Celandine Sings

A new set of poems/songs.

Pay it Forward

If I'm gonna spend my money today

It's gonna be to make something stay

Not on baubles, not on gold

But something better in this world

You wanna stay around that's fine by me

But I'm done playing like it's all for free

Pay it forward

Lark

I won't trade on pretty easy

And I don't see why I should

Because this world is based on ugly

And it never balances the books

And for every coin you take you'll see

Those coins are never debt free

Just a token for a way to be

Enslaved by a society

It's pretty clear to me

That I prefer to be free

I may never be a millionaire

But frankly dear, I just don't care

I'll run a comb through my hair

And thank the stars I'm me

Because once the pity party's done

The road back is a gruelling one

And it's pretty clear to me

That I prefer to be free

After all your deals and dollar runs

After the highs and lows so hard won

Have you anything for a kingdom come

Or are you still on your knees

And for every coin you take you'll see

Those coins are never debt free

Just a token for a way to be

Enslaved by a society

A lark is singing in the sky

It sings the loudest way up high

And it's pretty clear to me

That it prefers to be free

I may never be a millionaire

But frankly dear, I just don't care

I'll run a comb through my hair

And thank the stars I'm me

Because

It's pretty clear to me

That I prefer to be free

Sticker album 2018

Working on a new set of stuff...

Wind Chimes ~ 2017

2017 and time to start a new set of poems/songs/words.

The photo, of a cornfield in Norfolk last year, was taken on a walk while the wind played invisible tunes across it, a giant, natural keyboard.

And it reminded me of this, from ten years ago, a poem for a keyboard...

Wind Chimes (and doorbell)

ACF, BDG, CEG, ADA,
ACF, BDG, FAC, EGD,
DFA, FAC, GDG, ADA,
FAC, GBD, ACF, BDG,
FAC, GBG, ACF, BDG,
EC

Nothing So Grand

You are the coldest star

Shining bright from afar

I am a gentler kind

Washed with rains of time

You are a cold, clear night

Ferocious and focused light

I am the warmer flame

Constant I will remain

Until the dawn

I'll find your face in a crowd

I'll reach out for your hand

I'll send you on your way

I will even stay

Until the dawn

Of another day

Nothing so grand in my plans as you

Nothing for the rest of the day to do

Find my smile, take my hand

And we could stay this way

Until the dawn

You are the coldest star

Shining bright from afar

I am a gentler kind

Washed with rains of time

You are a cold, clear night

Ferocious and focused light

I am the warmer flame

Constant I will remain

Until the dawn

I'll find your face in a crowd

I'll reach out for your hand

I'll send you on your way

I will even stay if you need me too

Until the dawn of another day

Ocean View

I was thunderstruck from the start

You were a hammer blow to my heart

You went and caught me off my guard

In a storm of emotion

You came rolling in

And I can't remember

Why or even when

But it was always

Wild like the wind

With you

It was always

Wild like the winter wind

The road is twisting round an ocean view

We've got the moonlight bathing us in blue

I see no future for us but I wanted too

I wanted wild like the wind with you

I was thunderstruck from the start

You were a hammer blow to my heart

You went and caught me off my guard

In a storm of emotion

You came rolling in

And I can't remember

Why or even when

But it was always

Wild like the wind

With you

It was always

Wild like the winter wind

The wheels are skidding cross an icy road

The metal grinding as sparks brightly glow

A river of our blood is drowning me

And my love is falling to a violent sea

My last words ever are a silent scream

I wanted wild like the wind with you

I was thunderstruck from the start

You were a hammer blow to my heart

You went and caught me off my guard

In a storm of emotion

You came rolling in

And I can't remember

Why or even when

But it was always

Wild like the wind

With you

It was always

Wild like the winter wind

Lilac and Sweet Clover

Lilac and sweet clover

And damson red

Fireflies dancing

Way over your head

You can't catch the summer

And hold it to ransom

You can only run after it

As it dances away

In a cloud of

Lilac and sweet clover

And damson red

Fireflies dancing

Way over your head

And I think we were friends

If I recall those days

When the lights were dancing

Way over our heads

Tears teach us to be human

Laughter sweeter than wine

Years run like water

It's all just a matter of time

You can't catch the summer

And hold it to ransom

You can only run after it

As it dances away

In a cloud of

Lilac and sweet clover

And damson red

Fireflies dancing

Way over your head

Lilac and sweet clover

And damson red

Fireflies dancing

Way over your head

Last Chance Human

Starting a new set of songs/poems/words. Kicking off with Last Chance Human.

Last Chance Human

I've stood back

Didn't want to drown in your wake

Watched as your ships set sail

Counted in the flotsam and jetsam

On the return tide

When you won't listen any more

When the ego trip is all

Those bridges that you burnt

No lessons learnt

I've had it up to here

And there's something very clear

No matter how much you polish it

It's all still a crock of shit

So sick and tired of it

Well, here comes St Jude

Like the Ides of March

Here comes your future

A reflection of your past

Last chance human

Last chance human

I've stood back

Didn't want to drown in your wake

Watched as your ships set sail

Counted in the flotsam and jetsam

On the return tide

When a bullet is your reason

When war's the only season

When you won't listen any more

When the ego trip is all

Well, here comes St Jude

Like the Ides of March

Here comes your future

A reflection of your past

So very sick and tired of it

This is your last chance to be human

A Trick of the Light

I know it's just

A trick of the light

Falling through the window

Across the empty room

To where you sit

On a plastic chair

Playing that tune

But the dust is dancing

To the sound

Tombé

To the floorboards below

And I know

It's a trick of the light

A quirk of the late hour

And the notes

Falling

Where you sit

Playing that tune

Seven more miles to go

Time for a new collection of poems and songs and bits and bobs that I'll be collecting along the way. It seemed to start this year with Snake River (see previous blog, a poem about our local river which isn't called snake river but the timing of writing it coincided with the Chinese New Year [year of the snake] and I can't think of a better title right now than a line from it, Seven More Miles To Go. The photo is from one of mine from the garden. I'm guessing that, as always, journeys will be a theme.

