1. |
Sheaf of Riddles
01:36
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What is that sound you hear in the forest
just before dawn's blush
What is that thing setting skin to tingle
but fingers cannot brush
What is that call that rattles the brain
and makes you feel alive
and bids you walk through moonlit trees
where ancient ones survive
I want to know the dusk laid pathway
marked by her horseshoe track
Just like you, the call of moonbeams
will ever drag me back
Birdsong dances through the dimming
I feel more enchanted still
The white mare races, and I follow
With courage, sight, and will
So now I grasp a sheaf of riddles
Harvested from the dark
and bound with chords of silver night-
a fading watermark
With moon drenched dreams and starry vision
I’ve scribbled these notes and words
Set wonder free, and set barriers fading
by offerings sober and absurd
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2. |
Rhiannon
05:23
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Hooves upon the wind
She rides the morning
And through my mind,
She makes the fog clear
Hooves about the flame
She rides unburning
and in my core
,
She drives back fear
Rhiannon carries me with the moon
and keeps me safe all through the night
I feel her hands upon my shoulders,
In my heart, she shines her light
She gives me strength, she takes my fear
To stand up and fight on
I ride with the White Mare through my life
Rhiannon Rhiannon Rhiannon
Hooves across the sea
She rides on singing
,
And round my heart,
She calls love to heal
Hooves along the stone
She rides unbending
and by my hands,
She makes dreams real
Hooves within the light
She rides in balance
And with my soul
She sends a call
Hooves across the sky
She rides with justice
And with my voice
She changes all
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3. |
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4. |
Poetry of Wonder
05:34
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Golden hair- running from the wind
Like the wheat out on the plains
Distant eyes..shining of the moon
Pull toward madness like a chain
so far, far away
I long to knit searching fingers in her hair
I sweat and I sway
I feel as though I'm grasping at the air
Is this madness, oblivion, or Poetry of wonder?
Is this madness, oblivion, or Poetry of wonder?
Pounding hearts-running through the night
a wish, a touch, a murmur, a kiss
Whisp'ring legs- wrapped all around me
moving both of us to bliss
Voices light the spark
A flame that burns oblivion in my soul
Choices in the dark
I loose myself-- becoming more than whole
Is this madness, oblivion, or Poetry of wonder?
Is this madness, oblivion, or Poetry of wonder?
Your sighs can still time
A moment grasped, a moment taking wing
Your eyes with wonder rhyme
And all at once I cry and laugh and sing
Is this madness, oblivion, or Poetry of wonder?
Is this madness, oblivion, or Poetry of wonder?
Is this madness, oblivion, or Poetry of wonder?
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5. |
The Mound of Arbeth
11:07
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6. |
Mother Moon
02:31
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Mother moon,
Mother moon
Please hear my heart pray
Take care
of my love
Who is so far away.
Grant her a smile
and drive off her fear,
until I am there
or she is right here.
Mother Moon
Mother moon
I seek your kind grace.
If I stare at you longing,
will I see her fair face?
Is she looking at you
looking down at me?
Are we sharing this moment?
Only we three?
