John Arthur Lomax

Self Creating Path

A meditation on destiny and choice, the realization that we are both the traveler and the road. This originated from a poem I wrote in 2003.

Verse 1

As I travel on the path of life,

It builds itself before my eyes.

Long straight roads with the same old view,

Twists and turns I could barely get through.

Verse 2

I found I could change the road ahead,

Invite a friend, change where it led.

But often I laid my own mistakes,

Stumbling hard on the path I made.

Chorus

Still I walk, still I find,

The road is changing, step in time.

When I listen, I hear the choice,

Guided by a still small voice.

Verse 3

Once I found a sweet surprise,

A small voice whispering inside.

When I would ask, the light would grow,

Guiding the path in ways I’d know.

Chorus

Still I walk, still I find,

The road is changing, step in time.

When I listen, I hear the choice,

Guided by a still small voice.

Bridge

Sometimes the light breaks through the night,

A gentle voice makes darkness bright.

Desire replaced wonder ̶ now I see,

Others walking the path with me.

Verse 4

I’ve dreamed a path to the farthest light,

Across the horizon, beyond the night.

Doctors, sailors, poets, friends ̶

Following voices that never end.

Chorus

Still we walk, still we find,

The road is changing, step in time.

When we listen, we hear the choice,

Guided by a still small voice.

Graduation Day

A long-awaited milestone ̶ rediscovering promise and pride after hardship.

Verse 1

Back in ’69, I was far from home,

Young man in a uniform, living alone.

Night school after duty, under foreign skies,

Traveling teachers opening my eyes.

Chorus

I can finally breathe somehow,

Where the years have led me now.

I can feel the morning shine,

After all this time gone by.

Verse 2

Then came the storms I could not stand,

A twisted death, a stranger’s hand.

Love slipped away, nothing left to give,

I just forgot what it meant to live.

Chorus

I can finally breathe somehow,

Where the years have led me now.

I can feel the morning shine,

After all this time gone by.

Verse 3

Years went by in a wandering haze,

Trying to find my feet through the smoky daze.

Till one quiet morning I heard me say,

“I’d like to see my Graduation Day.”

Chorus

I can finally breathe somehow,Where the years have led me now.

I can feel the morning shine,

After all this time gone by.

Outro

In just three short weeks, when they call my name,

I’ll stand up proud ̶ and never be the same.

Graduation Day.

Reverend Karyl

A song of inner redemption ̶ where self-forgiveness becomes sacred fire. Thank you to the Golden Gate Center for Spiritual Living and the very special reverend karyl where ever she may roam.

Verse 1

It was winter, cold and deep,

when your words stirred me from sleep.

Spirit’s message, warm and clear,

broke the chains of doubt and fear.

Verse 2

In that light I saw a form,

a fragile self, so bruised and worn.

I reached to hold what once was mine,

a starving soul from another time.

Chorus

The one I saved was my own,

no longer lost, no longer alone.

Love’s fire burned the dark away,

guides my heart and soul today.

Verse 3

The dragon of dogma turned to flee,

its shadow fading far from me.

Spirit’s fire alive inside,

burns where truth and love abide.

Chorus

The one I saved was my own,

no longer lost, no longer alone.

Love’s fire burned the dark away,

guides my heart and soul today.

I Remember

A reckoning with memory ̶ from silence to witness; the act of remembering becomes its own redemption. 

Refrain 

I remember the day you chose your last breath.

Verse 1 

I remember the day

you chose to lay your evil friend

on my young body.

anger unloosed,

abandoned fury,

that scarred my skin.

Refrain 

I remember the day you needed my forgiveness.

Verse 2 

I remember the day

you told me you had only two sons.

As if I were nothing,

as if I had never lived in your blood.

Refrain 

I remember the day you chose your last breath.

Verse 3 

I remember the day

you inflamed my young passions,

tangled the fire of becoming

with the ashes of your hunger.

