Dedications – Page 2 – Green and Grey

Willow’s Song

Written in 2013 for Willow.

I know it hurts so much
And I can’t set you free
But I wanted you to know
Just how much you mean to me
So I’m sending you a rainbow
To brighten up your day
Sending you some sunshine
To chase those clouds away
May love and happiness
Always come your way
And may that nasty pain
Find somewhere else to play

Pan Pipes

Dedicated to Jane: may you continue to flourish

Pan pipes on the wind
Calling what ails you back home
Feel the breath in your lungs
Feel the life in your heart
Serpentine kisses down your spine
Wrap your spine with their healing dew
Drip by drip
Let that poison slip
From your view
From all of you
Awake renewed
Awake renewed
You are loved
You are held
Remember we believe in you
We believe in you
Pan pipes on the wind
Calling what ails you back home
Calling what ails you back home

A WildWood Blessing Song

For Mat and others who aspire

May the WildWood answer your heartfelt call
May Brigid’s flame guide and light your path
May Weaver hold you in your darkness
May Green Man shelter you if you lose your way
May the Guardians wrap you in their Arts
May the Watchers protect you all through the night and day
May the Maidens share with you their secrets in every space that you care to go
May Her Thorny Rose hold you in Her wonder and bless your breath your blood and bless your bones
May His Wolf-Fanged Horned Form surround you as you travel your path of pleasure and pain
And May He lead you through your shadows until you are home and you are whole again

Always Being Born

For Wendy with love

When my body’s tired
And my soul seems sore
And it feels like I
Can dance no more
And there’s many rugged miles
Just to reach your door
I look within
I look within
And I shed my skin
I shed my skin

I see Venus on the horizon
I sing my soul to ground
Draw down the sparkling starlight
To light me all around
I clothe myself in moonlight
I draw warmth from the dawn
Like the ever-expanding universe
I delight in my new form
Cause Like the ever-expanding universe
I am always being born

Heart of Our Dark One

For Aaron (Happy Solstice)

We dance in the woods
To the rhythm of the heart of Our Dark One
Our Bringer of Dreams
Our Raven Queen

Howling our prayers
Into dark skies
We witness Their birth
And their demise

The other way around
The other way around

We raise our heads high
Honour Her new light
Eyes shimmering with
Shards of Her delight

Offerings to ground
Offerings to ground

Laughter tears through
This veil between
Our voices blend
As they weave

Old to Newly Found
Old to Newly Found

We dance in the woods
To the rhythm of the heart of Our Dark One
Our Bringer of Dreams
Our Raven Queen

Dark Flame

With thanks to Maggie for the inspiration

With a flash of light
I illuminate the dark
It’s in the palm of my hand

I am the night
I am the moon and the stars
They wait at my command

And I wear my
Eternal cloak
And it’s painted with
The words I wrote
At the beginning of it all
At the beginning of it all

This Flame of Black
I have placed in your heart
It’s there to sing you my name

And when you feel you’ve cracked
I am there in every part
Of your fleshy domain

And I wear my
Eternal cloak
And it’s painted with
The words I wrote
At the beginning of it all
At the beginning of it all

You feel me there
I am at your very core
Come Darling take my hand

And now that you’re aware
Take me in your every pore
I will flow through you like sand

And I wear my
Eternal cloak
And it’s painted with
The words I wrote
At the beginning of it all
At the beginning of it all

Listen to the song

Song – Dark Flame

Sing Your Name

For WildWood beloveds

I sing your name into the web
And watch it sink within the thread
See her hands weave you anew
Over and under, around and through

I sing your name into the Wyrd
All you loved and all you feared
Shining colours flowing free
Across the land, the sky and sea

I sing your name into the Wood
The Green, the Grey, the Cloak and Hood
Watch it seed and root and grow
Be part of us and all we know

Be part of us and all we know

Listen to the song

About the song

Acknowledging Country – DjaDja Wurrung

Dedicated to the people and country of the Dja Dja Wurrung
Written at EarthSong Witchcamp, Victoria Australia

We pay our respects
To the Dja Dja Wurrung
And to their land
We are standing upon
Pay respect to their Elders
Past, present and emerging
And to any other Elder here
It may be concerning

This was and always will be
Aboriginal Land
Sovereignty was never ceded
This is stolen land
So as we stand here together
To practice our Art
We acknowledge this Country
Has a Dja Dja Wurrung heart

About the song as a ritual piece

Inspirations: The Importance of Voice

The first lines of the Mirror revealed themselves to me after first experiencing a Mama Alto performance. I found the way that she wove song and social commentary together while still providing an intimate experience through voice and personality to be enchanting. I was bedazzled from seeing reflections of myself and the world I live within that I’d rarely acknowledged.

And so the Song became a Mirror.

The first verse and chorus came quickly but I was distracted and put it down.

When I picked up my song again some months later I was struck by the power of Voice; of those who are loud, those who are silent; of those who listen and of those who turn away.

My focus changed from the song to the singer, and the resemblance to a Goddess of my tradition we know as Weaver. The singer weaves through her voice our Wyrd, spinning us into reflections; shapes of shadows and light that dance upon the surface of her vastness as we struggle to feel, to reflect, to understand.

The last verse came much later than the first two. It came in a rush of world events that demonstrated once again the power of voice. Students, victims of violence, who had been silenced by the powers that be finding their voice; finding power in their voice and inspiring others to stand against injustice and oppression. For it is in choosing to remain silent, to not act, that true horror comes.

And of course, it is the artist, the singer, the poet who has the tools to show society the truth hidden in plain sight.

The Mirror shows a side of us not all wish to see, but those who do and who choose embrace what they see, who become more than mere reflections, can affect such amazing feats.

Song for Yasu

Most people I know are fully aware how much I adore Acid Black Cherry; their music, and the amazing Yasu – a totally unique and inspirational individual. I may not yet understand Japanese but I find language to be no barrier at all to loving the music, the poet, the songwriter, the many masked Yasu and the musicians who surround them. Yasu dances in my soul and sparks me back to life when my embers are in danger of becoming cold.

So when I heard that Yasu was seriously ill (so much so that the forthcoming tour of new material was cancelled) I wanted to give something back to the amazingly beautiful being I find so inspirational. Ten Thousand Cranes was the result.

When I wrote it I could not help thinking of Marlene Dietrich, with top hat and a swirl of cigarette smoke in some bordello from the roaring twenties but I could never match her voice. And when I tried singing the song I found it hard to reach the range of notes that I heard in my head or breathe in a way that served the song. My recording is a poor example of the basic tune waiting for someone to give it wings.

The photograph of the lyrics and cranes was taken to be included in a special book prepared by a group of international fans to show Yasu their/our undying support and love (Thank You Cherry Bomb!).

I don’t usually write an explanation of my songs, but felt a need to express what I was trying to achieve wrapped up with love in the cranes folded paper wings.