life: acoustic & amplified

in the garden

MY ROSE

I reminisce the first kiss

From Melrose my dear rose

It made my blood cold like ice

It gave my heart a minute pose

Holding her tight and close

She loves leaning on my little chest

Wrapped around with my tender arms

I dream we never part until at last

I fear to lose my rose my Queen

Colligated, me and her now make one

This love made me insane

I’m sure she’s the chosen one

She’s my magic rose

The kind with ever smiling petals

With a sensation that never drops

In my loving arms

That’s where her peace reigns

Around her presence

My insecurities are with fears

Falling in love I thought it wrong

But now my heart has a love song

Lyrics to all unknown

Known only to her alone

She’s has magical ears

My magic dear rose

The only one who knows

My sweet soul’s silent musings

With words I can’t explain enough

What’s the other way to say of love

Be in my soul and see your self

I will remain the same for ages

My love for you is true

Like the sky it never changes

Always and will ever be blue

I surrender my life, to you i give

All the days i will protect this love

I will live

Like a guardian Angel to make you believe

That all is under, you’re above

I will love you now

I will love you then

I will love you like when

our love was two days old

So come closer my rose

Let’s dance to out love tunes

Known to only our souls

And make the world our love to praise

Come let’s give hope to doubting souls

🌹

Come lets show that true love exists

by H D Mleya

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o’er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the milky way,

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

I gazed—and gazed—but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

🌼

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud by William Wordsworth

🥀💐

the trees are singing hymns of gregarious grace

including me in their harmonious worship

shades-of-violet hydrangea snowballs shyly peek out from forest green camouflage

wanting to tell their easy going secrets

summer days bunch in humid bouquets of passionate colors

though we’re all slightly wilted in this heat

longing for a bit of chill

the evening falls down in shades of blues and whites

then cinematically the rainbow reel begins to turn

catching our collective breathing in this wonder-as-we-wander show of colors quickly changing

reflecting all its magical up-in-the-air business in the mirrored surface on the water below

as-above-so-below reflections of pure beauty

but for now, light plays electric games

intertwining within the trees empty spaces above black silhouettes

creating living, breathing, stained-glass-type masterpieces down each darkening dead-end street

then it all graciously surrenders to nights call with such tender sky streaking eloquence

having complete peace with its natural disappearance

everything spoken loudly with no verbal cues

I see love everywhere

my soulful eyes touching these freely given moments

I wholeheartedly admit, am full-smitten with this messy, beauty-full world

recklessly giving my heart without any hesitation to is flaunting desire to be wild and ramble free-

changing every moment

ever on and on

my heart beat keeps time

my steps lead me through emptied streets

winding my way home

to my bed of quilts and comforts

now I lay me down

with no more miles to go

my ever rambling conversation – this thing named ‘Prayer’

with this best friend of mine,

this love I know so well, is,

as it is most frequently,

one of extravagant thanks

I am kept

I am loved

I am enough

this I know for sure

💐

Amy Lloyd

https://youtu.be/AxQital2mdQ

the future, the moment & yesterday walk into a bar…

The poem of the future will be smaller.

It will fit in the palm of your hand,

on your wrist, in your ear.

The poem of the future will not need

bulky batteries or cumbersome wires.

It will be powered by moonlight and weed.

The poem of the future will be automatic.

It will go for months without routine maintenance.

It will be faster, smoother, with a digital tick.

The poem of the future will be lighter.

It will be made of plastics and exotic metals.

It will be available in hundreds of shapes and colors.

The poem of the future will make our lives true.

It will perform in a second what it takes

the poem of the present a day to do.

The poem of the future will talk to us.

It will say things like “Buy IBM,” and “Be my friend,”

and “Pulvis et umbra sumus.”

