Lyrics
'I was born a stranger to this country'
I was born a stranger to this country
Of Anglo-Celtic-Saxon-stock
Bricked in by birth,
I have no sacred tree
My mother laboured In the womens' hospital
On Crown Street, Sydney
The street named for ancestral royalty
But being born 10000 miles away I have no loyalty
To foreign ensigns,
To their kings and queens,
Or to their soil.
But I was welcomed to this land By silence By scent of eucalypt By red dust and golden sand by hand given in hope Of fire, camp. and laughter.
By a cove on the George's River Over seven summers I was grown up by this land With sandstone and twig underfoot And with an easy freedom Unsullied then by Sussex Street Or Governor Macquarie's face I developed that sense, That feeling Of a stranger's belonging 'Territory Dreaming' You can feel the weather changingThe new guards take their placeThose sentinels of the futureWho knows what enemies they will face?There's a chill at the dawningWhat's predicted for the day?Does the pale light promise warming?Or just the final bloody warning to a sleepy-eyed raceI'm aching again, breathing ice not fire In the silence of the desertIt's all coming down to the wire
Ancient land with sun-blasted faceEtched and wrinkled by countless rays Rivers that channel temperamental rainsNow run with the tears of dispossessionPeople left with nothing but their own aggressionThe ground dusted dryBeneath it all rivers run anywaySouthern stars over headCrossing lovers in their bedsSomething about this land that feels so rightThere are people outside round the campfire tonight
Full moon rises from the Simpson's plainEyes fixed on miracles you can't explainWhat else will rise from horizons too wide to see?So we swivel in our seats, try and take in the glanceSing our songs, dance our danceAbove the hawks they circleBelow the mice they fleeFrom the corner of my eye A child sleeps upon her mother's knee
Between the swales we rideIn this desert that was a seaThese red waves that rollOut into eternityHills of HonourMountains of joyPurple light, beauty you won't destroyPeace be upon you - and yours - always May you reach the summitThat is yours to scaleMay the future be brightAnd may you tell the taleOf how your people survivedOf how you rose again
Southern stars over headCrossing lovers in their bedsCamels, horses, highways of tarI'd travel anything to be back beneath those stars Out here it is bedrock and firelightAnd horizons that are out of reach 'Now let eucalypts sweep you up' Now let eucalypts Sweep you up In scented streams And lift your eyes Across humming vistas. May light mingle with oils And carried on a gentle breeze Colour your day. May the coming year Be a slow joy, A track traversed with ease; Tinged green - Though not with envy, But peace. 'I want to live' I want to live like a Celtic monk Making beautiful things on the edge of the world - Knowing Vikings will come; And when they do, journeying on, Wandering, and wondering, ‘Til I find my place of resurrection 'We trail invisible ribbons' We trail invisible ribbons; You can see them in the spirit world, Tied to sites sacred, From the place where we were born They unfold in a satin flourish, Wrapping our lives in glory, Connecting joys and ordinary days. Each time we stop and wonder, Or are challenged To think, to guess, They bind these gifts into our story. The invisible chord of remembrance; Childhood's dance Grown now into wisdom And thanks. 'When I die' When I die I wish not that my body Be but fertiliser for a tree, My atoms energy for a star. No, if I am spirit matterI want my rage and love to burn on, Inflamed in souls that grow With delight at life and into New words and art and chants Offered up in praise to holy God and what God made: This fiery clay This driving wind This longing breath That blows wild and free Over escarpments raised By an eternal sea
(Nov 26 2019, Wagstaffe, NSW - after a storm) 'Burning Back (to life)' Here I am A single, Whittled match. How can my heart Climb the mountain you set before me? Strike me, Use me Let this tiny flame Race up and away That in its wake New life may ignite In fallen seed And in my dying others be reborn 'Shards of grace' Shards of grace Are all I can offer back And scatter to others; Each blow of the point Diminished the rock. I was taught this spirituality Of stone and hammer By capitalist Gods Who promised peace In the toiled horizon, And life in excited consumption: The cheap graces of novelty And replacement; But who could not offerInfinity after all, Rather, exhaustion 'Standing by a grave' Standing by a grave The sun baking Alice, Hard dirt turned to dust, Rex Granites Japanangka speaks words Above the wailing, draped in cloth, And is the first to return dust to the hard, open ground. Spirit descends into the earth And awaits a rising. This is why I am here, to witness. 