Music, Songs and Soul-Poetry
Please See the NEWS Page
for more details of these four samples of Poppy's music
Including the following three songs
Which you can listen to on Windows Media Player etc.
(For lyrics see below)
Lost in Loss
1.
Shadow of a cloud passing over a hill,
Memory of a dream that can move you still,
Notion of a life in the lines of a hand,
Nothing but shadow where I used to stand.
2.
Scent of warm rain falling over parched land,
Footprints of a gull haunt the empty strand,
Motion of a shark sliding under dark sea,
Nothing but loss at the heart of me...lost part of me.
CHORUS
Cross my heart...score out my eyes,
There's nothing left...but I can't die,
My time is past...but still I pass
3.
Ripples of a curse that was never lifted,
Arcane patterns where the sand has shifted,
Sense of a song that will never be written,
Nothing but loss where the frost has bitten
Crossing over me, crossing over me, crossing over me...crossing me out
Chorus
4.
Whisper of a lie behind an old curtain,
Rumour of a story that was never certain,
Snap of the bracken on the blackened ground,
Movement of a hand where the last man drowned.
5.
Sigh of a ghost in a shuttered room,
Creak of the wood of a broken loom,
Dust of a moth behind an old curtain,
Rumour of my life that was never certain
Movement of a hand where the last man drowned...was never found
Crossing over me, crossing over me, crossing over me...crossing me out
CHORUS
I'm lost in loss, I'm lost in loss
***
Madman
1.
Open your window, open your eyes,
Tell what you see in the mirror, you'd like a new life...
New life.
Tell it to the trees and get out of your car and walk it,
Tell it to the falling leaves and
Tell the stones that you've finally caught it
You were right all along and
You've rememvbered the words to your song now
So step into the sun, darlin'
Step into the sun...
Chorus
Your holy, you'd better believe it,
Holy, holy, holy...
2.
Forget all the hurt that they caused you,
Forget all the hurt you've caused,
Touch the dew on the grass and
Reach up to your highest source and
Go spinning round like a madman
You know it's finally begun, so
Step into the sun
And go
Spinning round...
***
Fenny Castle, Somerset
Fenny
You're like a rock in a stormy sea
You take me back to the other part of me
You're right on, you're right on,
You ride on
You're wild and free when all the rest are tame,
I know your ways 'cos were the
Same...
You're right on, you're right on,
You ride on
You're alive in a world that's left for dead
You blow a kiss and then kick me in the head again.
Tangle trip and shelter the same,
You pick me up in a world that's left me lame
You're right on, you're right on,
You ride on
You're like the sun in a stormy sky,
No one knows you and
If they say they do they lie
Your no one's friend and you keep your mystery,
Your secrets safe right at the heart of me
You're far gone, you're right on,
You ride on
You're like a rock in a stormy sea,
You bring me back to the other part of...me.
***
More music coming soon!
***
SOUL-POETRY
These poems are from a collection that is called
This Silvered Mirror
and are dedicated to and inspired by the unique slumbering lands of
The Somerset Levels around Avalon: the place of no place
that was reclaimed from the sea.
The playful, lilting lyricism of the poetry
aims to conjure up a little of this often flooded place of skewed reflections
while also giving the sense of brooding melancholy that
can suddenly descend with the mist.
Each word was written with love to a wonderful between-and-betwixt place of Faery.
THE ISLE OF SIGHS
Drowsy and tousled the myths come a-creeping,
Like damp into old bones their secrets are seeping,
Wistful is their melody and longing their song,
And their cold hands are reaching from where you belong...
White-eyed and tongue-tied their legends are stirring,
Evergreen and withy-lithe their lost souls are yearning,
Drifting is their memory and stolen their song,
In the heart of the land, to the back of Beyond...
A-wash in rumours, knee deep in reflections,
Murmuring hair frames their waxy complexions,
Lilting is their melody and soaring their song,
And the rushes guard ghosts with their reed spears so strong...
Fisher King gives out a sigh, grey heron adores it,
Brown buzzard hunts it and black crow ignores it,
Melting into memory but stored in bird-song,
And their dreams like bright webs between hawthorn are strung...
Clover-breathed and honey-tongued the sylvan are ashen,
Brittle-boned and hollow-thighed and all but forgotten,
Wavering is their melody but endless their song,
And they keen like the wind from the edge of Beyond...
And they're keen like the wind from the edge of Beyond.
