She’s out there somewhere
Her dancing rhythm’s
Dreaming dancing color
We danced side by side
Shape shifting magic real
Beyond my reach
She taught me
Skin to skin embracing
Soul to soul
I loved her then
And love her still
To eternity and beyond
She’s out there
Across the giant pond
Beyond my reach
For JCH
Now here we go
Rim-shot shuckle-sloop
Off sleeping down
Razor blade highways
Shingle shack cigars
Puffing clouds on corners
In the haloed shade
Her slip-sliding hips
Move me into motion
Hair tossing thinking
Don’t stop now
We’re still alive
*
Sister sister I hear
You singing dreams
Heaven sent rhythms
Shuckle-jiving placing
Hands against hearts
Your smile bedewing
My smiling eyes
Skipping ‘cross sidewalks
Past honky-tonks
Gleaming midnight dreams
You move me thinking
Don’t stop now
We’re still alive
*
Sweet deep sister voice
Moving soul-silk earth-deep
Pulsing muscles move
Dancing joy’s hearts
Yes yes yes
We’re still alive
*
For E.D. with love and respect
Walk me soft stepping rhythm
Someone sees shifting soft
Times worth knowing
Chanting up the drive
Walkin’ whisper dreams
*
Sadness fades early morning’s
Hinting sun blooms shape shifting
Love dancing on the bridge sings
Hope comes rising
Walkin’ whisper dreams
*
Deep bass drives soul center true
Treble ripples surface waters
Waves split blue gray white
Spread grains of sand walkers
Walkin’ whisper dreams
*
Dreams knocking on distant doors
Where secrets still hidden
Beg for freedom’s freedom
Beyond history’s call I’m
Walkin’ whisper dreams
*
Seen her sweat shuffle moves down Main Street way sending
Smiles warm blasting hearts dizzy buckling knees she strides on
Seen her in the car just passing head spins sideways catching rainbows
Glancing sunlight ricochets off her eyes for me she drives on
Seen her skirt swirl as she turns dancing free of worries
On a distant floor in the world no more she moves on
Last night smiling in all the best made dreams
I woke up in the chill cold still of morning
No lights on
“Henceforth I ask not good-fortune, I myself am good-fortune,
Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing,
Done with indoor complaints, libraries, querulous criticisms,
Strong and content I travel the open road.”
*
It was the first line in this excerpt from Walt Whitman’s SONG OF THE OPEN ROAD that helped me reconnect with what is true about me and about each and every one of us. Simply being who we are, the fact that we are here, is, in and of itself, good-fortune, and deserved good fortune at that. That we are alive is in itself what gives us value and makes us worthy of the seemingly endless joys and adventures life has to offer. Life happens to us whether we like it or not so along with the joys and adventures there are, of course, the wounds. Life and Utopia are not synonyms. They never will be. Wisdom applied accurately precluded the wounds from defining us.
Like many others (I am not unique), I’ve tended, at times, to experience the presence or absence of others in my life as indicators of my value, underpinnings of my purpose. I am, of course, wrong on both counts. For the most part I am very clear on this, but life, as I suspect you already know, wears us down at times, exhausts us, and, in doing so, we lose track of some basic and pivotal tenants. One of them being that each of us is our own good-fortune. Another is this, if one stays open and receptive to the all of life, there will be moments, experiences, discoveries, that will, you can be sure, lift you and remind you of the miracle that is you. Mr. Whitman just did that for me with his words, perhaps he will do the same for you. If not, there is ample reason to believe something or someone will.
Keep the faith, never give up, the world is a far better place because you, good-fortune, are here.
Peter S. Kahrmann - Est. 1953 