Run Wilful Child

They say love will tame me
But I am nothing if I'm not free
How can love claim me
You might as well try and tame the sea

Run wilful child
Run wilful child
Who could blame you
Run wilful child
Until love claims you

Scraping the ice from the car
Monday morning, another cold start
Birds carve the sky in a V
Flying the line of the trees
Road's empty for eight
We won't be late
It's only three degrees

They say love will tame me
But I am nothing if I'm not free
How can love claim me
You might as well try and tame the sea

Run wilful child
Run wilful child
Who could blame you
Run wilful child
Until love claims you

(not sure this is finished yet..)

Still

In the shapes left behind
& the turn of the dance
All those quiet spaces
You don't understand

In the light falling slowly
& the shift of the sand
You don't see the same patterns
To all your grand plans

In the quick of a smile
And the heat of the moment
You forget the reason
For the places you're going

But in the shapes left behind
& the turn of the dance
In those quiet spaces
Are the answers you demand

Still, you'll have to take that chance
For a moment in the turn of the dance

Sleek City Night

Outside my window
The moon's cracked a smile
And I can't help feeling
That the joke's on me
Late night blues
Leaving me cold
Better go out and get me
Some kind of rock 'n' roll

Better hurry honey
It's a sleek city night
The music rubs right past you
Then cuts you like a knife

Better hurry honey
It's a night of neon signs
Lighting up your dreams
Then laying down those lines

And I can't help feeling
The joke's on me
Late night blues
Leaving me cold
Better go out and get me
Some kind of rock 'n' roll

A sad valentines song....Snow Shoes

There’s a colour in the sky I can’t quite catch
A feeling of uneasy mismatch
As though my watch is running slow again
We won’t return to this point will we?

There’s a lyric that sums up this place
We’re finding so hard to face
As though we’ve walked out in the wrong clothes
A summer wedding & I’m in snow shoes

We won’t keep going will we?

This was meant to be a valentine
Sweet and light, love defined
Well maybe, some other time…

Geese fly overhead calling for home and yet
This place is so cold, I’m cold to the bone
So cold I need snow shoes on a sunny day
My watch points to another time, another way
And all the paths we walk don’t stay the same

This was meant to be a valentine
Sweet and light, love defined
Well maybe, some other time…

I won’t need my snow shoes

He’s not just any man

He came courting and on bended knee
About some dancing he would like with me
But I don’t give my heart to just any man
And put his daisies out in the trash can

He went a way and bought a silver car
One with wide seats and said we wouldn’t go too far
As if to impress me I could be his girl
I don’t need a flash car and some social whirl

He came courting and on bended knee
About some wedding he would like with me
But I don’t give my heart to just any man
And put his daisies out in the trash can

Well, he went away and built a house with trees
Cooled by an ocean’s gentle breeze
Planted jacaranda and hibiscus fair
With a pool for little fishes to paddle there

Now our grandchildren play in the sea
I’m old and wrinkly and so is he
He asks me why I put his daisies out in the trash can
I say I didn’t give my heart to just any man

(spoken word and trumpet, flugelhorn, tuba, drums)
1,2, 1,2, 1,2,3,4 whoa! calypso!

(Repeat two verse, music only, sing last line)
He's not just any man

Wayfarer ( project for 2009)

Artwork for wayfarer

Project themes ~

journeys
travelling through life
movement
inner voyages
paths crossing
linear time
stories that go places

Fanfare

A silent song plays across her lips
Rhythm to a beat within
These words, like kisses, breathe the air
And those missing sounds are a fanfare
To hope on…
To call on…
Not much to go on
Just a wing and a prayer
Just a tune and you’re there

The bar is closing
And there’s a scuffle
As people yell
Blue lights are calling
A different farewell
Last orders are long ago
As the shutters are pulled
Off you go
Into the night
Past the fight
To the taxi rank
But you still see her face
Singing a song, out of place
And you won’t forget
Though it’s not much to go on
To hope on…
To call on…
Not much to go on
Just a wing and a prayer
Just a tune and you’re there

At full tilt

(This is from the first time round with One More Windmill...)

Tilting into view
A galactic comet flew
Eyes spitting fire and flame
Burning into mine again
Meteoric rise
Across the skies
But the journey’s the same

One more windmill
And then it’ll be done
But the blades get sharper
And the nights get long
And out on the edge
Near the stars and the moon
Is the sad lilt of singular tune

One more windmill for these tired eyes
But the comet has stolen all of the skies
And out on the edge
Near the stars and the moon
Is the sad lilt of singular tune

Little Metal Letters

Little metal letters
How many have stopped to read
Those little metal letters
Beneath the chestnut trees
And the soft tread of time
Has worn away
What once was a better rhyme
As the conkers fall
Across the call
Of those cemetery lines

Standing testimonial for loves now long gone
We’ve read the prose and lord knows
How time just carries on