Sunday Morning Muse: Prayer-Poems
Most poets and lyricists understand that the most inspirational and beautiful material often visits us from a place well beyond our intellectual minds. When we’re elevated into a particularly spiritual or emotional state, we’re more receptive to these unforgettable lines of verse — or entire poems, songs or stories.
Below are four pieces that seem appropriate for a Sunday morning. Three are prayer-poems, written the moment they swept through me. The other is a song, “Gypsy’s Prayer,” which I wrote in the voice of Christine Timoreaux, the female singer-protagonist of my forthcoming novel, The Voice. It previously appeared in my collection, Coyotes in Broad Daylight. “Morning Prayer” was written last weekend, while I was driving through the Capitol Reef region of Utah during sunrise. “An Eastern Star” was written a long time ago, on Christmas Day 1985. And “Offering: Temple of the Sun” was written on sacred Incan ground in Peru in 1999. It was previously published in my 2008 collection, The River-Fed Stone.
Enjoy.
MORNING PRAYER
Red mesa vaults high
above ancient ocean reef,
a mesa on which
the most fervent prayer
would make its request
before the rising sun
as sacred flute notes
rode the exhaling night
within the glorious songs
of two birds, soaring.
GYPSY’S PRAYER
(Written in the voice of Christine Timoreaux,
female protagonist of my novel, The Voice)
My latest love kissed me goodbye,
Said he had to go back home,
I packed my clothes, kids & some bread
And set sail on the open road.
I joined a caravan, a minstrel’s caravan,
Just lookin’ for that piece of my heart,
He said you become wise
To the music of the eyes
I told him, I’m not sure where to go,
I’ll just stay out in the fields,
I’ll sing a lover’s tale
My heart is not for sale…
I’ll offer a little prayer,
My little gypsy’s prayer
I wear it as I wear my rings,
My prayer is simply this
That we all find bliss
In the life we create
It’s what this world sure needs,
A little tenderness
Found in a prayer and a kiss,
So when you pass me by
Just remember that
My love is soaring high…
High….High….High….
Higher & Higher my heart flies,
Above the rainbow skies of love,
The fire in my eyes
Becomes longing & gives rise
To the deep space of your heart,
So climb with me
Oh won’t you climb with me
Right out of your skin,
So climb with me
Why don’t you climb with me
Your love is my gypsy’s prayer,
Your love is my gypsy’s prayer.
We found a place to camp
Beneath a stand of trees
Fire, food—enough for me.
I gathered all the kids
Around the firelight
We sang songs through the night
We sang songs of the land,
We sang songs of the sea
We sang songs of the heart,
And then we said a prayer,
My little gypsy’s prayer
My prayer is simply this,
That we all find bliss
In the love we create
The love that we create
Create…Create…Create….
My heart swirls in creation’s fire
Above rainbow skies of love,
The fire in my eyes
Becomes longing & gives rise
To the deep space of your heart,
So climb with me
Oh won’t you climb with me
Right out of your skin,
So climb with me
Why don’t you climb with me
Your love is my gypsy’s prayer,
Your love is my gypsy’s prayer.
So climb with me
Oh won’t you climb with me
Right out of your skin,
So climb with me
Why don’t you climb with me
Your love is my gypsy’s prayer,
Your love is my gypsy’s prayer.
Your love is my gypsy’s prayer.
Your love is my gypsy’s prayer.
Gypsy’s time—the universal mind
Understanding all from the start
Gypsy’s rhyme—the all-eternal heart
The way of love, you will find
Gypsy, oh dear gypsy,
Your love is my prayer
Gypsy, magical gypsy
Your love is my prayer,
Your love is my prayer
Your love is my prayer……
EASTERN STAR
I beheld an Eastern Star
sitting atop a tree
that grew from the seeds
of a thousand quests,
seeking everlasting sunshine.
I beheld the Eastern Star
plumed around me,
and absorbed into its bosom.
I swayed in the gentle rhythms
of the arms
that cradle all creation,
that call us back home.
I beheld this Eastern Star
hovering above a desert plain.
I marveled in its message
while sacred music played
through the deepest channel
of my heart.
I looked into the Eastern Star
and saw a pair of eyes
without beginning,
without end.
I packed my bags,
and began the Journey.
OFFERING: TEMPLE OF THE SUN
I offer my heart
To the spirit of the work.
I offer my eyes
To give sight to your vision.