*
FIND YOUR STARS
Whispering voices come to me,
Silvered like leaves on the willow tree,
Wafting down lanes in my memory,
We are calling down the stars.
Blossom in the pool by the twisted tree,
Lowering sky meets the heart of me,
Feather on the life-path soon flies free,
We are calling down the stars.
Crow black, turn back, hollow root,
Sapling shivers to the reedy flute,
See a heron dancing, follow suit,
We are blinded by the stars.
Lost road, double back, winding track,
Beak of the heron spears a glistening back,
Tie up your doubts in a hessian sack,
And drown them in the stars.
Swan feather falls but swan flies on,
Buttercup catches the setting sun,
Shadow follows silver now the dream's begun,
And the night's alive with stars.
Night's revealed in it's spirit-mantle,
Seed-head pops with a death-dry rattle,
Heron weeps alone like a tallow candle,
And goes swimming with the stars.
Wings beats time to the ghost-owl's drum,
Foxes bark as their night blood hums,
Wild is the darkness that we become,
Older yet and wiser far.
Oh, this is your home where the heron stands,
Casting an eye over flat floodlands,
Drink it down, hold it in your hands,
We are wilder than the stars.
Long-lost, sugar spun, woe-begone,
We are the time that was once upon,
WE ARE ALL THAT HAS EVER SHONE,
And we find ourselves...like stars.
*
SEDGE MOOR SONG
Take a thousand lashes from the silver-tongued grasses,
Make a million wishes on their bitter-sweet caresses,
Rhyne-tine tangles you in mistle-thistle kisses.
Wallow in a mallow-mire, marsh-meadow riddle,
Rock you in a cradle made of bent cracked willow,
White mouths open as the milky fishes swallow.
Tremble like a fern blessed in glade-shade dapples,
Cream-thighed and flowering in a marriage bed of nettles,
Dog-daisy dance in a shower of spinning petals.
Clover-pink and langorous this land lies a-slumber,
Met by sleepy skies swirled with crazy bees a-bumble,
Cow-fat and pendulous as buzzards twirl and tumble.
Blossom foams and froths over swaying lilac ocean,
Heron cloaked in sighs takes the skies in fluid motion,
With an ancient cry secrets fly forever broken.
We are lapped and we are stroked, wild and butter-lipped,
Reedy thrust and icy gust, by hedge-fire we are gripped,
Adder-whipped and briar-scarred, a thousand bones lie stripped.
Widow's weeds a-warbling in mysteries of mist,
Mad iris eyes are smiling at the joke the rushes hissed,
Dip and dart then come apart as if we don't exist...
*
THE BELONGING
I stood on a hallowed hill,
With a hollow heart that echoes still,
With the murmurs of our magic
And the stirrings of the air...
Somewhere.
I swayed to the land's lament,
Saw it's lambent glow, breathed it's heady scent,
With the swirling of my senses
And the drifting of the leaves...
I grieve.
I stood on the higher ground,
Heard the long lost cry of a time that's drowned,
And I'm bidden by the hidden
At the rising of the tide...
I hide.
I dream of the glistening strand,
With a heart that melts into silvered land,
And enchanted by their promise
That I never have to leave...
I weave.
I rise on a buzzard's wings,
With a mournful cry and a soul that sings,
Of the sparkles of the sunlight
And the scent of bitter loam...
My home.
*
My Silver Lover
(For the Fey of Avalon)
And his hair fell down
And he waved his long arms,
Smoothing langorous hexes
And shaping pretty charms,
And he fell down there, into my waiting arms...
That lovely lissom lad I long to know.
Yes, his hair fell down,
And lambent limbed he swayed,
And his hair of gossamer,
Tangled all my days,
And the stars fell down in a shimm'ring haze,
Around that lissom lad I long to know.
Oh, the stars fell down,
And one by one they crowned him,
And my love rose up,
In a rosy wave that drowned him,
And he stretched those arms and broke my ties that bound him...
And that winsome willowy boy away did go.
For the balefire of his kiss,
I'll search through years of snow,
Ah! The balefire of his kiss!
His pale torso...
And with my hazel wand divine the way he goes...
The lovely lissom lad that I love so.
All my dreams cry out,
Like a withy-withe he bent me,
And in a hand-stitched bag,
I'll keep the spark he sent me,
Oh, I wonder where my love did go?
My stripling sapling boy, his
face aglow!
That shining faery boy that I let go.
*
October
The ashes of September,
Drift like dying embers,
Into the weary arms
Of the end of the world,
Where the sleeping foxes curl.
