The Soul Crossing book is currently in edit - Available in 2021.
What others are saying -
"Bright blasts of mystical wisdom reminiscent of Emily Dickinson"
Doug Mcgill - Founder / Rochester Meditation Center
I Know Who You Are (Lyrics - awaiting music)
In sadness, in silence
I know who you are
Try to run from the whispers
But you never get far
And I’ve met all your demons
I’ve seen where they hide
I know that you feed them
And I understand why
[Transition/Chorus]
But I think that there's more
It's just hidden from sight
I guess maybe we find it
When the moment is right
[End Trans]
In satin and shadows
I know where you’ve been
Always diving for covers
As the night crashes in
& I heard the confession
From your small crowd of sins
I was there at the temple
As you ushered them in
[Transition/Chorus]
But I'm sure that there’s more
Somewhere deep in the night
Where the secrets all go
When the moon is too bright
[End transition]
And the dark-hooded thief
That ran off with your smiles
Well, I know where he lives
(&) why he’s living in style
Yes, I stood by the gallows
With your future in doubt
And I heard all the screams
That could never get out
[Transition/Chorus]
But I know that there’s more
It just waits in the night
I guess maybe alone
It’s afraid of the light
[End transition]
Endless Flight
Complete dependence, the soul's release
Temptation and pain, the guiding forces
A jagged path that leads to peace
Through sacred lands go untamed horses
Panting struggles on perilous hills
Workers enslaved by works, at birth
And storms that breed the earthly thrills
Now wash the trail of crumbling earth
Collapse, despair, the throbbing terror
As hooves sink deep in earthly pain
The gasps of lungs that thirst for air
But find instead, the blackened rains
Unconscious mouths then drink of wine
Now flowing from a distant world
Revealing man to the divine
And to divinity, the soul unfurled
Deathly shudders release the spirit
Now swirling in the morning light
The weakened soul, drawing near it
Collapses into endless flight
I AM
I am a secret that I couldn't keep
The dreams of the dreamer who talks in his sleep
Safe but unseen in the depths of the night
I am the shadow that runs for the light
I am the answer, still trying to learn
The reason that fire can never be burned
Born into riches, like the prodigal son
I wander the earth as if I have none
Naked and hungry, I cover the land
In search of a beggar with a mirror in his hand
He knows who I am
He knows who I am
The Prisoner
The soul has a wondrous story to tell
Of an innocent child locked deep in a cell
He's told he is sentenced because he is broken
A verdict returned before he had spoken
With the judge and the jury thinking they knew
That acceptance demands you mustn't be you
They left him in darkness, trying to find
A kingdom existing solely in mind
The child is most patient, his sentence not death
He'll wait here in silence, a voice without breath
He knows they'll return since peace is forbidden
To those seeking treasure beyond where it's hidden
They'll search for their kingdom but won't understand
That the key to its entrance is here in his hand
In time they will tire with a weariness of mind
And then in their depths, his secret they'll find
Returning at once, with contrition and pleas
But all that he asks, is the trading of keys
Kingdom of Soul
The soul has penned a tale of a kingdom deep inside
A land that's not for sale, where peace and joy reside
It's not a gentle place, the soil there must be tilled
We need some empty space, in order to be filled
Could I truly bear the cost, for me it seemed to great
So I wandered with the lost, in circles round the gate
But my legs had grown so weak, with hunger prowling near
So my soul had come to speak, if I had come to hear
She told me she had tried to lead me back her way
With tender words she cried, 'just look how much you pay'
'You can't outrun the pain, for when you try to flee
It finds you once again, to bring you back to me'
'For pain had come to call with a golden key in hand
By walking through it all, it opens to this land'
She said the choice was mine, there was no easy way
Like running from a fine, in either case you pay
'But if you bear the cost, you'll get more than you know
You'll never wander lost, no matter where you go'
So I hunted down the fear and made the costly deal
It's now so very clear, this kingdom that I feel
I see the pearly gates, and have the golden key
In wonder she awaits, it's such a sight to see
White and Turbid Wake
(Line form Moby Dick)
"I leave a white and turbid wake"
Cast my fate upon the stars
Not sure why I’ve given chase
Or just what the dangers are
Might be a white whale or a ghost
Might roam the forest or the sea
Might raise a dagger or a toast
To the deepest parts of me
It’s the night that leads me on
As it cloaks the mystery
Is it the moon now or the dawn
That’s the greater friend to me
[Chorus Goes Here or after 2nd set of vs.]
