released September 7, 2013

Performed and recorded by Noah Barratt, June 2012


EVERY PATH

wake up in the morning to stretch this body
excavate a worry, provides the thrust
to stand up
and start the chain of events

sit and sip coffee in the lap of luxury
see the rise of blood and drug money
in my backyard
see my work cut out

but every path
leads back to the start

enough time and energy and memory space
to look each facet in the face
is never there
but there is always enough

want to be heard with so many voices
want to be sure with so many choices
just trust
what can I do but trust

when every path
leads back to the start

wind up the watch and
stick it back in my pocket

on this day let us pray
to shed excessive trepidation
and to be
let us embrace being

let us be able to say ok
to loss and gain and endless change
and in the end
let me say amen

as every path
leads back to the start

yes no yes no yes


ALLAYAWELUJAH

allayawelujah

don't know how much control We have
know we require much less than We crave
flowing through vessels pressurized by God's heart
what will We do with the control in our hand?

when We plan
to be for God
We can have
no other plan
a plan is a prayer
to an infinite God
let us sing an infinite prayer

allayawelujah

think and feel and act on things We don't want
cuz We think they're contrary to goodness
but the good God encompasses all
so even the darkest being is loved

when our vessel
flows through unwanted acts
We can answer with
a promise of love
a promise is a prayer
to a good God
let us sing a prayer of goodness

allayawelujah

don't know why there's so much pain
know pain is a blessing as is asking why
children die before they grow
use your voice to say thank you

We will be
given no pain
for which We are not
ready
people who die
go where they belong
born to a place
they can grow a voice
a voice is a gift
from a giving God
let us sing a thankful prayer

allayawelujah


THROWING THE BABY

when someone
disappoints
You've been given
more than expected
expectation
is so narrow
memory a
misguiding reference

mix everything and watch your pot boil over

I left my soul
here and there
now when I go by
I'm pulled as a magnet
our relation
attracts and repels
a meaning of events
too big and too small to witness

gathering speed, the cart pulls ahead of the horse

animal head
eats their tail
a conduit
for vibration
we give
and we receive
facilitating
inward and outward expansion

throwing the baby out with the bathwater


WHAT'S IN A NAME

what's in a name
what's in a name, dearest maiden
You are a gift who bubbled up
from a deepest ocean
and what am I
what am I here at the surface?
I rose up for You

on this arc
what is our destination?
heaven, and We're there now

who blows the sails
who blows the sails that keep us moving?
don't know their name but they're the face
of this peaceful abundance
what of the waves
those fucking waves that beat us under?
they face those too

in their name
we pray to be delivered
let's pray to be to be

passing a recurring place
déjà vu nodes rippling
dropping an anchor only
drags us down

what's in a name
what's in a name, dearest maiden
You are a gift who bubbled up
from a deepest ocean
and what am I
what am I here at the surface?
I rose up for You


IN A PASTURE

I stood here with You about a year ago
and the cows had chewed the grass
down low
now the cows don't come
up here no more
so I'm up to my waist and I gotta run home

I'm in a pasture

We'd just met but I put an arm around
and your dog was off lapping beer
off the ground
now I'm late for an appointment
and I'm way outside of town
and I'm up on a mountain but I can't see a way down

I'm in a pasture

some folks' minds are made up by what they heard
they say I could never love
the littlest bird
but We're up here where We
have all we need
so they can talk but We've already gone to seed

I'm in a pasture
We're in a pasture


DOWSER'S DREAM

We rode along the road along the lake
the river rose and flooded our way
I don't know where all of this water came from
or what casts the shadow beneath which my dreams play

as bead to bead and room to room does pass
so We embody rippling progress
how deep our roots and what it is they reach for
how many layers upon this forest floor

they picked us up for school in a white van
along a street of derelict houses
holes on the lawns through which shown spacious
blue sky
I'm all strapped in in fear of falling in


REFUGE

Joe went wading in the shallows
in his all-wheel drive
the teachers call at Michael
he's ripping the leaves from a tree

make the truth your refuge
there is no other refuge

green walnut balls fall in grandma's yard
grandpa's hands do not reach down
to pick them up anymore
when the green turns black, who will pick them up?

make the truth your refuge
there is no other refuge

refracted orbs swim in my vision
overlapping mosaic blue space
everybody draw their model of the state
overlapping that's the closest I will come to grace

make the truth your refuge
there is no other refuge


GOODBYE

I feel You leaving
if You want to
then I want You to
I hope You find happiness
where You're going
do You want to

open the door
to feel the air
to smell the rain
and hear the birds out there
as clouds are water
We are love
and the rain must fall
before the light will bow

You say the problem
is that I don't know
what the problem is
I know that fairness
and abuse are relative

my good intentions
fell on open wounds
I ain't no saint
but I never attacked You
as clouds are water
We are love
and what falls down
always rises above

You might come back now
I might come seek You out
I had this dream this morning
We both said
We're sorry


SOME NIGHT MUSIC

at the end of the day
the sun goes away
and all her children
follow her face
at the end of the day
will We be allowed to say
we breathed in the sky
and honored life?

at the end of the day

at the end of my life
will I be justified?
will I give a laugh
will I give a cry?

at the end of my life

I promise
I will be with You
at the end

when We're born again
will We remember when
recognize ourself
as a friend?

when We're born again

at the new sunrise
I'll search by her light
and when I find You
will We kiss?

at the new sunrise

I promise
I will find You
at the next place