'Another remembering' There was a poem about another’s Passing, a gentle drift of words That evoked your memory; Like crystal water lapping At my toes, pools of joy In which to glance At sun sprayed moments While Lion Island Stands impervious in the distance Surrounded by swirls and eddies Too deep to approach But here, on the rocks Strewn with the remainder Of the sea’s high tide I can pause, and remember: Your hand, your sitting Your smile, your word. You, each of you who now live In memory, in mystery divine, Still as beautiful as the waters And lively as the tides 'If you speak' If You speak in whispers Then be silent my heart Learn to listen to the wind And the rain Stare into embers and refrain From knowing the answers Before questions are spoken By a Word, eternal; Travelling like a song Across these lands And within our longing Feel blood circle; The slowing of a pulse Before the presence Of one who calms Multitudes And swaps our burden For light caress; Ease us out of certainties: Gathered like stones We have forgotten we Even stooped to grasp 'When the heat is on' When the heat is on I will accept the little interest Offered: this thin, White-lipped cloud, soon gone, But for a moment relieving
The payment is enough To keep us out and looking For signs of grey: That bank of clouds Which, though it may lastly muddy our feet, Like life itself, it’s breaking waters Will speak renewal in children dancing While thunder peals: “Redemption!” 'Dug from pits' Dug from pits Red ochre danced; Clay borrowed, And then let be; Cycling through generations. But a proud immemorial faced A brute discarding: So the land itself Turns red beneath The settlers' feet. Many ceremonies it took, For an ancestor’s revenge: This expanding sea of dust.
If you silence the screen - Or listen to its leaders - You will be no closer To hearing the wind That throws in our faceThe bitter truth: Our dispossession
(Crossing New South Wales Nov 27 2019) 'Awaiting Advent, Blind'
From one screen to another Eyes diverted by some Invert desire that waits Within this secular advent For a call to board a flight To another geography Still screened off from our touch On arrival as we change mode - Lo! With fanfare it is WE who come! - Again, our dry gaze shifts Upon ourselves And yes, it is undeniable, our bodies moved, But our souls, shiftless, Wither, without knowing Or seeing: We neither depart Nor arrive (Coffee Lounge, Sydney AirportNov 27 2019) 'Onto the Lands he came' Onto the lands he came A preacher willing to break his vows. He warned of a fork in the road And that any who refused to follow his path Would be damned. But he had a forked tongue And spoke with the serpent’s cunning. Soon many a soul were entranced: Swooning in his danceWith his eyes he enticed And his tongue spoke desireInto hearts soon to be broken.
Onto the lands he came A preacher silver-tongue-spoken. He had a burning he could not control So he put others under a spell Promised faith to those who wouldn’t tell The lies that lead souls to be broken. Under his weight, under his lust He took the trust he knew livedIn hearts and smashed it; Like a mirror as vain as the Verse with which he explained that God alone was his passion
Onto the lands he came Oh but strength is a younger man’s game. The seeming of certainty stretches thin in the face The old sparkle that dazzled Is now lined And skin burnt by the sun will soon Burn through the touch of any who fall Into his arms and relent to his charms. Always certain he can win He falls into sin but this preacher calls others to repent: The women, the children, the gays and the strays Well, he now faces God alone, his deeds out there on show And in the distance Jesus openly wept. 'Vast Retina' Vast retina Seeing all, Eye of earth Looking out on stars Born and dying In the emptiness of the desert Lies the chance to see
Like the ocean’s waves The Simpson’s swales Break upon our hearts A tide of land Of desert sand We are beached And sit stunned By force unexpected 'From Galway Bay to Uluru' From Galway BayTo Uluru The land sings its greetings: Hello my friends How are you? Yes, welcome these travellers These fleet-footed beings Our sons and daughters They all need a freein’
Sing them tales Of their ancestors Those forgotten souls Those memories untold Hold the spirit for them, They will need it As they journey home And find the will to roam
