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
