Sing your song
Love your voice
of dark honey and amber
of moss and pond froth
let the blonde iris of song
bloom from the calyx of your lips
Don’t let the glaring eye of judgement
tear you to pieces
scald your mind with its stare
temper your hymns to creation
if you let it, the steel blade of reason
will shear your tendrils of mirth
It will say:
it would be better if you stay silent
you know, you are no meadowlark
you sing off-key, falter and rattle
it will shame your tongue to withdraw
an insipid turtle crumbling in its shell
your body hunched in a question mark of apology
Don’t listen!
something in you knows:
music is a silken creek flowing over the rock of the body
a tender, beaked thing nestled in your throat
your bones are the colors of rainbows
your skin is a canvas for the sibylline moon's reflection
today your melody is a jubilant apple
you fly just beneath the wings of beauty
Across the ocean, down the street
men tear each other to pieces
their bodies soaked with spite
their feet burn, ache across deserts
their thirstless mouths closed off
to the comfort of rain
their ears to the innumerable melodies of God
So let your song be a flaming sword
a paladin, a scaled dragon, a lion gallant and crowned
today, let it be the fierce breath of joy
You have left a certain number of days
when you can paint the hues of the earth
when the sky takes the shape of a poem
when birds share with you their secrets
when wine lingers on the tongue
Soon you will wither and forget
retreat into a shriveled infancy
your ear will hear only memories
soon you will once again be mud and clay
But not yet
Today let yourself vibrate
like the love-sick thrush, hum as the winged creature
your voice is your essence, of woman, of man
instrument of rapture
You know it is a humble thing
someone will always sing a better song
with fuller voice
pen the more decisive word
begin with a more refined brush
You will never reach the top rung
on perfection’s steep ladder
will not even come close
This is of no concern to you
Your business is only
that you are alive in this moment
on this earth
Remember:
you reside among the ecstasy of green things
what can be more real than trees
on your brick porch, sunlight glistens off the lizard’s blue tail
butterflies are not cliches of themselves
you breathe in April mornings when flowers have no irony
they desire only to be worshipped by eyes or fingers
let them be your fragrant muses
With your song
you pass on your shivering brightness of being
to a child who waits
buried somewhere in your body
or who has already emerged
who wanders the streets
without you
This love song – it started before you, ages ago
passes through you, flows on
churns through blood like water
You are your mother’s refrain
she hummed your little melody
before you had a name
she painted your world
as your father played feathers of keys, strummed strings
with his thick thumbs and broad palms
It is your time now.
dissolve your fear
sing your song
Gaudete!