The Poem of the Future by J.R. Solonche

we are made of light and shadows

the end of the world is always coming

tomorrow is always a chance to begin again

let us do the hard thing

let us live our highest and best lives

give all your deepest love to your people

inhabit all your souls burning passions

share your most important truths with everyone you meet

sing songs to remember the life you have lived

pay attention to this moment

remember this moment is your life

celebrate every little thing with joy

💞

Amy Lloyd

<

This is my letter to the world,

That never wrote to me,-

The simple news that Nature told,

With tender majesty

Her message is committed

To hands I cannot see;

For love of her, sweet countrymen,

Judge tenderly of me!

This is my letter to the World… by Emily Dickinson

stepping carefully…no stepping MINDFULLY!

Step One:

Take no more steps

away from yourself.

– Jeff Foster

When you hear the God of your heart, you’ll know it…

you’ll break, you’ll wonder, you’ll be perplexed for a while…

possibly down to your toes and up through your crown chakra…

You’ll vibrate and think the world couldn’t possibly be this radiant…this fair, this packed with sources, guidance…even mysterium tremendum wipes out the logical and linear

the heart bursts with magnetic energy

and dissolves a whole lot of past…

remember, that all prayers are heard,

all prayers are answered..

just not like you would expect…

even better

as Spirit speaks your language,

understands your dreams,

drifts off into your imagination,

your rooted history,

your intimate loves…

Spirit lacks nothing

Spirit gives Life…

Have a beautiful weekend

say a dangerous prayer…

dare to be in relationship with

the

Spirit of the Living God,

Beauty,

Rev. Donna Knutson

We seldom notice how each day is a holy place

Where the eucharist of the ordinary happens,

Transforming our broken fragments

Into an eternal continuity that keeps us.

Somewhere in us a dignity presides

That is more gracious than the smallness

That fuels us with fear and force,

A dignity that trusts the form a day takes.

So at the end of this day, we give thanks

For being betrothed to the unknown

And for the secret work

Through which the mind of the day

And wisdom of the soul become one.

– John O’Donohue

– via Julian Mann

check your vibes

all day long

the music inside me

walks me through

every day the song-lists play

weaving themselves into the world

around my going

just yesterday

you created new symphonic occurrences

to be forever included

in my smile

my senses refined by the touch of you

the wind gently touching my face

with delicate fingers

my sweat soaked body

reminds me of that deep burning fire

life plays on and on

with me for this very moment

right here

right now

part of the harmony

a single black, dotted note

creating my little piece

of the grand composition

the masterpiece would be completely different

without me

without you

🎶

Amy Lloyd

/p>

because you

it tickles me today

to think of the the color

of your appearance in my life,

is like the alpha and omega,

all worded beginnings and endings.

the morning sun

bright and yellow

with streaks of sunset

pink

orange

melon

navy blue smudges

it makes me smile

to have this secret,

of you and me.

the mystery of our poems,

our shared slice of joy:full life

forever tattooed on my heart.

this particular shade of beauty,

this inquiry,

all these discoveries

our BE-ing

together without a ‘need to’ in our world

only revealed when we stepped into ‘us’ as a group

sitting in our circles

sharing our gifts with each other

these colors so few will ever see

in their color abandoned lives

settling for 50 shade of grey,

when there are such an unlimited number of possible variations,

to even that one simple color.

I smile because,

I know your heart,

and I know you will understand this poem I write.

I smile for the simple fact of you being in the world,

my world,

if only just a little –

yes, my world is so much more because you are in it.

I give thanks for this,

and for your bright soul,

your rebel heart,

your wisdom,

your grace.

I walk in sunshine today,

smile at the girl in the mirror,

shout ‘thank you’ to the blue sky

blow bubbles on the beach

with you ever present within me

as my souls breath of heaven

because you…

just because you…

💞

Amy Lloyd

Bepe is a Hebrew name meaning “Yahweh will add”

🌝

My daughter, you need Me like the flowers need sun, like the earth quakes and needs to be quieted, like the sand cries out for a drop of rain. You need Me to write truth again, in the places where it has been forgotten. You need Me to awaken faith and stir the lukewarm so it heats or freezes so that my children who don’t know Me don’t confuse Me with another nice person on the street.

