Wishbone Drum—Song Lyrics

All words and music by Lorna Kohler (with the noted exception of The Seal Woman’s Daughter) copyright, published Lorna Kohler/Persephone’s Ladder.

Wishbone Drum

When I play my wishbone drum
All the butterfly people come
Dressed in clothes of tattered hue
Red and yellow, green and blue
In the pattern each has its place
Denim and velvet, satin and lace

When I play my wishbone drum
All the butterfly people come
Lovely ladies with pointed ears
Hollow knights with rusty spears
The burning woman, the restless child
The man forgotten, the forest wild

And they speak in the tongue of winter
And they dance in the gold of autumn
And they sing the song of summer
And they dream the dream of spring

When I play my wishbone drum
All the butterfly people come
Dressed in clothes of tattered hue
Red and yellow, green and blue
In the pattern each has its place
Denim and velvet, satin and lace

And they speak in the tongue of winter
And they dance in the gold of autumn
And they sing the song of summer
And they dream the dream of spring
The dream of new life
Sleeping under the earth
The seed is inside me
Someday it will come to birth

Misty Dawn

Misty Dawn
You are born
And you can fly
You can ride a red elephant in the park
You can see in the dark

Misty Dawn
You are born
And you can sing in the backseat for miles and miles
Bless our lives with your smiles
And you tell everyone you love
I love you

Misty Dawn
You are five
And you’re alive
You are real
You can feel the pain and the joy
The earth is your toy

Misty Dawn
You are five
And you can be anyone that you want to be
So you be the princess
I’ll be the queen
And we’ll live in a park in a castle of dreams
I scoop the sand
You empty it out
And we both know this is what life is about
And you tell everyone you love
I love you

Misty Dawn
I love you

Persephone

You and I sit on a train
Traveling north into the rain
On rails of words and singing steel
Our stories spin the spinning wheels
Of course you have brought an abundance of shoes
More clothes, hats and coats than one person can use
And yes there’s a basket of biscuits and tea
Blossoming napkins, apples and cheese
We eat and talk and laugh and cry
While the wheels keep turning
And the years fly by

A pomegranate falls into my lap
I cradle it gently and then toss it back
Persephone gathers wild flowers and reeds
We wonder if we would have swallowed those seeds
Oh yes you say I know I would
They’re red and sweet and they taste so good
As evening comes you split the fruit
We feed each other seeds and juice
In the deepening dark one candle is burning
The engine sighs softly
The wheels stop turning

You stand and smile and gesture please
Take all of these things I will no longer need
The owl calls I must follow
And you must journey into tomorrow
Before I can speak the train moves on
The door is open and you are gone
The hats and the coats, the biscuits and tea
Murmur a blessing and whisper to me
Of meals and walks and conversation
With bliss our ultimate
Destination

And you wear the most beautiful dancing shoes
You step out lightly when the night is new
It’s almost your birthday and the dancers are waiting
The stars are rejoicing and the piper is playing

On wild goose wings you ride the air
Dance with coyote, forage with bear
Swim with seal, circle with hawk
The grasses are singing wherever you walk
The underworld dreams of color and light
I lie on the earth and imagine your flight
A doe in the orchard, a pear on a tree
These are the gifts you have given to me
Beauty and grace, friendship and fancy
You’re wearing those shoes
Its time to go dancing

Rainbows

I am bathing in rainbows
Washed by the colors of my life
Swimming through sunshine and shadow
A prism of water and light

As I give myself to you
You give myself to me
As you give yourself to me
I give yourself to you

Our love is an ocean
A whale child dances in its depths
Dreaming with us in the darkness
Singing the song of the unborn

Alleluia
Om Namah Shivaya
From before the dawn of time
We are one

We are poems of the father
Clothed by our mother the earth
Shedding our skin with the seasons
Spinning from death a rebirth

Our love is spacious and serene
It gives me roots as well as wings
Restores my innocence and awe
Fills me with joy and trust and peace

Soon the child will be swimming
Out of my watery womb
Into the hands of my lover
Husband father and friend

Alleluia
Om Namah Shivaya
From before the dawn of time
We are one

Star of Heaven

Listen to the wind in the trees
The voice of God
She and He are here with We
You and I

Star of Heaven in my heart
You are the Child of Love
You are the seed that quickened in the dark
You are the Dove

Come with me to the Water of Life
Hold my hand as we plunge
Swim with me to the soft mossy stone
Where the treasure lies
Open my eyes

God is all around us
In every blade of grass
In every cell
the spirit dwells
and cries
awaken me

The Woman in White

Bear and bat
Leaf and tree
All these dwell inside of me
In the well of acceptance I sing
Cradled in the moss soft skin of mother tree
Her children stand circling her invisible presence
The woman in white who enters the forest in mist and spider web