I offer my tongue
To speak your words to others
That they may live in light
That we all live in light
That we all vibrate in light
That we all become the light
To serve light
To love light
To touch light
To touch hearts
To bring home light
To bring light home
Light, our home
To merge
Into divine light
Into divine love
Into sacred union
Into Spirit
Rites of Passage: From Competitor to Coach
(This essay originally appeared in the Sept. 2010 issue of the Greater Evansville Running and Walking Club newsletter)
There are certain rites of passage in a running career that are so special that you want to take the day, or the experience, and store it in your mind and heart forever. One such rite of passage came for me in late July, when I joined eight of my runners from Union County (KY) High School at the Otters 5K. It was my first race since hurting my IT band in December, and with that and other health matters over the winter and spring, I was out of shape — cause for great consternation in another day. Now, though, all I cared about was shepherding my middle school and high school runners through the experience of road racing, since several had never tried it.
The eight kids ranged in age from 12 to 17. We had our top two girls, Morgan Belt and Anessa Brosman, and our top two boys, Seth Burnette and Sam Sheffer. All are veteran cross-country and road racers, and state-caliber competitors. Anessa has been to the state championships twice. Then we had four runners who had never road raced before — Mary Lou Loxley, Damian Cleek, Jarrett Seay and Lexi Moore. As we warmed up and discussed pacing, the lay of the course, and how to account for the searing heat, I felt this great sense of joy in my heart. I’ve crossed the line very strongly in three Boston Marathons, have a couple hundred medals, taken lots of age groups and even won some races outright (at ages 48 and 49, which I’m really proud of), but never have I felt better than seeing these kids enter Bosse Field and start the race.
Our races were pretty successful; six of us walked away with age-group trophies, and Morgan came close to winning the open women’s division. Mary Lou won the 12-and-unders in her first-ever road race. I spent as much time pacing and cheering on the kids as I did actually racing, then got a nice assist from Tim Roman to finish strongly. We spent the time between the end of race and awards eating, talking about the run (and heat), and just enjoying how much fun our day was.
But to see the looks on the parents’ faces when these kids got their awards took me to the best of all places – deepest gratitude, for having the great fortune to be able to join my kids in a city where I’ve been a serious racer for five years. It was a new way of showing up before my racing peers and rivals — as a coach, rather than a competitor. What a pleasure to be able to take all the strategy and knowledge about running, conditioning and racing learned over all these years and impart it to eager young men and women. And what luck to be able to still race with them, which leads to something every young athlete truly covets — a coach that puts down the clipboard and whistle, gets out there and sweats and breathes hard as well. You want a kid to listen to what you’re saying? Join them in their world.
Truly, it was a rite of passage for me. I’m not racing much anymore, but coaching is another matter. Whether I see kids at practice or hear from my former runners through Facebook or other means, I am tickled and delighted that they would want to seek my advice and counsel — and it means a lot to me. So I give them everything I’ve got to answer their question or situation, just the way any adult should be with any kid who’s trying to learn.
When we do that with running, we can literally change lives and make the world a healthier place. Take some kids to a race, and be there for them. It’s an amazing experience. And, believe me, it will change you inside in some small way.
Morning Prayer
Red mesa vaults high
above ancient ocean reef,
a mesa on which
the most fervent prayer
would make its request
before the rising sun
as sacred flute notes
rode the exhaling night
in the glorious songs
of two birds, soaring.
— Capitol Reef, Utah • 9-4-10
INTERVIEW: My Creative Winter: A Writing Exercise from The Write Time
Finally, the days are growing longer. The months of cold snaps are (hopefully) near their end. Time to reflect on your winter of creativity. Let’s utilize a great technique for building characters and their stories: the planned interview. Write down 10 to 20 questions to ask yourself about your creative pursuits over the winter. Take time to answer each completely. Ask a couple of simple questions, but also delve deeper into your motivations and passions. Convert the question-and-answer format into a conversation with self. A few examples:
• What type of writing, or story subject, involved me most deeply?
• What new images, metaphors or similes energized or moved me when they spilled off my pen?
• To which authors, artists or musicians (new or classic) was I introduced this winter—and how did their works move me?
• How have I grown as a writer and creator this winter?
See where your responses direct you. Review what you have accomplished, and how you have changed over the winter—because you have, even if subtlely. See if you can transform your responses into a poem, short story, vignette, essay, song … or possibly a book chapter!
If you’d like all 366 exercises at once, order The Write Time — and be sure to enter The Write Time Writing Contest and have a chance at some of the $500 in total prize money, plus publishing options!
ENLARGE THE FIRE: A Writing Exercise from The Write Time
Canassatego, the 18th-century chief of the Onondaga people, was a man greatly admired by Benjamin Franklin. His Haudenosaunee principles of governance created the framework for the U.S. Constitution (despite what our U.S. history textbooks claim!. He said, “You said you would enlarge the fire…add more fuel to make it brighter.”