Oh all will be well And in all will be all Created for oneness We are Creatures of love And though the land is our mother We have worlds to discover This is our calling Hear it whisper your name 'Throughout our lives' Throughout our lives you are there; You are as present as the air, The very breath that fills our song
Every thought that rises within Is a miracle, creation's glory 'Starlit desert given' Starlit desert given Heat and heaven Ad infinitum I walk and walk In circles planned So that my soul Might be freed To dream again Unconstrained But touched By grace. I find a dance A rhythm A song Within the darkest Path there is a light That, however dim Will not die Or perish Without seeding a thought A strength, a way Yes, this ash stamps Me as one Discipled Pitied Loved 'Ever so slightyl' Ever so slightlyBeneath the veilMoves a heartMoves a soulBeating in tune with love
Can we touch?Table talk, tender, toughTakes a man to forgiveAnd live with no more Than enough
There’s wind in high treesDown South a stormBrewing cynically Lifting the lid on usRacing across a mapOn course for this meeting
God doesn’t favour the kind;At least he doesn’t back Their worldly success.He’ll dress in sorrowAnd wait for you in tomorrowWith commiserations divine
It’s such an easy life -You’ve got no idea how easy.I know you feel pain, confusion,But that’s a tonic,A reminder of where else youCould be:Under the weight Opposed by hateStruggling to anticipate Anxious, alone.No, this is an easy lifeIce in the boxLubricated loveTasting morsel by morselYour fate is easyBelieve me.
So what you gonna do with your one easy life?There’s decisions to makeMost of them goodDefrayed costsLate paymentsA second line of creditWhat you gonna do with your easy life?Add it upAnd give yourself some room to moveShed the fat Let another inMake space for the strangerIt won’t be easyBut you will Be touched And hold a memoryUnforgettable because you struggledTo give You’ll make it.I did.Believe me 'Trauma Zone'
Streets swept by eyesalert to movement,to the shuffling of lost,shapeless victims/now agents;portals of stateless trauma.
Surrounded by country,divided by law,Exiled in the companyof strangers who neverleave, or let up;Everything spoken is lies, or foreign-tongued
Grief-strewn avoidance:the shock of anger,of petulance and accusationvoiced now by wealthand then by emptiness;A vast plain of naked soulsexpiring under judgment.
Enter the riverDig your way inOver the barrierWe will flow, flowThrough the trauma zoneinto healing waters 'I stand on the edge of town' I stand on the edge of town;The desert humsBeyond my knowing.Its vastness stretches,My isolation rises,Surfaces
We fall back into streetsAnd shopfronts, To the lesser isolation Of suburban livesThat we imagine make senseIn a pauper’s way
Too soon we retreat from That message of silence,Of baking heat;Hazed minds seeking coolingAnd artificiality.Yes, we must live,But can we knowWhat we are?And where we are?Can we expandAnd deepen our thoughtTil we are habituated toLove, and letting go,To letting go. 'He will come' He will come - into scorched hearts and lands;at Mercury’s high pointHe will not hide, but arrive;and dwell in campswhere peace and goodwill are needed;yes, like the cooling of a desert breeze,Love will come
'Out here, outback' Out here, outback, everyone is an outsider.No longer in view, included, or invited by insiders - those who think they hold the keys to the inner sanctums of power, money, fame and truth - Invisible,you’re free to roam.But you’re not alone.The land speaks; if you will listen.
So walk; in silence, on paths made by others. Playing second fiddle to the singers of this ancient land. The country walks in its peoples.It is a miracle.Look around; the dust sings. 'Songs are miracles' Songs are miracles in time and space. Form takes shape in nothing but air. And your soul will follow. 'You never got involved' You never got involvedUntil you thought it affected you -All this suffering Was just a curiosity A puzzle for spare thoughts And left over coins 'If you're grieving' If you're grievingAnd you have no voiceWould tears be the sign?
If you're leavingAnd you had no choiceWould you leave your child behind?
If you're seekingSomewhere to be rebornThen they locked you all away
Would you see people or devilsGreet you on the deep blue sea?
What do you see?What do you see?When you sail on the ocean?What do you see when you land on the shore?What do you see when you look to the future? What do you see?
