Regarding Amelia Earhart (derived from her scraps of poetry):

“And See Again Those Stars”

         for AE, Aviatrix

What kind of scissors do the angels use

            The Fun of It. The Fun of It
when they cut snowflakes from soft white clouds?
         Cumulus, Cumulus

And is my lost jack-knife really on the moon? 

            The Fun of It. The Fun of It

To touch your hand or see your face,

         The Sun of It. The Sun of It

Your casual presence in a room

            The Sun of It. The Moon.

Recalls the stars that watched us

         Dare to Watch Us; Watch Us Move

I mark you in the moving crowd

         The Thrum of It. The Thrum of It
I mark you moving in the crowd

And see again those stars

A warm night lent us long ago.

         The Hum of It. The Hum of It
We loved so then—we love so now. 

What kind of scissors do the angels use?

I have seen your eyes at dawn, beloved,

         Dark with sleep, The Depth of It
And lying on your breast—have watched
         The new day creep, descending, deep. 

         The Sun of It. The Fun of It

To touch your hand or see your face,

         The Sun of It. The Sun of It

I mark you in the moving crowd

         The Thrum of It. The Thrum of It
I mark you moving in the crowd

And see again those stars.

AE Aviatrix

Like your body’s beauty

the humor of your frankness

pleased them—who saw the surface only,

nor saw you

laughing at them with a wistful scorn

and eyes of cool intelligence.

Even the watchful, purple hills

that hold the lake,

could not see so well as I

the stain of evening

creeping from its heart;

nor the round yellow eyes of the hamlet

growing filmy with mists.

It’s frustrating that I don’t yet know how to create stanza breaks when I copy and paste a poem/lyrics, but here’s a climate song:

“Her Way with Weather”

Nature has a wondrous way of providing what we need:                      

The sycamore shade grows from an infinitessimal seed.                      

Feeling full of our foolish selves, we gaze into an ancient gorge,        

Stand dwarfed before an daily dawn, feel full a river’s force.  

We wish for warmer, drier-wetter.                                                           

We complain, as if we could do better.                                         

Yet Nature nourishes if we let her.                                                            

_Appreciate her way with weather.                                                          

Perhaps virus was the wisest way to stall our speed,                            

And fire was required to purge us of our greed.                                    

A tempest tells the tale of disaster that’s lasted de-cades.                      

If landslides land us under sand, perhaps our plans were ill-made.    

Let Nature nurture us this nativity.

Let’s honor her endless creativity.

Give her room to bring us together.

Appreciate her way with weather.

When nature is confined to a 4 X 6 screen,

When we fill with smog and traffic a valley that was green,

Construct canned climate cubicles keeping Nature quite at bay

And ever brighter lights creating artificial day,

Nature has no choice but to summon use of force,

And freeze us with the weather so she can run her course.

Let the inky night be silent.

Guide us to the star,

And make room for Love and Nature.

Let them heal the scar.

We lose sight of Nature’s gift.

In our selfishness, cause the rift.

We’ve run loose without a tether.

Nature needs her way with weather.

This season, witness the whiteness of snow,

The divinity of a desert bathed in sunset’s glow.

Impress upon children the grandeur of a tree,

The majesty of mountains, the vastness of the sea.

Let the fog lift for Christmas

Let a blizzard blanket the blight.

Let us wake to a new morning

After the storm that raged in-the night.

Let’s emerge from the pandemic with humility and grace,

Commence the fog of fear’s dissolving,

Face our failings with civility, and brace

Ourselves for the humble work of loving.

Let the inky night be silent.

Guide us to the star,

And make room for Love and Nature.

Let them heal the scar.

What if we greet the heat as a warning of our excesses,

Acknowledge we deplete the aquifer, instigating stresses?

What if we stop and listen, take a breath, look around?

This season, let us simplify; if we’re lucky, we’ll surround

Ourselves with sun and moon and stars above,

Family, friends, and those we love.

Let Nature nurture us this nativity.

Let’s honor her endless creativity.

Give her room to bring us together.

Appreciate her way with weather.

for the prompt: “Music Is a Gift”

The World Is Lighter for the Gift

Music gives wings to the mind.

Music celebrates the soul.

Music gives a spark to the heart.

Music gives a soul to the universe.

Music gives wings to the mind.

Music celebrates the soul.

