The Contaminated Mind

Trash dumps filled with leftover garbage

Garbage bags filled with pieces and puddles

These puddles draw out into spaces

Spaces filled with black remains

Stains upon white napkins

Akin to other refuse piled in lumps

The waste collects from experience and form

From all the toxic air and electricity 

Running from head to toe

Upon this I know that I have a polluted mind

Taken away from the productive line

Filled with worries of which I have no control

Over the flow of my life and the rhythm in which I live

Overflowing with fears of a new life lived

Why is the mess a strong figure in my eye

It takes away from the blue in the sky

Filling it with murky uncertainty 

Certainly I can change this inhabited space

With the greener liking 

A space where life can grow 

Leaves fold into the soil and build life anew

I must push forward and never look back

Pack all that I have and journey to greater lands

This is my challenge to set free 

The chaining’s of the must terrible kind

And let the trees and flowers bloom 

Replacing my contaminated mind

The Rapid Eye Movement

Europe is so amazing. I have found it challenging to slow my mind down. It is probably a mixture of the jet lag, new languages, and sheer beauty of this place. It is completely new and intriguing. The landscapes are amazing and the stories and history that go with them are simply too much for my mind to wrap around. It is going to take some time to soak it all in. From Paris – Cheers!

All this beauty

All the color

All the tradition

My mind is wandering

Through words unknown and foreign

I try to slow

The rapid eye movement

Creeping faster and faster

Moving quicker and quicker

Around towers and bells

Through fields and mountains

Pools and lanterns

Brick streets and orange glow

These are where my thoughts go

When people are speaking

My lack of understanding

There is no way of having my mind

Make a soft landing

Until I rest at night

Thoughts slow

And slow

Slow

Off I am

To sleep

Just let my mind go

 

Rest

This was written after a couple of weeks on the road. This trip included all of the major music hubs in the U.S. (in my humble opinion of course and for our particular genre). We had stops in New York, Chicago, L.A. and Nashville. We finally got to the end of our journey to a log cabin up in the woods on Traverse City, MI and I slept for basically 48 hours. At the end of the sleep I was able to get up and write some words that needed to be written down. They came to me in a early morning haze. So here it is a poem on rest – enjoy!

Rest

There is one thing that unifies

This no one can contest

That when we fall asleep

The mind now at rest

The heart

Beats

And beats

And beats

To no similar tune

But in similar fashion

The mind at rest

I can attest

This is the best

Way to connect to each other

There are no preconditions

No medication

Or temptation

For one to connect

To others

Through this sensation

Of mind cessation

Temporary of course

But this might lead a course of action

To rest away the weary eyes

To come to negotiation anew

Many a times it has worked for me

And surely will do the same for you

Lights out in gentle style

Let the mind take the lonely mile

And hearts beat sustain throughout the night

And in the morning

Everything will be alright