AustraliaThis land 'Showers fall' Showers fall, scents riseThe magpie's music joins Heaven and earth in one swoop Heralding gifts with the nonchalant ease Of paradise rememberedAnd, once again,Lived 'Let me fall into the spirit world' Let me fall into the spirit worldWhere powers and beasts fight to the death over immortality.I hear a thrum from the centreA proclamation of hope Towering tunes of loveHeat shining in a pyre of reflected sunBreathe the desert winds dryIs that a tear inhaled?Or the damp of a cave?What respite is found in the darkness,Of stars where ancestors walk?Of chants and fire?
Sing out my lungs,Breathe for the one who has drawn his last.Speak the word still to be grasped And handed to another with graceIn struggle and wildnessThe Spirit comesAnd we will never be the same again 'Almost home' Almost homeAlmost lostHalfway to heavenThe coin is tossedWaiting for it to fallFall to find answers To the dream you can't remember But you know is there 'In this vast interior' In this vast interiorThere is not enough time to take in everything you can see But there is time enough to take in the footprints of the path we tread And let your sorrows be scattered like the wind in the sandSo travel with me in the heartThrough time and spaceAnd receive the gift only the desert can give 'At dusk' At duskA thin, blue, filmic sky,Wrapped like a dust-jacket around the day, fades.It yellows at the bottomAs this day passes into the ages.Evening falls, but not its' star Which hangs there talking with the moonInviting greying, lonely clouds into conversation.Night is close now, And the book of life awaits The turning of another page. 'I've traveled far from my real love' I've traveled far from my real love She keeps a fire for meI carry the flame she gave to meA light by which to see
Now upwards to the mountain's heightsHer flame it only growsIt lights and warms my fading soulThrough wind and ice and snow 'America' America; brash, friendly, violent, haunted. As likely to be carried in a knapsack and trolley As bedded down in a bungalow, With a faithful sidekick mutt At its heels on either score. I got mine. I finally got mine One trolley cart man exclaimed, Proudly parading his puppy love On the grass of Golden Gate Park.
The trees are different here,Growing tales I cannot understand. They hold different desires. The street moves by like a moviescape, Unaltered from my childhood. This land may be haunted by ghosts, But those ghosts live within you, Uncomfortable, jostling with American energy and fatalism. I will wander these streets alone, And talk with strangers in a grove for the dead. The promised land: I made it, But I think I in time I will be happy To return and wander in the desert. 'A Beat prayer' Ricocheting across railsA silver bullet clenched between teeth;Projectile of words and desiresAnd shards of youth cutting openThe future with hope ablazeSifting shibboleths for truthSoft gaze there for the evenings Blocking out the hard light of the souls police. Where to from here my heart?To the root, the source.Dig, tap, tune inA disciple once more Born of spirit and the persuasionOf love unconquerable.Take orders my heartFrom He who lights the wayNeon by nightStunning by day. 'When you're straight out' When you're straight outEverybody hears When you're straight outThere's no fearWhen you're straight outWe can walk and talk together 'There is grace in the call of birds' There is grace in the call of birdsAn echo in solidarity With the Holy DoveSpirits born of SpiritThe world singsAnd takes wing 'After the day's breeze' After the day's breezeThat broke through leavesAnd that arrested my attention Long enough to lift my head to the Possibility of graceThe evening arrivesWith a sublime stillnessThe desert an unbidden guestWhose calm countenance Closes the daySaves what is bestAnd lets go the rest. 'I'm out here in Australia' I'm out here in AustraliaBut I am far awayFrom all the useless rotOf racism and decayOf talkback spiteAnd hollow menOf a fearful little childNow wearing suits or fluoro vestsAnd spewing angry bile 'Tiny, but elongated' Tiny, but elongatedRazered and dusted greenPeace springs from hard branchesGrowing from the barest of sandy soil This land holds a forest Reborn from the flameWhere creeks cascade over fallsAnd birds call Echoing their master's voice:"Come unto me...and I will give you rest." 'Strain soul, strain' Strain soul, strainAgainst the onslaughtWhilst pulling your loadLaden with past selves,Past hopes, pastThoughts that inspiredThis madnessThis fire
I leap aheadAnd gaze behindAt this one who leansInto the future hardPressed, but eyeingThe prizeAs if compelled To succeed, to be Great and true,A victor, garlanded;Hearing throats hoarse With praiseThe din of ancestorsYou never imagined:Your fireIs theirs All rights reserved. Copyright Steve Bevis 2022
But I was welcomed to this land By silence By scent of eucalypt By red dust and golden sand by hand given in hope Of fire, camp. and laughter.