Let us enlarge our passion and fire for writing today by adding fuel, giving us more to write about. Look around you and find something in your home, office, study or yard that you have never described in writing. Or, if that doesn’t work, grab a book off your bookshelf and read a few pages, prompting your mind beforehand to be ready to jump at the first idea, insight or experience that grabs it.
For the next hour, enlarge the fire. Write it out. Use your life experience as the fuel to breathe expression, substance and perspective into the journal entry, story or essay. Build and build until your piece has the energy of a bonfire.
If you’d like all 366 exercises at once, order The Write Time — and be sure to enter The Write Time Writing Contest and have a chance at some of the $500 in total prize money, plus publishing options!
February 24: Everything is Inclusive
A Write Time Daily Writing Exercise:
Exercise: During the day, write down some of your thoughts. Or, write down something catchy, provocative or strange that a person said. Just glimpses: nothing more. Take these random thoughts and sayings and connect them. Use the glue of your spirit and the guidance of your Muse to lead you. Write transitional sentences between the thoughts and sayings. Write a story or poem, or do a composite-character sketch. Watch what happens.
Discussion: Presence is the heartbeat of good writing. The ability to write from the present moment enables the reader to enter your story and feel a part of it. For those of us who are required (by work, school or other duties) to write in a business or academic manner, it is important to practice writing in the present moment. The best way to do that is to simply follow our thoughts, take one, and see where it goes. Then another, and another.
Want all 366 exercises at once? Order The Write Time: 366 Exercises to Fulfill Your Writing Life
The Write Time: February 19 – Dialoguing What Ails
To order The Write Time: 366 Exercises to Fulfill Your Writing Life
EXERCISE: How many times have you said about an ailment or ache, “I just wish it would go away?” Have you thought about asking why it stays around? Enter into a dialogue with the ailment or ache. Let it “speak” to you. Set it up like two characters talking—you and the affliction. Write a short story or vignette as if the affliction were a person. See what discoveries you make—and act upon them.
DISCUSSION: A major part of personal healing is making contact with the source of the affliction or ailment. By doing so, we give it a “voice” to “explain” to us why it persists in our body, and what changes we can make to rid ourselves of the problem. We also learn to know and honor ourselves more deeply. This exercise is also a great way to dive deeper into characters, especially when they face emotional or physical health challenges.
Post your comments to this blog. Don’t forget to enter our Write Time contest, which offers $500 in cash prizes.
If you’d like to cut to the chase and have all of the exercises, you can purchase The Write Time — which also includes inspirational and motivational quotes, sun signs, space for self-prompts, 125 of the best writing websites, and the best collection of authors’ birthdays of any writing book on the market.
The Write Time: A New Exercise Per Day
Greetings! Beginning Friday, February 19, we will be featuring a new writing exercise every day, as it appears in The Write Time: 366 Exercises to Fulfill Your Writing Life. However, there’s a twist: After each exercise presented online, we will briefly discuss the exercise and perhaps offer further prompts for you. Think of it as a “writing pep talk”. Soon, we’ll also be offering these exercises and mini-discussions as Podcasts.
After you complete the exercises, we’d love to hear from you about your experience. Post your comments to this blog, And don’t forget to enter our Write Time contest, which offers $500 in cash prizes. Details can be found on our homesite.
Of course, if you’d like to cut to the chase and have all of the exercises, you can purchase The Write Time — which also includes inspirational and motivational quotes, sun signs, space for self-prompts, 125 of the best writing websites, and the best collection of authors’ birthdays of any writing book on the market. If you’re an educator, librarian, workshop teacher or writing group facilitator, our publisher will make special group discount arrangements with you.
See you tomorrow! Here’s a quick taste:
FEBRUARY 18: WRITING THE COFFEE SHOP
Exercise: Go to a coffee shop or public place—and listen closely to conversations around you. Be an eavesdropper. Observe the faces of the men, women or youth who spoke these words. Write a 500-word vignette or short story—truth or fiction, doesn’t matter—that features their dialogue. Imagine a circumstance that brought them together in this public place, at this time. Keep writing, but allow the dialogue to drive the story.
Discussion: This writing form is known as ensemble. Get to know this fun and engaging pursuit, and it will serve you well, whether in novels, short story collections, essays, or both forms of stage writing—playwriting and screenwriting. Best of all, it will develop your ear for writing creative dialogue … and give you a never-ending stream of speech to digest and chronicle.
New Writing Coming Soon!
We’re getting back on track with the 366 Writing blog next Monday, Feb. 22. We will have new and original writing in all genres, as well as worked-out exercises from The Write Time: 366 Exercises to Fulfill Your Writing Life, on which the blog is based. Stay tuned — be right back to you!
