sense light beyond the darkest cloud.
And time wears thin as the Earth turns ‘round.

Holding each other is what this life’s about.
Can you hear the ocean in the prairie wind?
Can you feel my heartbeat beneath my skin?
Can you feel my heartbeat beneath my skin?

Obon, Dance of Light

We make our way to the old quarry,
Along wooded trails to the man-hewn lake.
Feet crunch on gravel paths, and
Killdeers squabble in the marsh grass.
Great trees give witness, stand in reflection.
Canada geese fly overhead, sounding Day Is Done
as they splash down in unison.

Obon, dance of light,
Grant us refuge. Help us say goodbye.
Obon, sweet dance of light,
In the darkness, shine the truth of life.

We friends unfold rice paper lanterns,
Light the wicks, set them adrift, aflame.
Fire glows on mirrored water,
Shines bright against the gathering dark.
Love swells in sorrow—so deep so wide.
No boat to carry me over. I have no wings to fly.
I have only candlelight.

Obon, dance of light,
Grant us refuge. Help us say goodbye.
Obon, sweet dance of light,
In the darkness, shine the truth of life.

Oh, when great souls die, this is how we say goodbye.
Oh, when great souls die, this is how we say goodbye.
We have loved deeply. We have grieved intensely. We have healed profoundly.
We have loved deeply. We have grieved intensely. We have healed profoundly.
“We can be. Be and be better.” We can be.

Flames on still water,
Lanterns illuminating
Peace beyond goodbye.
Flames on still water,
Lanterns illuminating
Peace beyond goodbye.

You Feel So Near

Since you left, I’ve carried on
Like a melody without a song.
Wanting still to feel you close
Yet to be enough on my own.

You knew so much I didn’t know—
How to breathe, how to hope.
You put me at ease, helped me to row.
You believed in me and my unlikely boat.

I talk to you, and I know you hear,
‘cause sometimes you feel so near.
Like a breath, a sigh, a tear,
You feel so near, so near.
Tell me how to hold on while letting go,
Like water flows from melting snow.
Transform me here on this frozen ground.
Uncover me. Let me be found.

The tulip returns each spring to bloom
Reborn anew from winter’s tomb.
My love also opens to the sky,
To the sun, to the warmth, the butterfly.
I talk to you, and I know you hear,
‘Cause sometimes you feel so near.
Like a breath, a sigh, a tear,
You feel so near, so near.

Since you left, I’ve carried on,
A new melody in a familiar song.

Life Is So Beautiful

My heart is so weary. My will is so weak.
If it weren’t for our friendship, I’d fall into sorrow
And forget how to speak.
But our laughter’s like music—it drains off the pain.
Before it can drown me, I let love surround me, and I can breathe again.

And that’s why life is so beautiful to me.
Oh, life’ so beautiful to me.
Oh, life is so beautiful to me.
Brings me all I need.

This pain won’t go nowhere. It lingers in me.
Sunk deep in my bones, won’t leave me alone,
Like I’ll never be free.
But your smile, so simple, brings me such relief.
I let go of the battles, hold onto what matters, renew my belief.

Oh, that life is so beautiful to me.
Oh, life’s so beautiful to me.
Oh, life is so beautiful to me.
Brings me all I need.

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

So, come sit by the window. Come and talk with me.
If I were a songbird waiting for morning, you’d be my wings.
Love brings the sunrise. Love dances in the trees.
Love falls with the rain. Love calls us home again,
and kisses us with the breeze.

And that’s why life is so beautiful to me.
You know life’s so beautiful to me.
Oh, life is so beautiful to me.
Brings me all I need.
Oh, yes, life is so beautiful to me.
You know life’s so beautiful to me.
Oh, life is so beautiful to me.
Brings me all I need.

There Is Joy!

If the words spoken on the radio
Get you down, make you feel so sad,
Remember, we can only do our part,
And we deserve joy even when the world’s gone mad.

There is joy in friends’ embraces,
In strangers’ faces, in unexpected places.
There is joy inside of you and me.
With every breath we breathe, there is joy.
Ooh, ooh, ooh. Ooh, ooh, ooh. Ooh, ooh, ooh.

If you’ve forgotten how, or maybe gotten lost.
Look around you now. You’ll find your way.
Like kids laughing in the park on a hot summer night,
Let’s make some noise. Come on out and play.

There is joy in friends’ embraces,
In strangers’ faces, in unexpected places.
There is joy inside of you and me.
With every breath we breathe, there is joy.
Ooh, ooh, ooh. Ooh, ooh, ooh. Ooh, ooh, ooh.

Today, in the face of suffering.
I saw a new widow laugh at a story well told.
Tears of mirth and grief mingled in her eyes
With all the glorious love her heart could hold.
There is joy in friends’ embraces,
In strangers’ faces, in unexpected places.

There is joy inside of you and me.
With every breath we breathe, there is joy.
Ooh, ooh, ooh. Ooh, ooh, ooh. Ooh, ooh, ooh.
Ooh, ooh, ooh. Ooh, ooh, ooh. Ooh, ooh, ooh.

So if the words posted on the internet
Get you down, make you feel so sad.
Remember, we can always do our part,
And share our joy even when the world’s gone mad.
There is joy in friends’ embraces,
In strangers’ faces, in unexpected places.
There is joy inside of you and me.
With every breath we breathe, there is joy.
Ooh, ooh, ooh. Ooh, ooh, ooh. Ooh, ooh, ooh.

Where the Water Meets the Land

I met a man where the water meets the land
And the sky turns indigo.
He looked into me,
His gaze like the sea,
Smooth and still along the sand.

Where the water meets the land
He found the strength to stand,
Living life with open hands,
Traveling without plans,
To where the water meets the land.

Blessed is the man who has grown beyond his greed,
And become part of the whole,
Not ever being sure,
Just learning to live pure,
To feel and taste and hear and see.

Where the water meets the land
He found the strength to stand,
Living life with open hands,
Traveling without plans
To where the water meets the land.

So with a quiet mind, regard the fleeting world like this,
Like the stars fading at dawn,
Like bubbles on a stream.
Be present now; life’s like a dream.
We can’t recapture what we miss.

So where the water meets the land
We will find the strength to stand
Living life with open hands
Traveling without plans
To where the water meets the land.

Where the water meets the land
We will find the strength to stand,
Living life with open hands,
Traveling without plans
To where the water meets the land.

One Breath

One breath before the newborn’s cry.
One breath to sing a lullaby.
First breath of air.
First gaze in mother’s eyes.
How many breaths to fill a life?

Ooh . . . Ooh . . . Ooh …

One breath. Which one will be the last?
One fragile breath, a tired rasp.
Three whispered words
Exhaled along the breath.
To say, “I love you,” once more before death.

Ooh . . . Ooh . . . Ooh …
Ooh . . . Ooh . . . Ooh …
Ooh . . . Ooh . . . Ooh …

The holding close,
The letting go.
A dance of life,
A river’s flow.
We all were born.
We all will die.
How many breaths to fill a life?

One breath.
One breath.
We all breathe one breath.
One breath.
All in one breath.
We all breathe one breath.

One breath.