Ant and fern
Tuft of fur
All these dwell inside of her
In the well of acceptance she sings
Cradled in the moss soft skin of mother tree
This last visible remnant of her body makes a boat for my soul
Carry me gently into the next life the seen and unseen worlds

Male and female
Breath and bone
Here dwell redwood and madrone
In the well of acceptance they sing
Cradled in the moss soft skin of mother tree
The wind blows through all their branches and under the earth the roots commune
The woman in white who swims in the ocean enters the forest of our dreams

Beak and claw
Sigh and call
All these dwell inside us all
In the well of acceptance we sing
Cradled in the moss soft skin of mother tree
The water flows through us and peace dwells within us
Deep as the ocean
Wide as the sky
The well of well being all is well
And the road becomes a river
We are walking here together
And the woman in white comes to meet us in the sunlight

The Seal Woman’s Daughter

Words by Alison Bermond
Music by Lorna Kohler

My mother went into the sea
She walked into the waves not looking back
I waited on the shore a long time
While the waves washed over me
I waited for her return in each pull of the tide
The waves washed over me
I thought I would meet her in the eyes of my lover
But I was mistaken
I thought I would touch her in his hands
On my body
But I was mistaken
I ran into the ocean to meet her in the
Swirling water, in the crashing water
I ran to meet her over and over, I poured
Her over my head, I poured her over my face
I poured her into me
my mother ocean

Time Out of Mind

Time out of mind
We planted a seed
Where the tall willows grow
And through the years it has answered our need
And blossomed in the snow
And I wonder
Will I meet you again
Where the river joins the sea
And I wonder
Will our hearts take flight
Over the ocean
Where the sea gulls rise
Above the distant mountain

Time out of mind
Before we were born
We knew who we were
We saw the light
We answered the call
Through the tunnel we turned
And I wonder
Will we remember the promises we made
To heal the earth and to love one another
Before we came
Over the ocean
Where the sea gulls rise
Above the distant mountain

My Own Song

The only song I can sing is my own song
The only life I can live is my own
And we can still sing together on our way home

When I’m lost in my own wall of suffering
And I can’t find my way in the dark
The love I feel for you beckons and brings me back

I am learning to live in this body
I am giving my weight to the ground
Trusting the earth to support me as I walk on

And there is joy at the heart of my sorrow
And there is peace at the core of my pain
And loving you gives me courage to sing again

The only song I can sing is my own song
The only life I can live is my own
And we can still sing together on our way home
On our way home

Man of Gold and Silver

You’re a man of gold and silver and you have so many names
I have seen you on some highways I will never walk again
And sometimes in the evening when the clouds fade into night
I feel you here beside me with your gold and silver shining bright

I met you in the mountains on an ancient river bed
You were standing in the shadows with a crown of stars around your head
And the memory that stirred in me when you looked into my eyes
Was of a host of stardust travelers trailing light across the skies

I have seen you in the ocean swimming on a moonlit tide
And I have heard you singing love songs on the winds the eagles ride
And sometimes in the morning when the glory shines around
I see you stand before me with your gold and silver on the ground
And the bitterness and anger fall away without a sound
When I see you stand before me with your gold and silver on the ground

Wayfarer Fare Well

This is the song of the willing wood
I would warm you if I could
From coals to ash
From ash to earth
It is in dying we come to birth
It is by tears we laugh again
And in patience transform our pain
Each one is heard
And in hearing heals
In listening speaks
And in touching feels

Wayfarer fare well
Homing pigeon come home
Fire burn bright in the dark time of the year
Sing water and stone

This is the song of the willing branch
Pleasure pleases
Take a chance
Burn the boat that brought you here
And in the fire
Face your fear
The boat the flute the branch the tree
There are as many ways to sing as there are to breathe
Climb in that kayak
Find a canoe
Fill up a singing truck with words old and new

Wayfarer fare well
Homing pigeon come home
Fire burn bright in the dark time of the year
Sing water and stone

There is no longing now
The music carries me
And the lover is life
The lover is life
The lover is the river flowing
To the sea

Prayer for my Brother

One man’s pain
Shackles on his legs
A heavy heart and a troubled mind
All the killing that’s been done
Since the world was begun
Is a burden he bears all the time

Walking slow
Towards the setting sun
Stars in the night will guide your way
In the south coyote calls
The burden falls
The child who was lost will find the day

Red tail hawk
Circle in the sky
White horse grazing in the dark
Eat deeply of the earth
And remember your birth
Let the sweet gentle rain heal your heart

Take your doubt
To the bear in the west
He’ll give you an answer on the wind
May the outer darkness bend
To the message you send
Of the willingness to love and live again

Melissa’s Lullaby

May the angels rock you gently
May the stars sing their songs for you
May you wake each morning with joy in your heart
May you know how very much I love you
And may you always remember
You were born on a star
And may the memory give you courage to shine
As the radiant being you are

Love one another
Breath by breath
Night by night
Day by day
Listen to the heartbeat of the earth
And let the stars guide your way