Blessing Poem

My friends Marty and Anne are getting married in a few weeks. As a harpist, I play for so many weddings, but most often they are for people I don’t know. And when I do go to weddings for friends and family, I get asked to play on my pedal harp. I’m excited that I have just asked been asked to read a poem! What a joy to show up with a simple piece of paper instead of a dolly, a 90 pound instrument, music stand, bench, power cables, amplifier and music. Don’t get me wrong, I love what I do! But it sure will be nice to be a regular, plain ‘ol guest in the crowd.

Well… I might just bring my little 20 string harp too. There aren’t too many details yet.

I’ve been wondering what poem I could share with them. I wrote this poem last year for no particular reason. Its small concise nature left me wondering where the idea had come from. I guess now it has its place.

A Blessing (Sunflower)
May you continue to give graces
And bloom again next year
The bride will want to see you
Growing tall in the golden field
May your head be high
And small creatures
Lift you up with their sweetness
Though they may crawl through life
We are all born with wings

Black Eden: Nocturnes show Aug 28

I’m so happy that our first rehearsal in many months went so well. Sheri Brown, Rosalyn DeRoos and I all met up for rehearsal joined by Baby Z, who enjoyed her first exposure to the clarinet.

The show will be at the Gypsy Cafe in (Wallingford) Seattle, which is a cute little all ages venue. It is located at:
3510 Stone Way North
Seattle, WA 98103
(206) 632-0647

Showtime starts at 6pm with Pretty Abandoned, then Black Eden at 7pm.

Black Eden: Nocturnes is a performance with the same name of a poetry book that I wrote, published by Pudding House Press. Copies of the book will be for sale at the show for $10. Here’s a photo of a performance we did in 2009 at the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center with Manifold Motion.