By a cove on the George's River Over seven summers I was grown up by this land With sandstone and twig underfoot And with an easy freedom Unsullied then by Sussex Street Or Governor Macquarie's face I developed that sense, That feeling Of a stranger's belonging 'Territory Dreaming' You can feel the weather changingThe new guards take their placeThose sentinels of the futureWho knows what enemies they will face?There's a chill at the dawningWhat's predicted for the day?Does the pale light promise warming?Or just the final bloody warning to a sleepy-eyed raceI'm aching again, breathing ice not fire In the silence of the desertIt's all coming down to the wire
Ancient land with sun-blasted faceEtched and wrinkled by countless rays Rivers that channel temperamental rainsNow run with the tears of dispossessionPeople left with nothing but their own aggressionThe ground dusted dryBeneath it all rivers run anywaySouthern stars over headCrossing lovers in their bedsSomething about this land that feels so rightThere are people outside round the campfire tonight
Full moon rises from the Simpson's plainEyes fixed on miracles you can't explainWhat else will rise from horizons too wide to see?So we swivel in our seats, try and take in the glanceSing our songs, dance our danceAbove the hawks they circleBelow the mice they fleeFrom the corner of my eye A child sleeps upon her mother's knee
Between the swales we rideIn this desert that was a seaThese red waves that rollOut into eternityHills of HonourMountains of joyPurple light, beauty you won't destroyPeace be upon you - and yours - always May you reach the summitThat is yours to scaleMay the future be brightAnd may you tell the taleOf how your people survivedOf how you rose again
Southern stars over headCrossing lovers in their bedsCamels, horses, highways of tarI'd travel anything to be back beneath those stars Out here it is bedrock and firelightAnd horizons that are out of reach 'Now let eucalypts sweep you up' Now let eucalypts Sweep you up In scented streams And lift your eyes Across humming vistas. May light mingle with oils And carried on a gentle breeze Colour your day. May the coming year Be a slow joy, A track traversed with ease; Tinged green - Though not with envy, But peace. 'I want to live' I want to live like a Celtic monk Making beautiful things on the edge of the world - Knowing Vikings will come; And when they do, journeying on, Wandering, and wondering, ‘Til I find my place of resurrection 'We trail invisible ribbons' We trail invisible ribbons; You can see them in the spirit world, Tied to sites sacred, From the place where we were born They unfold in a satin flourish, Wrapping our lives in glory, Connecting joys and ordinary days. Each time we stop and wonder, Or are challenged To think, to guess, They bind these gifts into our story. The invisible chord of remembrance; Childhood's dance Grown now into wisdom And thanks. 'When I die' When I die I wish not that my body Be but fertiliser for a tree, My atoms energy for a star. No, if I am spirit matterI want my rage and love to burn on, Inflamed in souls that grow With delight at life and into New words and art and chants Offered up in praise to holy God and what God made: This fiery clay This driving wind This longing breath That blows wild and free Over escarpments raised By an eternal sea
(Nov 26 2019, Wagstaffe, NSW - after a storm) 'Burning Back (to life)' Here I am A single, Whittled match. How can my heart Climb the mountain you set before me? Strike me, Use me Let this tiny flame Race up and away That in its wake New life may ignite In fallen seed And in my dying others be reborn 'Shards of grace' Shards of grace Are all I can offer back And scatter to others; Each blow of the point Diminished the rock. I was taught this spirituality Of stone and hammer By capitalist Gods Who promised peace In the toiled horizon, And life in excited consumption: The cheap graces of novelty And replacement; But who could not offerInfinity after all, Rather, exhaustion 'Standing by a grave' Standing by a grave The sun baking Alice, Hard dirt turned to dust, Rex Granites Japanangka speaks words Above the wailing, draped in cloth, And is the first to return dust to the hard, open ground. Spirit descends into the earth And awaits a rising. This is why I am here, to witness. 'Another remembering' There was a poem about another’s Passing, a gentle drift of words That evoked your memory; Like crystal water lapping At my toes, pools of joy In which to glance At sun sprayed moments While Lion Island Stands impervious in the distance Surrounded by swirls and eddies Too deep to approach But here, on the rocks Strewn with the remainder Of the sea’s high tide I can pause, and remember: Your hand, your sitting Your smile, your word. You, each of you who now live In memory, in mystery divine, Still as beautiful as the waters And lively as the tides 'If you speak' If You speak in whispers Then be silent my heart Learn to listen to the wind And the rain Stare into embers and refrain From knowing the answers Before questions are spoken By a Word, eternal; Travelling like a song Across these lands And within our longing Feel blood circle; The slowing of a pulse Before the presence Of one who calms Multitudes And swaps our burden For light caress; Ease us out of certainties: Gathered like stones We have forgotten we Even stooped to grasp 'When the heat is on' When the heat is on I will accept the little interest Offered: this thin, White-lipped cloud, soon gone, But for a moment relieving