Music gives a spark to the heart.

Music gives flight to the imagination.

Music, like a flame, purifies as the sun:

If you have it, share it with one who has none.

Share the flame, the ember, oxygen, and light,

Share the melody, the rhythm, the delight.

You won’t have less; your glow is not eclipsed.

The world is lighter, lighter for the gift.

Have you ever stared into a fire in awe?

Felt the warmth, your heart pure and raw?

Singing, soaring in harmonic lift.

The world is lighter, lighter for the gift.

            Like fire, it’s weightless as breath; in fact, it rises.

Music is in-vis-i-ble,

Dazz-ling and ele-men-tal/essential

Source of saturated bliss,

We all are lighter for the gift.

Borne of pa-ssion, bathed in light,

Music is a charm to sadness,

Music heals ev-ry rift

We all are lighter for the gift.

This is beautiful as Greg set it (go to greglappmusic.com), and as it was sung by UHS Chamber Choir:

“Beyond This”

Natural disasters: staggered, dramatically spoken and enunciated (may add or subtract any relevant natural disasters in any languages. Each singer speaks one or two. Eg. Wildfires, tsunamis, floods, drought, …)

Beyond this  (beautiful, sweeping, complex)

Health disasters: staggered, dramatically spoken and enunciated (may add or subtract any relevant natural disasters in any languages. Each singer speaks one or two. Eg. Coronavirus pandemic, opioid addiction, fentynol, obesity, anxiety,…)

Beyond this  (beautiful, sweeping, complex)

Social disasters: staggered, dramatically spoken and enunciated (may add or subtract any relevant natural disasters in any languages. Each singer speaks one or two. Eg. Poverty, police violence, human trafficking, homelessness …)

Beyond this  (beautiful, sweeping, complex)

Fugue (each voice part takes one word, then the four words intertwine in harmony):

Is peace

Is joy

Is wonder

Is love.

For the Phoenixes at UHS:

Phoenix from the Fire

            -X!- = clap

            -%%- =body percussion to indicate elevating

            -*!*!- = snapping or other to indicate shimmering

Resolve with me

Evolve with me

-X!- Invigorate

-%%- Elevate

When the world dissolves in chaos

And whirls with deep adversity,

When the fine familiar fades

In shades of pale perversity,

Radiant, resilient, we resist

The force of fear and desolation.

Dazzling with power, we persist–

Coil our courage, ‘press our patience.

Resolve with me

Evolve with me

-X!- Invigorate

-%%- Elevate

We find a strength that we can nurture,

Lay the bedrock of our future.

The fabled firebird of many tribes

Survives, regenerates, (lives) countless lives:

Brilliant Bennu, wing-ed wonder,

Milcham, Garuda, Bird of Thunder,

Makes a nest of myrrh and cinnamon,

Remade, emerges to begin again.

Resolve with me

Evolve with me

-X!- Invigorate

-%%- Elevate

With a single clap  -X!- she ignites the pyre.

Like a Phoenix, we emerge from fire,

Wings shimmer -*!*!- sing, vict’ry’s choir!

Like a Phoenix, ascending higher

With a single clap  -X!- she ignites the pyre.

Like a Phoenix, we emerge from fire,

Wings shimmer -*!*!- sing, vict’ry’s choir!

Like a Phoenix, ascending higher.

For Notre Dame:

“Let the Earth Know”

By Greg A. Lapp                                 Lyrics arranged by Deborah Lapp

Let grace, descending from on high,

bless all with hope and glory here.                     Emphasize ALL and HERE

LET the EARTH KNOW:

*Truth and Mercy met                                              *personify Truth and Mercy

when God came down from heaven.                      (I’d rather not feel heaven as “elsewhere”)

Let *Grace, descending from on high,                 *personify Grace

bless all with hope and glory here.                    

By His obedience,                                                      I added the cap on His (God, yes?)

so complete,

is justice pleased, and peace is given.                     Heaven and given are a half-rhyme, but separated (maybe they make a motif, maybe not)

Let grace, descending from on high,

bless all with hope and glory here.

Now truth and honor shall abound:

Devotion (to justice) fills the earth again,               “to justice” is my addition from the previous stanza

and heavenly influence blesses the ground

in our Redeemer’s gentle reign.

Let grace, descending from on high,

bless all with hope and glory here.