Bridge 

You needed my forgiveness,

and I pushed 

you away.

Verse 4 

What other memories does my body keep?

What else have you done to me in the dark?

How will I know the truth from the silence?

How will I tell the wound from the scar?

Refrain  

I remember…

and I am still here.

Freedom Song

Not rebellion but self-liberation ̶ the battle is inward; the victory is peace.

Verse 1

There are prisons no one sees,

built from childhood’s memories.

Guards are fears I used to know,

but now it's time to let them go.

Verse 2

The guards stand tall, they know my name,

born of sorrow, born of pain.

I keep the vigil, I will not hide,

the fire of truth is on my side.

Chorus

The prize is freedom, born of the fight,

a fire kept burning through the night.

Forged in struggle, scarred but whole,

freedom is the song of my soul.

Verse 3

Guards once strong still stand in line,

protecting hearts that once were mine.

But the flame inside will not give way,

I face the wind, I will not sway.

Bridge

The still small voice is by my side,

a quiet flame that will not hide.

It leads me on through the unknown,

whispers: You are not alone.

Chorus

The prize is freedom, born of the fight,

a fire kept burning through the night.

Forged in struggle, scarred but whole,

freedom is the song of my soul.

To My Grandkids

A letter set to music ̶ legacy made lyrical, love offered as guidance.

Verse 1

You live through a piece of time,

yours and yours alone.

Time woven into other lives,

threads that they have sown.

Verse 2

Some are close enough to touch,

others far away.

Bound by space and years,

yet with you, they stay.

Chorus

Be the best YOU possible,

let your spirit play.

Live as if God is near,

guiding you each day.

Verse 3

Shape imagination into history,

weave your bright design.

Color all the tapestry

with your heart and mind.

Chorus

Be the best YOU possible,

let your spirit play.

Live as if God is near,

guiding you each day.

Bridge

Walk the path before you,with love in every stride.

The ones who came before you

are walking by your side.

Chorus

Be the best YOU possible,

let your spirit play.

Live as if God is near,

guiding you each day.

Penetrating the Forest

Desire as devotion, embodiment as prayer ̶ the forest as lover and mirror of the soul. This also originated from a poem written in 2005 The prompt was ‘write an erotic poem about Nature.’

Verse

I journey deep into the forest,

Held within her nurturing frame.

The wind is softly speaking harmony,

Brushing the trees, calling my name.

Verse

I sat on a log and felt her warm breath,

She whispered and I let her in.

I laid myself back, her arms around me,

She gave me the gift of my skin.

Chorus

She holds me, she knows me,

I’m one with her body and soul.

She takes me, remakes me,

Her rhythm makes my spirit whole.

Verse

Her breasts in my hands,

her rose on my lips,

Her life flowing deep into mine.

My passion rising, her body answering,

Our voices in one sacred line.

Verse

Again and again I come to her arms,

Again and again she remains.

For always it’s her that holds me tight,

And I who surrender, who came.

Chorus

She holds me, she knows me,

I’m one with her body and soul.

She takes me, remakes me,

Her rhythm makes my spirit whole.

Getting On

A soft landing after a long flight ̶ aging as a return to tenderness, not defeat.

Verse 1

Of late I’m a stranger to myself,

Fragile in ways I never thought I’d be.

The battles that once defined me

Are fading into memory.

Verse 2

My familiar enemies are gone,

And I’m left with useless armor.

Weathered body, aching bones,

Every step feels harder.

Chorus

Time has turned my soul to gentleness,

To awkward dances with my pain.

I gave no quarter when I was younger,

Now the toll is seeing tomorrow again.

Verse 3

Creaky joints and sore old muscles,

Marks of the years I’ve worn.

But in the breaking, something softer,

In the bending, I am reborn.

Chorus

Time has turned my soul to gentleness,

To awkward dances with my pain.

I gave no quarter when I was younger,

Now the toll is seeing tomorrow again.

Closing

Tomorrow again…I’m getting on.