It’s been months now since I sailed
But it feels like years to me
Guess time crawls when you’re jailed
(Or) when you’re not who you want to be
Is that a shadow in the night
Yeah, perhaps the time is here
I could tell if I had more light
I could see without the tears
I leave a white and turbid wake
Heading for a vast unknown
It’s a call I can’t forsake
I can feel it in my bones
[Chorus Goes Here]
Emily
Because I could not stop for death
He kindly stopped for me
It wasn't quite my time just yet
But he left with Emily
I still feel his hands, & I know his plans
Haven't changed much to this day
& I'm pretty sure, that there is no cure
For the ones that get away
Chorus /
Oh, sweet soul, you're finally free
But you're still here with me //
On the carriage ride, once you're inside
The journey isn't all that long
Where you're going to, it depends on you
You won't hear that in a song
But I think you'll find that the night is kind
& much lighter than the day
As the carriage fades & they pull the shades
I bet they're laughing to this day
(Bridge)
The sun will rise & the sun will set
It's never about how far you get
It's 'bout who you love on the way
You have not lived in vain //
Poetry.....
It's a question that starts...
In the depths of our hearts...
Where the pain's paired with word...
That it finally be heard...
By the heavens above...
That it may ask of love...
"Why must you remain,
Both healer and pain?"
Something I’ve Lost
I feel like I’m looking for something I’ve lost
It’s vague and its shy but the scent fills the air
Yet there’s always a void that I can’t get across
Seems like everyone else is already there
It feels like I’m losing, whenever I win
Like the game that we’re playing, (it) just isn’t mine
The curtain goes up and its showtime again
But I can’t act the part, no one gave me the lines
[Chorus Will Go Here]
Not sure why I'm searching for meaning at all
Never comes into focus, it's never quite clear
When you wait by the phone, seems like nobody calls
And the louder I question, the less I can hear
I feel like a pilgrim, can’t find my way home
And all of the streets, they no longer have names
Some look familiar, and some are unknown
But they never lead back, not the way that I came
The Tragically Blessed
The lame and the wicked
Are left minding the store
With the old hound of heaven
Asleep by the door
& The artists, and poets
The sultans of strange
Are handing out treasure
While (they're) begging for change
[Chorus will go here]
The terminally gifted
The tragically blessed
No crime's been committed
But still they confess
The light in the darkness
The yin to the yang
Just fill the blank canvass
With a bloody red stain
[Chorus Again]
Awareness
Desire is a bandit
And thoughts are like thieves
Will they leave empty-handed
It's all up to me
Beautiful Screams
Wrote this about artists protesting with screams of beauty.. Often, the deeper the ugliness, the louder & more beautiful the screams. It may be societal or personal ugliness. i.e. Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’ being inspired by the view out his asylum window..