The payment is enough To keep us out and looking For signs of grey: That bank of clouds Which, though it may lastly muddy our feet, Like life itself, it’s breaking waters Will speak renewal in children dancing While thunder peals: “Redemption!” 'Dug from pits' Dug from pits Red ochre danced; Clay borrowed, And then let be; Cycling through generations. But a proud immemorial faced A brute discarding: So the land itself Turns red beneath The settlers' feet. Many ceremonies it took, For an ancestor’s revenge: This expanding sea of dust.
If you silence the screen - Or listen to its leaders - You will be no closer To hearing the wind That throws in our faceThe bitter truth: Our dispossession
(Crossing New South Wales Nov 27 2019) 'Awaiting Advent, Blind'
From one screen to another Eyes diverted by some Invert desire that waits Within this secular advent For a call to board a flight To another geography Still screened off from our touch On arrival as we change mode - Lo! With fanfare it is WE who come! - Again, our dry gaze shifts Upon ourselves And yes, it is undeniable, our bodies moved, But our souls, shiftless, Wither, without knowing Or seeing: We neither depart Nor arrive (Coffee Lounge, Sydney AirportNov 27 2019) 'Onto the Lands he came' Onto the lands he came A preacher willing to break his vows. He warned of a fork in the road And that any who refused to follow his path Would be damned. But he had a forked tongue And spoke with the serpent’s cunning. Soon many a soul were entranced: Swooning in his danceWith his eyes he enticed And his tongue spoke desireInto hearts soon to be broken.
Onto the lands he came A preacher silver-tongue-spoken. He had a burning he could not control So he put others under a spell Promised faith to those who wouldn’t tell The lies that lead souls to be broken. Under his weight, under his lust He took the trust he knew livedIn hearts and smashed it; Like a mirror as vain as the Verse with which he explained that God alone was his passion
Onto the lands he came Oh but strength is a younger man’s game. The seeming of certainty stretches thin in the face The old sparkle that dazzled Is now lined And skin burnt by the sun will soon Burn through the touch of any who fall Into his arms and relent to his charms. Always certain he can win He falls into sin but this preacher calls others to repent: The women, the children, the gays and the strays Well, he now faces God alone, his deeds out there on show And in the distance Jesus openly wept. 'Vast Retina' Vast retina Seeing all, Eye of earth Looking out on stars Born and dying In the emptiness of the desert Lies the chance to see
Like the ocean’s waves The Simpson’s swales Break upon our hearts A tide of land Of desert sand We are beached And sit stunned By force unexpected 'From Galway Bay to Uluru' From Galway BayTo Uluru The land sings its greetings: Hello my friends How are you? Yes, welcome these travellers These fleet-footed beings Our sons and daughters They all need a freein’
Sing them tales Of their ancestors Those forgotten souls Those memories untold Hold the spirit for them, They will need it As they journey home And find the will to roam
Oh all will be well And in all will be all Created for oneness We are Creatures of love And though the land is our mother We have worlds to discover This is our calling Hear it whisper your name 'Throughout our lives' Throughout our lives you are there; You are as present as the air, The very breath that fills our song
Every thought that rises within Is a miracle, creation's glory 'Starlit desert given' Starlit desert given Heat and heaven Ad infinitum I walk and walk In circles planned So that my soul Might be freed To dream again Unconstrained But touched By grace. I find a dance A rhythm A song Within the darkest Path there is a light That, however dim Will not die Or perish Without seeding a thought A strength, a way Yes, this ash stamps Me as one Discipled Pitied Loved 'Ever so slightyl' Ever so slightlyBeneath the veilMoves a heartMoves a soulBeating in tune with love
Can we touch?Table talk, tender, toughTakes a man to forgiveAnd live with no more Than enough
There’s wind in high treesDown South a stormBrewing cynically Lifting the lid on usRacing across a mapOn course for this meeting
God doesn’t favour the kind;At least he doesn’t back Their worldly success.He’ll dress in sorrowAnd wait for you in tomorrowWith commiserations divine
It’s such an easy life -You’ve got no idea how easy.I know you feel pain, confusion,But that’s a tonic,A reminder of where else youCould be:Under the weight Opposed by hateStruggling to anticipate Anxious, alone.No, this is an easy lifeIce in the boxLubricated loveTasting morsel by morselYour fate is easyBelieve me.
