Last year, on the anniversary of my son’s death, I wrote a poem for my daughter, “The One Who Thrives.” It celebrates all the ways she has learned to show up in times when it has been very, very hard. On this eve of her 15th birthday, I honor Vivian–how she continues to meet what is difficult and all the ways she shines. She is one of my heart heroes.
Here’s the video (also below) featuring music by Steve Law, art by Marisa S. White and the video itself is by Tony Jeannette. Share it with anyone who has been through a difficult time and has found a way to flourish … it’s for the ones who blossom “when blossoming doesn’t seem possible.”
I chose “The One Who Thrives” to be the poem that came out on video coincidentally with the new album, DARK PRAISE, fourteen poems of “endarkenment,” honoring what the dark offers us and how it grows us. How it invites revelation, receptivity, sensualness, playfulness, connection, a chance to see the light of others, and of course, a chance to bloom in surprising ways. Steve and I will continue to offer a new video from the album every other week till December.
It’s THRILLING to share the album with you. I am in awe of how Steve Law created music for these poems–so intuitive, so in conversation with the poems. Now the poems feel naked without the guitar when I read them! The music itself and his sensitivity as he plays make for a stellar collaboration. And the poems mean so much to me, spanning the gamut from wildly playful to heartbroken–but never without hope and always always in love with the dark.
Download DARK PRAISE anywhere you find music: itunes, spotify, deezer, youtube music, more. Add it to your playlists. Share it, please. You can also choose to buy it on Bandcamp, and help us defray the many costs of making it.