becoming the morning
Early morning dark and quiet,
so still you can hear God,
then the sun rises like slow jazz,
vibrating through thin clouds,
they look like strings of cotton candy
stretching sideways,
you listen to the morning birds,
the thought of coffee makes you smile,
but the jazz is so smooth and relaxing,
you slip back into a drowsy dream.
〰️
J. D. James
you’re embarrassed by your own om
you say—planning your funeral
considering deep drones
only a limited number of patterns
exist for such a song
played in one breath
a prayer for a pregnant woman’s easy delivery
a tender preamble for a new instrument
a piece played for expressing gratitude
a state of mind resembling moonlight
a lighter one for festive occasions
a piece for overcoming difficulties that could have been handled better
a piece representing manifestations of self-discipline
an offering at a service for the dead
a piece expressing longing for home
if there are indeed
“still songs to sing beyond mankind”
we’ll need those
now
〰️
shakuhachi repertoire, handwritten from liner notes by Jen Bervin
I will have become
like the madman
running
to see the moon
in the window,
the hawk
I saw tracing
the cliff edge
above the river.
I will be the man
I have pursued
all along
and finally caught.
I will be
all my intuitions
and all my desires
and then I will walk
slowly
down the steps
as if dressed in white
and wade into the water
for a second baptism.
I will be like
someone who cannot
hide their love
but my joy will become
ordinary
and everyday
and like a lover
I will find out
exactly what it is like
to be the happiest,
the only one in creation
to really
understand
how much,
I’m just a hair’s breadth
from dying.
…
Excerpted From
MORTALITY MY MISTRESS.
in RIVER FLOW:
New and Selected Poems © David Whyte and Many Rivers Press
Before I take communion
I confess my
ancestral malady,
weakness of the will.
I long for a comforter
to strengthen me with
the grace of heaven.
Therefor in the evening,
I listen to the thrush.
In the morning,
raindrops on ferns.
〰️
Fred LaMotte
life: acoustic & amplified 