Bitter is the black soil,
Rasping is the rook’s call,
And still is the lake that holds
Pale reflections of gold,
From trees that shed their souls.
The mist it hugs the willow,
In a gentle shroud that billows
Up through dark twisted limbs
To the wings of the crows,
To the place where sadness goes.
Sloe-eyed strangers hide in hollows,
And the creeping mist it follows,
Kissing cold glistening lips
Of the rosehip and haw,
Now the lovers come no more.
The meadowsweet’s turned sour,
No more swallows in the bower,
And hoary are nettles that choke
The way into beyond,
Now the butterflies are gone.
The memory of September,
Swirls as leaves surrender,
Into the ghostly arms
Of each thing that has passed,
And October comes at last.
Poppy has more poems from this collection and others and would be happy to share them with anyone who is interested or would like to use them in magazines or websites. Just ask!
Here are two more poems to finish, the first dedicated to the solitary dweller, the wise cousellor within...a true soul-poem from Poppy!
Wisdom's Song
Words form psalms and words break charms
And a rope will make me dance,
Your words are balm for all my harm,
Your words strip life of all romance,
Then strip my bark of living wood,
Like marching men your words advance.
You rail and rant, I sing and chant,
And your rods are all hell bent,
When your words flail you use a flail,
The symbol of your government,
Is forced of steel, the power you wield,
Speaks volumes, but I won't repent!
Words form bonds, words dance beyond
The limits of your vision,
I'll melt like mist into your fist
And weave my spell from your derision,
My words are sheaves to store inside,
One grain of wisdom for every lesion...
Your words decree, my words fly free!
Even as your blood runs cold,
Your words are weeds to choke my seeds,
Wildflowering wisdom bought and sold,
Your scythes are blunt, I'll bear the brunt,
And value what you'll never hold.
I won't recind! My words are wind,
And my wings beat only air,
My essence seeps deep into soil,
To nourish roots that flourish there,
And I'll filter through your stones until
My poetry is EVERYWHERE!
No, I won't recant! My words enchant,
While yours are poor caged birds,
My words fly in the face of fear,
And shake the fetters of the herd,
In lilting verse, my words disperse,
And join the hunted in their lair.
Words restrain and describe pain
As my shards of bones turn black,
I will converse and you will curse,
And weigh my worth in your drowning sack,
My words like willow bend and bow,
While yours, like deadwood, split and snap.
Yes, words decree and condemn me,
You bludgeon and cajole,
I'll only smile, my words beguile,
And speak of that which remains whole,
Cut out my tongue but not my song.
Retain my body...not my soul.
*
The last poem speaks eloquently of yearning and loss, both of the earth mystic for the wild land, and of her connection with transient human love.
The Passing
Shadow of a cloud passing over a hill,
Memory of a fish moving under the sea,
Reflections of a life in the palm of a hand,
Message of a snake coiling over hot sand.
Essence of a flower drifting over wild grass,
Footprints of a gull picking over dark strand,
Echoes of the sky in the dream of the sea,
Shadow of your loss crossing over me.
*
SONG LYRICS
Although it is hard to imagine what they sounded like there's poetry here too!
TWO SWANS
1.
I dreamed and then I didn’t dream,
I saw and then I didn’t see,
I sang and then the words they just wouldn’t come,
I sang, because I knew just where you were from,
And I’m not going back there, oh no,
You’re not going back there, no, no,
We’re not going back there…
If you sing to me.
Chorus
I won’t ask you anything,
No, I won’t ask you anything,
I won’t ask you anything,
No, no, no, no, no,
No, no, no, no, no,
No, no, no, no, no….no, no, no, no, no, no…
2.
I slept, and then I slept no more,
I felt my ocean meet a different shore,
I’ve yearned until my heart was sore,
I’ve searched for you until my soul was raw,
And I’m not going back there, oh no,
You’re not going back there, no, no,
We’re not going back there…
If you sing to me.
Chorus
3.
Two swans, their wing beats keeping time,
Two swans, one’s yours and one is mine,
So pure, like everything that’s true,
So pure, just like I’m not when I’m not with you,
And I ain’t going to stop it, no, no,
Not be the one to drop it, no, no,
No I just can’t deny it,
Don’t knock it 'til you’ve tried it…
Chorus.
Words Poppy Palin/Music Gypsy Moon
DRAGONFLY
1.
Is the sun in your eyes now?
Catching the light, catching the light.
