Claimed Again (New Song!)

Falling backwards off the roof of your house,
The body reborn in a new, bloody form
I can't help but laugh & cry

Losing vision, freefall in the nowhere land
This is as close to death as I've been
Now I don't need to figure out that nothing belongs to me

No house, no body, no one
Wonderful darkness, timelessness
Ridiculous to think
Just witnessing the rich unfolding
I have been claimed again

as one of the vibrant, fragile specks in the kaleidoscope
O, great hands, keep a-turning
I heard the silence you spoke

Losing balance when my string was cut
Re-done, redeemed, reset
Give me a laugh & a drop of life
I will give you all I've got

No house, no body, no one
Wonderful darkness, timelessness
Ridiculous to think
Just witnessing the rich unfolding
I have been claimed again

But on two legs, I feel I'm strong
& in my mind, I am someone
It just takes a fall to drop it all

I walk through the box I build with thoughts
Alive with maybes & maybe nots
There's no way to tell what is real

& in my life, I have a house
I have a body & a sense of self
But the darkness will come & undress me again

& I will be claimed again

Spiders on the Wall

Spiders on the wall

And my grandmother afraid

Candles on the ledge

And water boiling

I’m cold and I’ve got a hot bottle on my belly

She’s old and she’s got death coming to her one of these days

And I’ll go one of these days

This is the day she was born

How many suns has she been round?

First came John, he’s my father

Water sign, came of her water, born of her wine

And he gave it to me through my ma

This water in my eyes

Like spiders (when you’re not watching) crawling

Bones my of roots snappin’ and dreams like bean shoots falling

I’m makin’ a mulch pile, I’m makin’ tea

I’m makin’ a birthday party for you and my life for me

I’m running to water this tree

This is the branch that I am

It is dancing though it’s beat

But not beaten

By the whippin’ wind or by the night and its darkened lens

I bought candles, seven in your name

He-le-le-le-le-le-le-le-len

He-le-le-le-le-le-le-le-len

You are and I are silent

And slowly going into another world, each alone

Where we may find the unknown

Don’t be scared, I’m singin’ for you

I wrote this song on my Granny's birthday.

July 7th, 2008, Dharamsala, India.