Writings

Whenever, Wherever, No Matter

Whenever, wherever, no matter
you can
create,
and write
poems that fly
with invisible wings.

Whenever, wherever, no matter
you can
create,
and make new music
where inside lives a soul
that inspires us
to narrate real stories
and write songs
with the right words.

Reveal truth
and construct dances
that synthesize experience
with rhythms
that make our bodies move
and our minds think
and encourage us to breathe
more deeply
and allow us to imagine clearly
how we can transpose our thoughts
in the direction of
connecting and sharing
new meanings and histories
images and interpretations
and bright corners
with a spirit
that removes the hypocrisy
from our lives…
and allows us to laugh
at ourselves
alone, and with others!
and to observe our ways,
especially the fragile ways
in which we pretend
and try not to see reality.

Childhood Pictures

We all have
pictures from childhood…
like
talking starfish
birds that were kings
flying elephants
camels with wings
golden horses
dancing windflowers.

Memories sing true
while histories often ring false.
In the calm of
innocence
is our
imagination.

We dream dreams—
connecting, joining,
love and people
within the pianissimo
of
silences.

Inner (emotion)
Outer (evolution)
bursting
forth
in
brilliant colors—
sounds,
meanings,
bridges.

Hearing Noise

If You’re Hearing Noise….

It might be
people
decoding

releasing

what’s embedded
in the emerging symbols

freed
from the underground
heretofore

concealed
when things were
more carefully hidden

somewhere
under a rock
or floating
barely an arm’s length away

midstream
just out of reach
right beyond the horizon

out of sight
due to
blurring
in our vision
or
answers underfoot
while we keep walking
heel to toe.

Another Poem

Paintings of an overflowing pond, a gushing river….

Shared experiences. Private moments.

Cargo ships tossed at sea.

Birds on a cold, foggy morning.

The wind whispering overhead, blowing through the canopy.

Still like the surface of the lake, roaring like the waterfall.

Cross-town traffic, emergency vehicles, busy intersections, beeping devices.

Wars of the world. The war of words. Conflicts of culture. Distant galaxies. Interglacial evidence. Celestial.

Magazine photos. Descriptions. Inhibitions.

The blessed. And the impoverished.

Songs of the native sons, immigrants and children of slaves.

Songs of love – real and imagined.

Someone to help you get along.

Hoped for solutions.

Futurism. Pagan rituals in disguise.

Sacred rhymes. Updated. People in transition. Family lines.

Slanguage. Codes. Flatted 5ths.

Meandering. Meaningless work.

Grandmother’s leather-bound Bible, torn and worn and memorized.

The forgotten. Version 11.11.

Decoys. Journals. Tributaries.

RandomNESS.

MuSiC As aN InStRUmEnT oF PeACe

Music suggests time and space wrapped around a timeless center, while peace indicates a state that is central to our continued existence. It is not difficult to imagine both – music and peace – linking together the sky and the heavens, or connecting the earth with the worlds that humans perceive.

Music is the result of countless sounds – loud and soft, high tones and low tones, movement and rest – woven and interacting with each other in complimentary ways. Music is a harmony of opposites where elements must be held together in dynamic tension in order for the creative process to unfold. Music, as life is also, is the dance of opposites where polarities are united in a great rhythm. This great rhythm embodies the mystery of emotion and is capable of communicating the language of the heart and everyone’s hope for peace.

Peace is magnificent, necessary and universally understood. Inner peace occurs when our thoughts are relaxed, and calm stretches of silence go by unnoticed. We can easily imagine that a society at peace would acknowledge the various perspectives of many while being tolerant of the viewpoints of others. The inner peace of individuals enables society as a group to experience the centering effects of calm and affinity.

An inspired musical performance can communicate a myriad of emotional messages and feelings that transport an audience from one place to another. Music also has the fascinating ability to reveal truth in ways that the listener gains an understanding of things that could not otherwise be explained. It is said that the ‘angel of love’ knows no boundaries… and likewise, the ‘music spirit’ recognizes no barriers. Therefore, in the hands of the creative artist music becomes the perfect instrument of peace. / / /

Selected published essays

The Musician’s Canvas – Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Project

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Cultural Dream Weaver – Composer, Tan Dun, on love, life and the heart of his music