Beautiful screams, in nights of despair
While ugliness dreams, with hardly a care
Breeding with light, engulfing with pain
The dark of the night, now tortures the sane
Muffling the cries, with an ironclad hand
The darkness can rise, to conquer the land
With no hope in sight, they swallow their dreams
In the depths of the night, come beautiful screams
Pursuits, Substitutes, & Ghosts
I’ve been swinging at shadows
Throwing punches at ghosts
But they’re always behind me
So I never get close
I went chasing a rainbow
Found a big pot of gold
But it’s sure hard to carry
When you’re out there alone
Didn’t bring that much home
I sought the ocean of love
Found my other half first
But there’s never enough
When you’re dying of thirst
So, I looked to the preachers
Had such fine things to say
Thought words were like windows
To some brighter place
But they just got in the way
Finally gave up the chase
Stuck
A river above
A river below
I'm in between
With nowhere to go
A stagnant scene
While everything flows
What keeps me here
Trapped like a tree
I don't have roots
So maybe its me
In the Shadows
(Jungian shadow work i.e. reconciling the polarities within and integrating the released psychic energies. Not referring to external gods & demons. Quote from Jung - "the one arose from the melting together of the two" )
A battle was raging
& My soul was unwell
It was reckoning day
Between heaven & hell
So, I called up my demons
And I summoned the gods
But I just couldn’t see that
They were never at odds
They came to my temple
To be formally wed
But I preached about purity
And divorced them instead
They went off in silence
Estranged from each other
& with night setting in
They had to take cover
They wait in the shadows
Until I come to see
That my demons & gods
Are just fragments of me
When I’m done casting stones
They’ll come out of hiding
They’ll join hands together
& become one inside me
A Soul undivided
Cloud # 8
I'm really not lost
Though I am running late
Got tired of the climb
So I stopped at Cloud 8
How high should I go?
This place is just fine
And I bet it gets crowded
On cloud number 9
& The view here is nice
Couldn’t ask for much more
But it’s not twice as good
As I had on Cloud 4
So, I’m starting to doubt
If higher is better
Maybe throw out the numbers
& just use some letters
Yeah, I think I’ll just rest
I don’t mind being late
If they’re looking for me
I’ll be here on cloud ‘H’
The Time Has Come
Time… I think the time has come
The past…. I think it's just begun
This winding road, it doesn’t take us far
It just leads back to wherever we are
Time….. I think the time has come
Pain….. I’m seeing so much pain
It goes…. but the it’s back again
The medicine seemed to work so well
But in the end, (it) makes us sick as hell
Pain…. I’m seeing so much pain
/// Chorus - YTD ///
Lost…. I think we lost our way
The path..... You know, in time it fades
Got turned around, & upside down
Got the outside in, and the inside out
Lost… I think we lost our way
Home….. I think it's calling us home
Deep down….. I think we’ve always known
Turned our back went we walked away
(But) I get the feeling that a part of us stayed
Home, I think it's calling us home
My Black Cloud & Me (addiction)
I met him when I was twelve years old
I was sitting by a lonely tree
Looked pretty dark, as far as clouds go
But he seemed OK to me
He asked if he could tag along
Said he didn't have much else to do
Then he said, don’t get me wrong
It’ll also be good for you
See, the summer sun, it sure gets hot
You won’t always have a tree for shade
It made perfect sense, said thanks a lot
To this new friend that I just made
He also said, I'd be free from rain
See as a cloud he was rather dry
He had no need for joy and pain
And clouds like that, they just don’t cry
Ah, those summer days, such a splendid time
Didn’t need no friends or family
Just kept playing, come rain or shine
My black cloud and me
But time went by, and I should’ve known
That nothing in this life is free
Cause my black cloud, he just kept on growing
& took the whole world away from me
So, now we go from town to town
And walk the empty streets
Sure is quiet, with no one around
Just my black cloud and me
Here In The Night
Waiting wearily
Beyond the weathered door.
His body still, his mind pacing.
Which way shall it open and when.
Flight has been futile
As hunter grows larger to prey.
Two forever one yet strangers
Wind blowing silence away.
Here in the night.
Hell must be ambiguous he thinks
Unsure of himself.
Recalling the prisoner's journey.
Both ends through the same door.
Inertia charges by the hour,
Scattered bottles attest.
Emptiness growing in shadows
More painful than he.
Time demands its release
If only to the light.
The latch rises slowly
Dreaded foe or numb hand
Here in the night