The songs are poems of mine that have been set to music, the first three by Richard Lane, the last by Drew Stoltzfus. To listen to a song, click on its title.
The Weight of Winter -Music by Richard Lane, conductor NJ Symphony
Again the slender maple
Flames red and alders yellow.
Autumn deepens to the weight of winter.
Now we have reached the season
When we warm ourselves in the lengthening
Shadows of slumbering trees
Harboring the blossoms of spring.
The Center of the Heart – Music by Richard Lane
Some things are so beautiful
To hold them is to bring
The sun to the center of the heart
These things on the tongue
Of the pages I hold
These things in the eye
Of the spinning earth.
These things once said
Are again and again
Persimmon, rose, and cinnabar.
Some things are so beautiful
To hold them is to die.
October Longing – Music by Richard Lane
Now in your October longing
Maples flame like blood
And wild geese fly like snow.
Apples upon the table reveal
Their red and ecstatic fragrance.
What meaning there is is
In our country room.
What meaning there is is
A window opening,
A rosebud in the afternoon.
A Humanist Code of Ethics – music by Drew Stoltzfus, Goshen College
Do no harm to the earth, she is your mother.
Being is more important than having.
Never promote yourself at another’s expense.
Hold life sacred; treat it with reverence.
Allow each person the dignity of his or her labor.
Open your home to the wayfarer.
Be ready to receive your deepest dreams;
sometimes they are the speech of unblighted conscience.
Always make restitution to the ones you have harmed.
Never think less of yourself than you are.
Never think that you are more than another.
