Song for Sylvia

Sylvia, put on your pinafore
the children are going out to play
in houses hit by bombs-
where clammer hits the clay.

It is time to strap your boots,
let your heels fall where they may.
Time will heal all your wounds,
but for now it is time to play.

The cold wind came so quickly that year-
turning snap dragons into grey.
And the one who loved you most of all has left you astray.

Tie the pink ribbon in your hair for her, and let the anger wash away.
Melt cold and cool under greying skies and marmalade sunshine rays.

The war it shall be over soon, but sad songs tuned to play,
for fleeting sorrows never grow old, even with the coming of New Day.

You know the desire to bury this-
a memory long forgotten.
But time reveals the deepest plot,
without the slightest pardon.

For you I wish this simple wish, this simple wish for you-
let ashes turn to cinder wings and float out to the blue-
the clearing air will melt away all signs of your sorrow,
setting you free for all your new tomorrows.

my soy americano misto

as if it were normal, to overlook the truth and follow one's misgivings. but we do it everyday and it is done so often it feels right.

hurrying home to get in the bath where i felt i would finally relax with
a tall glass of red wine-
spilt-
staining the side of the cheap coat i was taking off

racing for peace,
a peace i can never hold onto much longer than the water emptying from the drain-

all around me the sounds of muffled pain, souls needing expansison- one gets accustomed to this white noise.  we race by it.  stand silently next to it while we wait in line for our coffee to be made. the one noise we should heed and yet-
my coffee order is up.

Being Mommy

To me, being a mother means sharing the most mundane parts of my day with two little people who are still very near to God, not yet trained in the ways of the world and its Ego-driven rules and expectations.

Every day, these two little people shower me with unconditional love and pure adoration. They trust me with their health and happiness, and look to me to teach them about 'the ways' on this planet: how to manoeuvre through this strange world of ours. And I know that, as a parent, my roles is to teach them to live and thrive independently on this planet. Ironically, they have taught me more about this life than anyone else ever could. These two little people have taught me about myself, compassion, patience, passion, and what it really means to be alive in this world today.

I thank you, Lennox and Lachlan, for blessing me with the gift of being your mom. I thank you for laughing at all my silly jokes, and not judging me for having a laundry-room full of dirty clothes and closets empty of clean ones. I thank you for forgiving me, in the blink of an eye, for the mistakes I make. You have taught me about forgiveness and the power of the present. You know, I bought The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle when Lennox was born, but was too sleep deprived to read it. If only I had known that Lennox and Lachlan would model the tenants of that book for me and teach me its wisdom through their actions- I would have saved twenty bucks.

My darling boys, I thank you for putting your tiny hands in mine, every day, and trusting me as I take you on my adventures. You make trips to the coffee shop so much better than they could ever be and ever were. You make a drive to the grocery store fun because you belt out pirate songs. You make the lineups at the checkout extremely hazardous and very stressful, but I truly love every moment of it because if you were not there my mind would be wasted on useless information about the Kardashian family.

When I was a single gal, walking by day and dancing by night, reading Deepak and pondering life's mysteries over coffee with my friends; I believed that women who defined themselves as 'Mother' were placing a rigid label on themselves; neglecting their other attributes and caging themselves in a label that defined a singular role/profession. I attributed this to the fact that they had clearly lost themselves in 'being Mommy'. Only now, I realise one does not lose oneself in motherhood- a woman both earns the right to call herself "Mom/Mother" (much like a PhD is earned) and is blessed with the title mother (much like a natural blond is blessed).

Our human souls desire and require expansion, freedom, and flight.  Becoming a mother gifts each woman with the chance to truly expand her soul.

Thus, defining oneself as 'Mother' is knowing your soul is expanding, knowing you are blessed to soar above all that is mundane and earthly, to see the truth of this life and the truth of love. Becoming "Mommy" is having wings and taking flight, indeed the furthest thing from a cage.

Namaste and Happy Mother's Day

pale

if it fits to pale yourself in tender flowers and eyelet ribbons, then so it is.
i cannot cloth you in anything but what you feel within.

an open smile from a stranger, scratches the ice thin surface-
'twould sink, warm and ice crumble
coming, if only, from him.
i wait my tea and steep it boiling, water over me.
i watch, i wither seasons stumble wonder where i'll be.
alas the day arriveth-
but i am there no more,
what is left is a distant shadow,
watch it dance across the floor.

Lana Del Rey and SNL

I woke up this morning and read that one of my favourite new artisits 'bombed' on her North American live performance debut last night.  At first, it was unclear to me if they meant 'bombed' as in "Lana Del Rey was the bomb!" or if they meant "Lana Del Rey crashed and burned badly, like a bomb."  Upon further reading, I realized that the public reaction was not a positive one. I was surprised because this girl and this band are extremely well trained, the music is fresh, and they seem to be ahead of the game as they have skill, talent, and uniquness oozing out of every melody. 

So, I came to the internet to watch what happened last night.  As it turns out, Perez Hilton and Huffington Post are sorely confused about the deffinition of what is good music and a good performance. 

It may not have been mainstream: she did not gyrate on TV, she sang differently (always on key), and it was not your regular pop-song.  SNL is having Bon Iver on this season as well, I wonder what the mainstream press will say about his performance!? I am sure it won't be hip-hop enough for them, and thus he will 'bomb' too. (For those of you who are unfamiliar with Bon Iver, he is NOT  hip-hop, the music is also labelled as Alternative).

As for Juliette Lewis, who tweeted her dislike of Lana Del Rey last night, I expected more from you.  For a woman who has starred in many indie productions and has played many off-beat characters, I thought you would understand the beauty in non-conforming.  I think it is cool to speak your mind, and please twitter away, but realize that last night, you were introduced to a band that plays Alternative music, not Pop music.

In the early 90s mainstream press used to downplay Nirvana's live musical talent all the time, saying that they were just a bunch of punk rocker wannabes, unable to keep a tune or play in time during their live performances.  It was not until people who attended their concerts and stood-up for the band's musical skills and talents, that those critics stopped airing their 'mainstream' opinions.

Excellent music does not need to be manufactured and engineered to someone's idea of 'perfection', to be perfect.  I was recently told by a musician friend of mine that Garageband (GarageBand is a software application that allows users to create music or podcasts) is better than the studiorecording equipment that The Beatles used when they were recording their music. And look how their music has spanned the decades!

A beautiful red-head in a white dress does not need to sing a pop song in a particular way to rock the socks off of her viewers. And for the record, I thought that Lana Del Rey did, in fact, rock last night on SNL.

Woot woot!

Namaste