I am not nice, with a smile on my face each day. But I am joy-filled. I am not mellow or calm all the time. But I am peace. I am secure in who I am. I am the rock, the lion who roars, the light that shines, the beginning and the only way darkness can end.

I am the end. The end of suffering. The end of angst. The end of fear. The end of death. The end of pain. The end of striving. The end of destruction for the sake of getting ahead. The end of comparison. The end of trying to fit in. The end of loneliness. The end of despair. The end of sickness. The end of confusion. The end of self-centeredness. The end of self.

You need Me in order to become yourself. You need Me because you are made for freedom. You need Me because you are holy, in my name, and I have designed you with a purpose, a purpose to help and to heal and to encourage and to love. You need Me to receive the joy that is yours, that you were born to receive, for which you were designed to love. You need Me because you are thirsty and hungry and craving more Life, more hope, more freedom, more joy. You are made to desire Me and do the things you have been made to do.

I want to tell you what those things are and who you are.

My daughter.

My delight.

-Loop

There are years that ask questions and years that answer. – Zora Neale Hurston

I am showered with ideas;

how to make things happen,

how to survive by my wits,

how to get free dinners,

and couch-surf

and hustle

and side-hustle

and hustle the hustlers

The plethora of schemes overwhelm me,

it is not my practice

(anymore)

to have loads of plans in my head.

I walk in simple faith,

expecting to receive as I go,

(with a few figurative stones and a slingshot),

following the messages within the silence,

within the water,

within the seagulls the herons.

I trust the voice inside.

I trust God.

I trust the universe

I trust the goodness.

I am not very afraid,

more curious than anything.

I consider this a probing question at the outset,

now it is a joy-full commitment.

I am letting go.

I am standing with my head high and my palms open

in order to give and to receive.

something real is happening

in the rain, in the sun, in the midnight hours

sheltered in this sturdy place of safety

stable grounding

radical celebrating

humble, grateful mothering

This gift!

Light. Dark. Shadows. Colors.

This walk into the grand arena,

glimpses of the future

begun, yet not fully bloomed,

early stages,

developing as I go.

It is enough.

Yes, it is enough

My soul seeks its deepest calling

the bend curves sweetly

I sit in the beauty of this stained glass

doors ever opening to more beauty

everything here is circular

my heart smiles

and

I pray

🚪

Amy Lloyd

<<<
irmation: Everything is falling into place!🌞

My grandfather told me that I have two ears and one mouth, which means that I should listen twice as often as I speak. Through these images, I’ve tried to do just that — to listen more than I speak, both with my voice and my cameras. These images arise out of my pride of where I am from and where I am of, and an enduring love for Appalachia.

This is my testimony.

— Roger May

http://bittersoutherner.com/roger-may-love-letter-to-appalachia/#.WfCAfVApCEd When you wish, if it’s a wish that’s really integral to who you are, it presents new challenges. It doesn’t just end there, with a state of fulfillment. It takes you to a new edge.

-The Wishing Year, Noelle Oxenhandler

If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is “Thank You,” it will be enough

– Meister Eckhart

I just like being with you ❤️ Thank you…I like hearing that…(tell me more)

What really matters? What’s really important? Why bother? Who cares? What’s it all for?

You, it’s all about you. What you like and dislike. What you want and don’t want. What makes you smile and laugh. What makes you learn and grow.

Selfish? How else could you shine your light? How else could you possibly hope to lift the world? How else could you be all that we dreamed you might be?

Selfish of me,

The Universe

I see your faces within the sacred mist

women of the seven mountains

emerging through your veiled masks

your lovely smiling photographs

White clouds descended into treed tops

forests of beauty hung with shadow

Ghostly opaque beauty

Black fury assembled

the voice of heaven demanding silence

our stories and laughter tumble into this place

Honest and life changing

I am listening

I am Letting go of all illusory beliefs

that you and I are not enough

This magic moment holds us fully

Light breaking through in patches of holy wonder

all these doors into unlimited possibility

the darkness holds all these shades and shapes of mystery

I drive a thousand miles feeling the magnitude of what these days are

where we will all go from here is a matter of personal choosing

all I know is the world will never be the same for me

because you invited me into your circle

because you held me with so much love and grace

as I worked through the startling reality

of my unexpected resurrection

🎄

Amy Lloyd

<<
en among those of us

most needful

or on the edge

the angels of God

don’t really judge

whether we are good or bad,

they are not sent on any mission,

they just really like

to be with us.