Is the sun in your eyes, now?
Walking the line, walking the line.
Your season's short but you're flying out of time,
And I'm walking the line, walking the line.
Are you still landed where I left
you?
Shining wings of memory
fly
Into the night. Into the light...
Chorus
Go circling over me, circling over me.
2.
Is the sun in your eyes now, dragonfly?
Catching the light, catching the light?
Is the sun in your eyes now, dragonfly?
Walking the line, walking the line.
And you're leaving my life...
Leaving my life.
Going into the light. Into the night, into the light...
Chorus
Dragonfly, dragonfly. leaving my life,
Dragonfly.
Words and Music Poppy Palin/Gary Howe
*
SEIZE THE MOMENT
1.
Have you ever wondered, will they take it all away?
Have you ever wondered, is this your final day, with him?
Have you ever wondered, would you even want to survive,
If some hand of fate came reaching down, to take the thing that gives you
life?
Chorus part 1
So seize the moment, like you have a choice,
Seize the moment, come on give it voice,
Seize the moment!
Chorus part 2
Love passes through like a cloud moving over the sun,
Sends a chill like the breeze but like the breeze it can’t be seen,
Only feel the change it brings…oh…
2.
He walks in sunlight, where there are no shades of grey,
He walks under the fullest moon, along the wildest way,
And he is no king, but to me he wears the crown,
His head is always wreathed in stars,
He draws their glory down.
Chorus parts 1 and 2
3.
He is my silver, when I have no need of gold,
One touch is treasure beyond words,
But I cannot hold…onto him
It’s like the gift of song, in a tiny bird,
If I hold it tightly in my hands, its song will not be…not be heard.
Chorus parts 1 and 2
4.
It’s like a wildflower, that I would leave unpicked,
I hold its beauty in my hands but I don’t own it,
You’re like a wildflower, that I would leave unpicked,
I hold your loving in my heart, but I don’t own…don’t own
it.
So seize the moment,
Seize the moment,
Seize the moment,
Seize the moment!
Words and Music Poppy Palin
AGAIN
1.
And when you call me I’m the wild rose and the waving barley,
And when you call, I’m like the corn swirled into circles,
And when you see me I’m the heron startled into motion,
And when you know me I’m the feather caught in a sigh, I’m waiting
to fly….
Again.
2.
And when you call me I’m the greenest leaf that ever drank the light,
And when you call me I’m the tallest tree that touched the sky,
And I’m the river that has burst its banks and fled,
And I’m the lark ascending, way out of sight, I’m singing in flight…
Again.
3.
And when you call me, I tremble like there’s moths on my skin,
And when you call me, I’m burning with wildfire from within,
Cos what I see is you’re the sun, and I’m blind,
There’s no peace of mind, so how will I find…..you….?
Again.
4.
It’s in my fingers, burning,
Gone past the point of no returning,
We only touch in my dreams because I know it well by now,
That to touch breaks the spell,
So I say go well,
Chorus
Go well, go well, go well without me,
Go well go well I wish you well without me now,
Go well, go well, my wishing well has run dry, three wishes denied…
Again.
Words Poppy Palin/
Gypsy Moon
TWISTED TREE
1.
Can you see the sparkles?
Can you see them dancing?
Can you feel the land breathe?
Can you hear the wild sing?
Chorus
Up on the hill with the twisted tree,
Out on the moors with the twisted tree,
Down by the stream with the twisted tree,
Growing from the stones like a twisted tree
2.
Can you see the earth light?
Can you hear the bird’s wings?
Can you smell the dark soil?
Feel the joy the wild brings?
Chorus
Middle 8
So pure, so pure…
3.
So real to me,
So real to me,
So real to me,
So real to me…
Chorus
Glowing from the stones and inside of me.
Music Gary Howe /Words Poppy Palin
MADMAN
(This song can be found with Poppy's samples)
1.
Open your window, open your eyes,
Tell what you see in the mirror, you’d like a new life. New life!
Tell it to the birds and get out of your car and walk it,
Tell it to the falling leaves and
Tell the stones that you’ve finally caught it,
He was right all along and
You’ve remembered the words to your song now,
So step into the sun, darlin’. Step into the sun…
Chorus
You’d better believe it,
You’d better believe it,
You’d better believe it!
2.