So what you gonna do with your one easy life?There’s decisions to makeMost of them goodDefrayed costsLate paymentsA second line of creditWhat you gonna do with your easy life?Add it upAnd give yourself some room to moveShed the fat Let another inMake space for the strangerIt won’t be easyBut you will Be touched And hold a memoryUnforgettable because you struggledTo give You’ll make it.I did.Believe me 'Trauma Zone'
Streets swept by eyesalert to movement,to the shuffling of lost,shapeless victims/now agents;portals of stateless trauma.
Surrounded by country,divided by law,Exiled in the companyof strangers who neverleave, or let up;Everything spoken is lies, or foreign-tongued
Grief-strewn avoidance:the shock of anger,of petulance and accusationvoiced now by wealthand then by emptiness;A vast plain of naked soulsexpiring under judgment.
Enter the riverDig your way inOver the barrierWe will flow, flowThrough the trauma zoneinto healing waters 'I stand on the edge of town' I stand on the edge of town;The desert humsBeyond my knowing.Its vastness stretches,My isolation rises,Surfaces
We fall back into streetsAnd shopfronts, To the lesser isolation Of suburban livesThat we imagine make senseIn a pauper’s way
Too soon we retreat from That message of silence,Of baking heat;Hazed minds seeking coolingAnd artificiality.Yes, we must live,But can we knowWhat we are?And where we are?Can we expandAnd deepen our thoughtTil we are habituated toLove, and letting go,To letting go. 'He will come' He will come - into scorched hearts and lands;at Mercury’s high pointHe will not hide, but arrive;and dwell in campswhere peace and goodwill are needed;yes, like the cooling of a desert breeze,Love will come
'Out here, outback' Out here, outback, everyone is an outsider.No longer in view, included, or invited by insiders - those who think they hold the keys to the inner sanctums of power, money, fame and truth - Invisible,you’re free to roam.But you’re not alone.The land speaks; if you will listen.
So walk; in silence, on paths made by others. Playing second fiddle to the singers of this ancient land. The country walks in its peoples.It is a miracle.Look around; the dust sings. 'Songs are miracles' Songs are miracles in time and space. Form takes shape in nothing but air. And your soul will follow. 'You never got involved' You never got involvedUntil you thought it affected you -All this suffering Was just a curiosity A puzzle for spare thoughts And left over coins 'If you're grieving' If you're grievingAnd you have no voiceWould tears be the sign?
If you're leavingAnd you had no choiceWould you leave your child behind?
If you're seekingSomewhere to be rebornThen they locked you all away
Would you see people or devilsGreet you on the deep blue sea?
What do you see?What do you see?When you sail on the ocean?What do you see when you land on the shore?What do you see when you look to the future? What do you see?