_________________

Steve Garnaas-Holmes

Unfolding Lightwww.unfoldinglight.net

mermaid by Carli Groven

When I say, I love how you’ve grown!

What I mean is…

I so appreciate seeing you expanding into your own mystery,

not that you need to change or be anyone other than exactly who you are

When I say, I love how you’ve grown!

What I mean is…

I see us both basking in the comfort of our own company

and I am glad we can be witness for one another as we do

not that either of us ought to become more like the other

When I say, I love how you’ve grown!

What I mean is…

I am inspired by your ongoing courage to be authentic

and would never want to criticize who you were, who you are, who you ever have been or ever will be

When I say, I love how you’ve grown!

What I mean is..

Thank you for sharing the view of life from behind your lens,

not that you were ever less than you ‘should’ have been

When I say, I love how you’ve grown!

What I mean is…

I am grateful to know YOU and for our friendship,

not that I need or expect anything from you at all.

When I say, I love how you’ve grown!

What I mean is…

I value the transparent vulnerabilities we have shared together –

I hope you know I would never want to push you away.

When I say, I love how you’ve grown!

What I mean is…

I love you…plain and simple and such a lovely gift

❤️

I just wanted you to know by Amy Lloyd & Robin OK

Yay

listen like a miracle

I am falling

like the rain

like the light through the broken clouds

I am falling

like a leaf

whose time it is to drop

like a musical note

carried aloft

to your ear and mine.

I am falling like the sun

like someone

who realises there are no more supports

for the weight we carry,

which we voluntarily adopt.

I am falling

into grace

and love that has no boundaries,

but draws me from my feet

to the floor

where I bow in reverence

to the one who holds me up.

I am falling

but to the relief

that comes from knowing

I am carried on the currents of the wind,

to greater and greater

freedom.

The return to those who give up

their rights,

and fall that they might gain;

to those who hit the floor

to find a universe

under their feet.

Falling by Ana Lisa de Jong

Living Tree Poetry

October 2017

We are God’s thread

weaving through the tapestry,

the masterpiece is slowly

created.

Potential for beauty, we can’t know,

unfolding,

becoming,

revealing glory

so bright

it makes the sun squint

and reach for sunglasses.

Brilliance so far beyond ourselves

we go shining into the gray

as we open to the new jewels appearing,

sparkling in the moonlight.

As we step into the needle’s eye

the angels catch their breath,

cheering our blazing garments,

dazzled by the vision

God is revealing through the creation.

As we surrender to the greatest mystery,

the beauty we inhabit

becomes us,

walking in humble clay

eyes out shining the stars

set in the heavens.

Until we totally disappear and all that’s left

is holiness

so pure

all we can do

is

bow in wonder

at ourselves

and give thanks

as the silk thread

becomes liquid gold and silver

pure and simple

glory

as we realize our place.

We are the temple of our creator.

The home of God.

💞

Amy Lloyd< img src=”https://lifeacousticandamplified.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/img_4208.jpg&#8221; height=”4032″ class=”wp-image-14108″ width=”3024″><<
he leaves are falling, falling as if from far up,

as if orchards were dying high in space.

Each leaf falls as if it were motioning “no.”

And tonight the heavy earth is falling

away from all other stars in the loneliness.

We’re all falling. This hand here is falling.

And look at the other one. It’s in them all.

And yet there is Someone, whose hands

infinitely calm, hold up all this falling.

🍁

Autumn by Rainer Maria Milke, Trans. by Robert Bly

There’s a thread you follow. It goes among

things that change. But it doesn’t change.