Forget all the hurt they caused you, forget all the hurt you’ve caused,
Touch the dew on the grass and
Reach up to your highest source and
Go spinning round like a madman, you know it’s finally begun,
So step into the sun…
And go
Spinnin’ round, spinnin’ round, spinnin’ round round, round,
round,
Around, around, around, around and round,
Go spinnin’ round, spinnin’ round, spinnin’, spinnin’
spinnin’
Around, around, around, around and round,
Step into the sun, darling, step into the sun…
Chorus
Middle 8 keyboards etc
Holy, you’re hold, you’re holy, you’re holy, you’re
holy, you’re holy!
So hold me, hold me, holy, holy, holy (repeat)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, darlin’. Yeah, yeah, yeah!
3.
Go spinnin' round like a madman, go spinnin’ round like a madman, go
spinnin’ round like a madman,
Just go
Spinnin’ round, spinnin’ round, spinnin’ round round, round,
round,
Around, around, around, around and round,
Go spinnin’ round, spinnin’ round, spinnin’, spinnin’
spinnin’,
Around, around, around, around and round,
Step into the sun, darling, step into the sun…
Holy, you’re holy, etc….Yeah, yeah, yeah…Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Words Poppy Palin/ Music Gary Howe Gypsy Moon
PILLOWCASE
Whatever happened to our generation?
Radio One show, a cold pillow…
I’m on my own again.
Is the excuse childhood abuse? I hate to tell you but you’re not Cobain
my dear…
And you will die an unknown.
Chorus
But if you dare to show your face, the one creased by the pillowcase,
And not the one cracked by that pain,
The pain that I now endure to fill the best days of my life.
You’re letting their gear do the talking; the silence shows you’re
no social engineer,
And I can’t save you from this life.
I know you’re so alone in there, in Manchester with all your friends,
You’re gladly losing your mind.
Chorus
Middle 8
What will you do when the money’s gone?
What will you do when the money’s gone?
What will you do when the money’s gone?
And I said watt will you do when the money’s gone?
What will you do when the money’s gone?
What will you do when the money’s… gone?
Repeat 1
Chorus
Middle 8
Gone…
Gone…
Words Poppy Palin 1995/ Music Gypsy Moon
ASHES
1.
Just lookin at you, couldn’t be better,
It’s not carved in stone, to the letter,
It makes me so high to be free,
It makes me so high to be me
Patterns in the field, we sit together,
Lark goes flyin by; its song goes on forever,
It makes me so high to be free,
It makes me so high just you and me
CHORUS
Throw my soul to the open sky,
My love for you is a permanent light,
Two hearts beating, into the starlit night,
No more shadows,
You’re my love and light
2.
Just lookin at you, couldn’t be better,
It’s not carved in stone, to the letter,
It makes me so high to be free,
It makes me so high to be me,
Out there in the fields we sit together,
Staring at the sun goes on forever,
It makes me so high to be free,
It makes me so high just you and me
CHORUS
(High, high, ooooh, oooh, high etc)
CHORUS
3.
Just lookin at you, couldn’t be better,
It’s not carved in stone, to the letter,
It makes me so high to be free,
It makes me so high to be me
Patterns in the field, we sit together,
Lark goes flyin by; its song goes on forever and ever,
It makes me so high to be free,
It makes me so high just you and me
Words and music Gary Howe/Poppy Palin
HOW ABOUT YOU?
1.
Seems to me that you know just what you’re doing,
Seems to me that you got the deal sewn up now (now, now, now, now, now, now,
now!)
Seems to you that I just need telling, setting back on the straight and narrow,
But I believe in still believing,
It takes me all my time to keep on,
But I don’t mind, how about you?
2.
Seems to me your in your box now,
Seems to you I’m wasting time again,
But I the time between the talking,
And in the space between the lines you’re walking,
In the darkness and the silence,
I guess its both of us that asking,
But I don’t know, how about you?
3.
Is your money where your mouth is?
Can you shoot from the heart and not from the hip?
Are you fighting shy or not at all now (now, now, now, now, now, now, now!)
Is your ladder propped against an endless wall?
I don’t mind, no, how about you?
4.
And do you mind if I dance alone now?
Do you mind if I dance alone now?
Do you mind if I dance alone now (now, now, now, now, now, now, now!)
Cos I believe in still believing, I believe in still believing,
It takes me all my time to keep on…
Keep on….Keep on….Keep
on, on, on, on, oh,
Cos I don’t mind, no,
And I don’t know, no,
Cos I don’t care,
How about you…how about you?
Words Poppy Palin/Gypsy Moon
***
THANKS FOR LOOKING and, as ever, GO WELL!