Oh, how I wish I could fly
and sail round the seas of stars above
, and I would soar through the sky
and swoop down to be with my love
Mother Moon
Mother Moon
Please send her my love
Let her feel my heart beating
As your light above
Let her know I am waiting
Let her know who I miss
Let her feel open arms
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7. |
Between Two Weddings
08:48
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8. |
Some Days
03:55
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Some days, there’s a fine line
between laughing long and crying
And life’s a narrow road
Between living well and dying
We all deserve a chance at joy
and making it if we’re trying
And some days, there’s a fine line
Between falling fast and flying
Everybody has bad days
Ones that seem to last forever
horrible things can happen
You know there is no never
Maybe you got a good day
But your neighbor’s harried
maybe every light in their life
is six feet under, buried
So reach out a helpful hand
To other poor souls a trav’lin
Sometimes, a timely word
can stop the world unrav’lin
We’ve all run from darkness
Don’t become deaf and blind
No one should journey alone
With shadows that follow behind
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9. |
On. Beltane Eve
01:55
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On Beltane Eve, with fire ablaze
I contemplate the walk of days
And how, in long forgotten times
ancestors moved in earthly rhymes
Driving cattle between the flames
a fiery blessing with sacred names
needing beasts with fertile wombs
lest children find too early tombs
And I sit here, not a cow in sight
But I also desire a fertility rite
not one of flesh or child born
But word and note and rhyme not worn
I call in need to renew my soul
like an ever-birthing Beltane foal
I bid you join me between the flames
Make a request and name the names
call inspiration, if not a child
call well earned wealth or gifts compiled
Or just seek blessings for the days ahead
It may be hard to keep courage fed
Though we may live with scary paradigms
Our ancestors faced more difficult times
Let May Eve’s fire and fertility
illuminate the hearts of both you and me
What do you need to stay in the fight
What cattle do you drive between these lights
I contemplate the walk of days
On Beltane Eve, with fire ablaze
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10. |
Of Birth and Death
08:54
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Maidens, six, to tend the queen
craven all, no honor seen
Rhiannon lives in stories spread
of maidens, six, no word is said
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11. |
Ride the Mare
04:09
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The lady stood out at the gate
for anyone who’d care to check
Both day and night, that was her fate
An old mare’s collar ‘round her neck
Her punishment for deeds most dire
and balm for noble discontent
through winter’s frost and summer fire
Though many said she was innocent
Ride the mare, oh ride the mare
’tis only fitting and only fair
Ride the mare, oh ride the mare
With time and moonlight in her hair
She’ll tell you her tale, if you care
and take away a burden you bear
Then seek her mystery if you dare
Ride the mare, oh, ride the mare.
Oh, ride the mare
childbirth tired, she slept in bed
Her maidens claimed she had gone wild
awakening covered with bloody red
They said she’d eaten her only child.
She could not think she’d done the deed
But grief and loss cut a heavy track
So there she waited as a steed
to carry all comers on her back
Ride the mare, oh ride the mare
’tis only fitting and only fair
Ride the mare, oh ride the mare
With time and moonlight in her hair
She’ll tell you her tale if you care
and take away a burden you bear
Then seek her mystery if you dare
Ride the mare, oh, ride the mare.
Oh, ride the mare
She prayed her son’s not really dead
And that all her burdens were lifted away
But she waited still and bowed her head
carrying any who dare to say
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12. |
The May Foal
09:45
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13. |
Simple Folk
04:39
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We bake the bread and work the land
Our humble lives are never grand
But we can craft both ash and oak
For we are all but simple folk
Yes, we are all but simple folk
We can work with vine or nail
Harvest and brew fine mead and ale
And save our culling with salt or smoke
For we are but simple folk
Yes, we are all but simple folk
When Highborns say let’s honor restore
We send our sons all off to war
as is our lot and fated yoke
For we are all but simple folk
Yes, we are all but simple folk
We’ll do our part with royal cheers.
Through shivering cold and grieving tears
we weave a highborn’s winter cloak
For we are all but simple folk
Yes, we are all but simple folk
It is our place for sure, they say
But sons now lie in foreign clay
Still, ne’er must we, the lords, provoke
For we are all but simple folk
Yes, we are all but simple folk
We send our beans, bows, and beer
To outfit armies far from here
And gladly, we will do till broke
For we are all but simple
Yes, we are all but simple folk
So say I, all vows we keep
But watch the highborn, not asleep
I say lowborn should all be awoke
For we are all but simple folk.
Yes, we are all but simple folk
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14. |
Travel Blessing
01:43
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I call to your mind the sure, steady sound of a trotting horse
This is Rhiannon beside you, keeping watch upon your course
I call to your heart the comforting call of gentle birdsong
These are her birds around you, easing your reentry along
May Rhiannon keep you, and return you here.
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Arthur Hinds Petersburg, Virginia
A performance by Arthur Hinds is an unforgettable experience, full of music, laughter, love, and magic. Blending stories from Celtic myth and legend with songs drawn not only from Celtic and American folk traditions but from his own
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