AustraliaThis land 'Showers fall' Showers fall, scents riseThe magpie's music joins Heaven and earth in one swoop Heralding gifts with the nonchalant ease Of paradise rememberedAnd, once again,Lived 'Let me fall into the spirit world' Let me fall into the spirit worldWhere powers and beasts fight to the death over immortality.I hear a thrum from the centreA proclamation of hope Towering tunes of loveHeat shining in a pyre of reflected sunBreathe the desert winds dryIs that a tear inhaled?Or the damp of a cave?What respite is found in the darkness,Of stars where ancestors walk?Of chants and fire?
Sing out my lungs,Breathe for the one who has drawn his last.Speak the word still to be grasped And handed to another with graceIn struggle and wildnessThe Spirit comesAnd we will never be the same again 'Almost home' Almost homeAlmost lostHalfway to heavenThe coin is tossedWaiting for it to fallFall to find answers To the dream you can't remember But you know is there 'In this vast interior' In this vast interiorThere is not enough time to take in everything you can see But there is time enough to take in the footprints of the path we tread And let your sorrows be scattered like the wind in the sandSo travel with me in the heartThrough time and spaceAnd receive the gift only the desert can give 'At dusk' At duskA thin, blue, filmic sky,Wrapped like a dust-jacket around the day, fades.It yellows at the bottomAs this day passes into the ages.Evening falls, but not its' star Which hangs there talking with the moonInviting greying, lonely clouds into conversation.Night is close now, And the book of life awaits The turning of another page. 'I've traveled far from my real love' I've traveled far from my real love She keeps a fire for meI carry the flame she gave to meA light by which to see
Now upwards to the mountain's heightsHer flame it only growsIt lights and warms my fading soulThrough wind and ice and snow 'America' America; brash, friendly, violent, haunted. As likely to be carried in a knapsack and trolley As bedded down in a bungalow, With a faithful sidekick mutt At its heels on either score. I got mine. I finally got mine One trolley cart man exclaimed, Proudly parading his puppy love On the grass of Golden Gate Park.
The trees are different here,Growing tales I cannot understand. They hold different desires. The street moves by like a moviescape, Unaltered from my childhood. This land may be haunted by ghosts, But those ghosts live within you, Uncomfortable, jostling with American energy and fatalism. I will wander these streets alone, And talk with strangers in a grove for the dead. The promised land: I made it, But I think I in time I will be happy To return and wander in the desert. 'A Beat prayer' Ricocheting across railsA silver bullet clenched between teeth;Projectile of words and desiresAnd shards of youth cutting openThe future with hope ablazeSifting shibboleths for truthSoft gaze there for the evenings Blocking out the hard light of the souls police. Where to from here my heart?To the root, the source.Dig, tap, tune inA disciple once more Born of spirit and the persuasionOf love unconquerable.Take orders my heartFrom He who lights the wayNeon by nightStunning by day. 'When you're straight out' When you're straight outEverybody hears When you're straight outThere's no fearWhen you're straight outWe can walk and talk together 'There is grace in the call of birds' There is grace in the call of birdsAn echo in solidarity With the Holy DoveSpirits born of SpiritThe world singsAnd takes wing 'After the day's breeze' After the day's breezeThat broke through leavesAnd that arrested my attention Long enough to lift my head to the Possibility of graceThe evening arrivesWith a sublime stillnessThe desert an unbidden guestWhose calm countenance Closes the daySaves what is bestAnd lets go the rest. 'I'm out here in Australia' I'm out here in AustraliaBut I am far awayFrom all the useless rotOf racism and decayOf talkback spiteAnd hollow menOf a fearful little childNow wearing suits or fluoro vestsAnd spewing angry bile 'Tiny, but elongated' Tiny, but elongatedRazered and dusted greenPeace springs from hard branchesGrowing from the barest of sandy soil This land holds a forest Reborn from the flameWhere creeks cascade over fallsAnd birds call Echoing their master's voice:"Come unto me...and I will give you rest." 'Strain soul, strain' Strain soul, strainAgainst the onslaughtWhilst pulling your loadLaden with past selves,Past hopes, pastThoughts that inspiredThis madnessThis fire
I leap aheadAnd gaze behindAt this one who leansInto the future hardPressed, but eyeingThe prizeAs if compelled To succeed, to be Great and true,A victor, garlanded;Hearing throats hoarse With praiseThe din of ancestorsYou never imagined:Your fireIs theirs All rights reserved. Copyright Steve Bevis 2022
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