These are the ten poems by Dr. Harlan Payne that I set in "Horizon: for Harlan."
I. Starlight
Watching the campfire’s dying light
Under this starlit summer night
While shadows of pines softly dance and lurk
Beneath the ageless mountain’s mirth
I wonder... why the air is so still?
The quiet is so loud it gives a thrill
To your spirit as you realize
You are made of the stardust that
Sweeps from these skies.
II. A New Day
The sun will rise and pierce the skies
It doesn’t care about my sleepy eyes
The rhythm of the day unfolds
In spite of cares your soul may hold
So let the rays of warmth shine in
The day and you can walk as friends
III. Winter Evening Moonlight
Lost in my sorrow
Emptied of my hope
I looked through a window
Upon a late winter’s evening landscape.
The barren tree lifted its arms to a sky
That had lost its grip on the day
And behind the branches
Shone a moon short of full by one day.
The tree said, “Lie down and sleep.
And I will break the moonbeams with my fingers
Into soft little notes that will fall
Into your mind and play
You a sweet lullaby.”
IV. Una Casa Nueva
Life can begin anew
With every drop of morning dew.
With every drop on desert plant
Your mysterious, loving God may grant
A new path to unknown opportunity
That can transform your life into serenity
We only have to believe and say
With every drop on each new day.
V. Spring
She leisurely awakens..., stretches..., sighs a
Little and wipes the sleep from her eyes.
Then tilts her head back a bit and luxuriates
In the warmer, sunny skies.
The wrinkles are smoothed from that old brown dress,
But suddenly she takes it off,
Deciding on one of green lace.
Her eyes have a clearer, blue hue now,
And happy anticipation shines from her radiant face.
As she passes fingers through her rumpled hair
To enliven it with shades of verdant greens and frosted yellows.
And though her moods can change very quickly now,
She strolls through April as she mellows.
My lovely, mysterious Earth... out on her spring fling.
VI. Risk
It is said that life has highs and lows
At least that’s how the story goes.
But too many people it seems to me
Exist in a state of mediocrity.
They seem to fear the highs in life
Maintaining it just means too much strife
The risks involved are not worth trying
So instead they live life... dying.
But I’m convinced it’s worth the risks
To savor the fruit, that grows on life’s cliffs
And so I’d rather not just survive
Because... no one... gets out of this...
Alive.
VII. A Winter Farewell
On a harsh winter day, it is crushing to say,
Such a sudden and wrenching farewell
To one so young with so many songs
We just knew were soon to be sung.
Along with the grey snowy skies
We shiver and realize our eyes
Are wet and burning with grief,
As we stare at this end
And can’t comprehend
That your journey with us has transpired
But, as we crawl our way through this pain
We can’t help but try to explain
To ourselves that your spirit is free.
Released from our midst
It will go on to exist,
In a realm we can only partially sense.
And once we are drained of this emotional pain,
We realize we were astoundingly blessed
To have walked a few miles
On point with the master of hope.
In our journey to come we’ll remember the fun
That you taught us to have in our lives,
And we will try to become and try to pass on
The joy you embodied for us.
VIII. Change
I heard you groan with a sourful moan:
“Now nothing will ever be the same!!”
I felt the anguish in your voice
As its claws sliced your soul with pain.
Never the same? ... of course not; life is change.
So fill your mind with incandescent thoughts
To burn in your new life with a beckoning flame.
IX. Horizon
Crossing through your event horizon
You are irresistibly drawn to me
Spiraling around the majic Playa
Of this inland desert sea
You will taste the flames and colors
And swim in the dusty winds
You must lose yourself in celebration
Embrace music as an intimate friend.
When my arms lift high, then you may see
Your reflection in my flaming looking glass
Like Alice you may fly right through it
To be changed and burned up at last
Transformed by the events stored within you
That will shape your new, evolving self
Then I will scatter you like stars out into
A new reality of Life.
X. Listen
When I am gone
It’s sweet to know the lives of those
I loved will carry on
So it is my fervent prayer
That in the stillness
...
Between the notes
And the ticks of time
As I am listening to your voice You’ll be hearing mine
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