Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Deadline (David LaMotte)

A friend recently pointed out that I live a "deadline-driven life" - unfortunately, I'll have to own that reality, although I'm more conscious of it now and making pro-active strides to do things differently over the next few months. Right now I feel as if I only have two speeds: fast-forward and coma - wish me luck...

P.S. David LaMotte is based on the Asheville, North Carolina area and I've had the pleasure of hosting him (twice) in a house concert - he is an amazing singer/songwriter with a gentle spirit, a wise soul and gloriously long hair. One of my favorite memories is soaking in our backyard jacuzzi under a starry sky after a show, engaged in meaningful conversation, while savoring slices of M's decadent homemade chocolate cake - to quote Joan Baez, "speaking strictly for me, we both could have died then and there"... :-)

SONG: Deadline by David LaMotte

BOOK: Awaken Your Strongest Self by Neil A. Fiore

POEM: Getting There by David Wagoner

You take a final step and, look, suddenly

You're there. You've arrived
At the one place all your drudgery was aimed for:
This common ground
Where you stretch out, pressing your cheek to sandstone.
What did you want

To be? You'll remember soon. You feel like tinder
Under a burning glass,

A luminous point of change. The sky is pulsing
Against the cracked horizon,
Holding it firm till the arrival of stars
In time with your heartbeats.
Like wind etching rock, you've made a lasting impression
On the self you were
By having come all this way through all this welter
Under your own power,
Though your traces on a map would make an unpromising
Meandering lifeline.

What have you learned so far? You'll find out later,

Telling it haltingly
Like a dream, that lost traveler's dream
Under the last hill
Where through the night you'll take your time out of mind
To unburden yourself
Of elements along elementary paths
By the break of morning.

You've earned this worn-down, hard, incredible sight

Called Here and Now.
Now, what you make of it means everything,
Means starting over:
The life in your hands is neither here nor there
But getting there,
So you're standing again and breathing, beginning another
Journey without regret
Forever, being your own unpeaceable kingdom,
The end of endings.

QUOTE: "I love deadlines. I especially like the whooshing sound they make as they go flying by." ~ Douglas Adams

2 comments:

  1. Oh, my goddess..I remember both of those concerts so well...swoon...my fondest memory is of "mixing hair" w/David, would've given nearly anything to watch him eat my chocolate cake! ;-)

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  2. Hey, ~

    I still have the picture of your hair swirled together with his - David is both a talent and a sweetheart, and your divinely decadent dessert was but the icing (pun intended... :-)

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