TEXTS

Hear My Voice

Come and hear the voice of creation.
She is whisp’ring on the breeze,
And in the cleansing rains,
And the rolling brooks, calling
“Peace, peace, peace.
Hear my voice. Hear my voice, and I will shelter you.”

Come and sing the song of creation.
She is whistling through the trees,
And through the flow’ring fields, 
And the forest grass, calling
“Strength, strength, strength.
Hear my voice. Hear my voice, and I will cradle you.”

Come and feel the cry of creation.
She is pleading through the fire,
And through the raging storms,
And the thirsting sands, calling
“Save, save, save.
Hear my voice.”

Heal me. 

Hear my voice.

He Wishes For the Cloths of Heaven (William Butler Yeats)

Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

Dos Cuerpos (Octavio Paz)

Two bodies face to face
Are at times two waves
And the night is an ocean.

Two bodies face to face
Are sometimes two stones
And the night is a desert.

Two bodies face to face
Are at times two roots
Intertwined in the night.

Two bodies face to face
Are sometimes two stilettos
And night lightning sparks.

Two bodies face to face
Are two stars who are falling
In a naked sky.

Wedding Song

Take my hand, and we’ll walk on together.
To a young upland meadow where skylarks sing,
And green shoots of fescue and friendship grow strong.

Take my hand, and we’ll walk on together.
Where a warm southern breeze whispers citrus and honey,
And the ripe fruit of passion tastes heady and sweet.

Take my hand, and we’ll walk on together.
Through a black and white city of clockwork routine,
Where time in a tunnel kaleidoscopes by.

Take my hand, and we’ll walk on together.
On a hard rocky shoreline where the east wind bites,
And cold gray pain tries to snatch away feeling.

Take my hand, and we’ll walk on together.
Till flames spring again from a smoldering core
And melting the snows of the land that we share.

Take my hand.

Winter Is Past (from Song of Solomon)

Rise up my love, my fair one, and come away.
For lo, for lo, winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
The flow’rs appear upon the earth.
The time of singing of birds is come.

I Celebrate Myself (Walt Whitman, from Song of Myself)

There is never more than now.
I am the poet of the body and the poet of soul.
All forces have been steadily employed to complete and delight me,
Now on this spot I stand with my robust soul.
O I celebrate myself and I sing myself,
Every atom that belongs to me as good belongs to you.

I Am, We are

I am lost.

No, I don’t want to talk about it.

Why would I want to talk about it with you?

I, am, we, are, you, us, them, lost, lone, hurt, numb, fight, grieve, no!

Silence; Thank you for giving me your days.

Why am I comforting you?

I am so much more hurt.

We are lost.

Invocation (Spring Torrents) (Sara Teasdale, from Spring Torrents & Spring Rain)

Will it always be like this until I am gone?
Ev’ry spring must I bear it all again?
With the first red haze of the budding maple boughs
And in the first rain, the first sweet smelling rain?

Oh, I am like a rock, a rock in the rising river
Where the flooded water breaks with a low call,
Like a rock that knows the cry of the waters
And cannot, cannot answer at all.

Will it always be like this until I am gone?
Ev’ry spring must I bear it all again?
I thought I had forgotten till it all came back
With first spring thunder in a rush of rain.

Oh, I am like a rock, a rock in the rising river
Where the flooded water breaks with a low call,
Like a rock that knows the cry of the waters
And cannot, cannot answer at all.

Summer Was Here For Awhile (Sara Teasdale)

What tho the wind, a summer wind no more
Blow loud, blow high, blow leaves across the floor?
Grieve not the heart for things too sweet to stay,
Summer was here for awhile before she went away.

Come, then and sing while still hearts are young!
Draw near and sing till all our songs are sung.
We shall remember, shall love to say
Summer was here for a while before she went away.

Command Thine Angel that He Come (Befiel dem Engel)

Command thine angel that he come,
Us to protect, and us,
Thy very own.
To us, Thy loyal guardians send,
That fear of Satan, that Satan have an end.

Now calmly we sleep, now calmly we slumber by Thy will,
Having Thine angel with us still.
Thou great and holy Trinity, we praise Thy name eternally.

Amen.

Bright Morning Stars

Bright morning stars are rising,
And day is a breaking in my soul.

O where are our dear fathers,
They are sowing seeds of gladness,
And day is a breaking in my soul.

O where are our dear mothers,
They have crossed the river shouting,
And day is a breaking in my soul.

Bright morning stars are rising,
They are all by the streams a dancing,
And day is a breaking in my soul.

Into the Light

Death thou art welcome to my arms,
Attended with a thousand charms,
From prison then I shall be freed,
By pow'r divine and live indeed.

Kyrie eleison.

This flesh and blood I want no more,
I land upon a purer shore,
Its work is done and I resign that dust,
Which is no longer mine.

Christe eleison.

Then with my spirit glorious rise,
Matur’d by goodness for the skies!
A form of heavenly light and love and
Well prepar’d to live above!

Kyrie eleison.

Be Still, My Heart

Be still, my heart
These great trees are prayers.
Still heart; 
Be still, my heart.

My Soul is Awakened (Anne Bronte)

My soul is awakened,
My spirit is soaring and
Carried aloft on the wings of the breeze;
For above and around me the wild wind is roaring,
Arousing to rapture the earth and the seas!

The long withered grass in the sunshine is glancing,
The bare trees are tossing their branches on high;
The dead leaves beneath them are merrily dancing,
The white clouds are scudding across the blue sky!

I wish I could see how the ocean is lashing,
The foam of its billows to whirlings of spray;
I wish I could see how its proud waves are dashing,
And hear the wild roar of their thunder today!

Dark Old Wind

The dark old wind it comes and goes,
It shrieks and cries, it howls and moans.
It never tells us where it's been.
That's how it is that dark old wind.

The dark old is wind is going to blow,
As it wants, as it will.
It clouds my mind, it chills my soul.
It's never still, that dark old wind.

When we’re snug and warm, with windows closed.
That dark old wind is at the door,
It makes us want to let it in,
It’s ever been, that dark old wind.

The dark old wind it comes and goes,
It shrieks and cries, it howls and moans.
It never tells us where it's been.
That's how it is that dark old wind.

There’s a Place (Shon Keane & Felix Graham)

I know, you ran away
Hidden, all alone
Too afraid to be known

And I know
You wanted to disappear
Wounded and hurt, you learned to fear

The world kept on screaming
So you kept on dreaming
And now I’m here by your side

We both know
We’ve got wounds from fighting
And we know
It’s hard to love, when you’re in hiding
But one thing, we both know

There is a place
A place where you can go
Where you don’t have to hide
Come with me and watch what happens
There is a place you can be
There’s a place where you can be free

And now, you can’t break free
You carry your past on your shoulders
But right now
Though there’s a storm outside
We’ll stick together and stand with pride

And the world keeps on screaming
So we keep on dreaming
But now I’m here by your side

We both know
We’ve still got wounds from fighting
And we know
It’s hard to love, when you’re in hiding
But one thing, we both know

There is a place, a place where we can go
Where we don’t have to hide
Come with us
And watch what happens
There is a place we can be
There’s a place where we can be free

People might yell and make you feel scared
(Don’t listen!)
Things happen that make you think you’re not free
(Don’t let them!)

‘Cause here in this place you’ve got protection
Here, you’ve got friends, and feel protection

This is our place!