People wonder about what you are pursuing.

You have to explain about the thread.

But it is hard for others to see.

While you hold it you can’t get lost.

Tragedies happen; people get hurt

or die; and you suffer and get old.

Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding.

You don’t ever let go of the thread.

💞

The Way It Is by William Stafford

Brianna Saussy

this never happened before

https://youtu.be/Sdkted-e7Is

I’m very sure

This never happened to me before

I met you and now I’m sure

This never happened before

Now I see

This is the way it’s supposed to be

I met you and now I see

This is the way it should be

This is the way it should be for lovers

They shouldn’t go it alone

It’s not so good when you’re on your own

So come to me

Now we can be what we want to be

I love you and now I see

This is the way it should be

This is the way it should be

This is the way it should be for lovers

They shouldn’t go it alone

It’s not so good when you’re on your own

I’m very sure

This never happened to me before

I met you and now I’m sure

This never happened before this never happened

This never happened before this never happened

This never happened before this never happened before

Lyrics by Paul McCartney

The source of all

rains down all good things

with no withholding

for bad behavior.

no extra points

for brown nosing.

no cookies

because we are cute.

we aren’t loved

for being pious.

We are just loved.

Just as we are,

warts and all.

All souls equally loved.

The doors are always open,

there are no favorites.

the ground is level.

grace poured over all,

just as raindrops pour equally,

on just and unjust.

We are each the Beloved.

We are all royal sons and daughters.

We are all invited to ask, seek, knock.

We are all welcome.

Come,

fall in love with this Love.

You will never be the same

💞

Amy Lloyd

<<<<<
tmas 🎄 all over this October weekend…

let nothing be the call

Nothingness is the sister of possibility. It makes an urgent space for that which is new, surprising, and unexpected. When you feel nothingness and emptiness gnawing at your life, there is no need to despair. This is a call from your soul, awakening your life to new possibilities.

– John O’Donohue

Briana Saussy

We hurry through the so-called boring things

in order to attend to that which we deem

more important, interesting.

Perhaps the final freedom will be a recognition
that everything in every moment is essential
and that nothing at all is important.

~ Helen Luke

Let’s be nothing

You and I

let’s stand together

Souls naked

skin removed

take me into you

I will do the same

We will be fog

Rising as Mist

You will become me

as our hearts become one

I will Fade into You

nothing for eternity

everything for the days after

💞

Amy Lloyd

~

voices

quiet enough

to allow for the next

heart found still beating

in a little ravine

descent — shush

— it’s fine

it’s precisely the shopping

things around

can’t be anymore

lost — the ability

to touch and listen

stopped

— the trying to reach

and bend

new normal

is a pool on the floor

previous ways in the moment

saw sunset

the deep saw depth charges

how about you

recall everywhere research

meddles

marvel at every proof —

the heart’s this or it’s that

— and they

all but nailed it

the hurt

too

me I’m waiting

like the person said

to be led

away from

this focus they first advised

trying not to think

that far ahead

— for a

change

waiting to be led away

any takers

fulfill the knots

to what was legacy

while

up there ahead

a levitation is in progress

someone

in the rafters

oh my

she just may be

that

warning

,

,

,

,

,

,

,

m.e.

10/20

(c) ‘17 miguel.J.escobar

Life is not passing you by.

Life is inviting you in.

Inviting you into the simple and

sudden moments of quiet,

yet invigorating bliss that veer

on the wind and into your stilled body,

sending tingles through your spirit.

Life is not passing you by.

Life is drawing you close.

Pulling you in and calling you towards

an awakening spark that will ignite

the purest of imaginative thought

and vision into being.

Life is not overlooking you,

underestimating you,

or merely passing through.

Life is subtly requesting you take all

you’ve held safely within and

give it room to be birthed

into creative expression.

No, life has not heartlessly given up on you.

Life is graciously standing by.

🌫

Susan Frybort Brown

💥

Wonder is the heaviest element on the periodic table. Even a tiny fleck of it stops time.

– Diane Ackerman