Diana ~ words and music by G. D. Lafontant - 1991

Relentlessly gentle
like the eye of a storm
She raises me up
I feel her
surge tide comin' on.

Diana pulls me closer
as if I were the sea
but her drawn
longbow and arrow
are aimed squarely at me!

Well, hey now!

I have never
preyed upon a woman.
Nor will I ever
be a woman's prey.
I will vow right now
that I will
never hunt you down
Nor will I ever
turn and run away.

I've known many women
who've shown me
nothing but love
and I'd never put 'em down
just to
put myself above them.

And I've known many boys
who just don't understand
but it's because
they're scared and ignorant
and this does not
make them men.

So Diana said
she was just a kid
walking home from school
when she ran into
a boy she liked
who started
acting like a fool.

He didn't get that
no means no
and he broke the Golden rule -
He left her bleeding
in the bushes -
what kind of beast
could be so cruel?

And so I pull her closer
as if I were the sea
and tell her that her longbow
is not be needed here with me.

I promise I will never
break the sacred chain
instead I'll do whatever
I can do to ease the pain.

So won't you walk with me,
here next to me?
Wont' you turn and
look me in the eye?
Won't you lay with me
in this field of green
and share dreams as we
stare into the sky?

Oh, I will strive to
listen to my daughter
even when she turns
a deaf ear to me.
And I hope she learns
from all things
I've taught her
But all I really want
is that she can live free.

Just One Thing ~ words and music by G.D. Lafontant ~ C 2009

I've heard it said again and again ...

"We never can turn back.
Time just keeps drivin' on and on.
And, in the end, it's best if we just let go ..."

But hang on, hold the phone!

If we can run but there's no place to hide,
why is it all we seem to do?
We play a constant, cosmic game of hide-and-seek;
a kind of spiritual peek-a-boo.

Oho! Hey, where'd ya go?
Aha! Hey, there now, I see you.

And I have often caught you wondering,
the things I often wonder too;
exactly what the Sacred Secret is -
the key to knowing what is true.

But if I find out how my story ends
(or if it even ends at all),
I'll lose the fun of peeking
'round the bends of my light's current
in this swirling crystal ball.

And everything is very, very big!
And nothing is really very small.

So I would love to sit and visit you;
revealing stories of the past -
of how our histories shape
our points of view
and how these vistas overlap -

(and how) everywhere is varied and vast
and nowhere isn't on the map.

It's true, we never can turn back.
Time's signpost arrow points one way.
And, in the end,
though we can't know for sure,
we can surely feel it -
in our minds, blood, breath and bones -

(that) everything is all one thing
and that one thing is ... alone.

Can I Shake ... by G.D. Lafontant ~ copyright 2010

... can I shake your tree?
Pick the low fruit first?
Stand in the mush of the
over-ripe you already
let go ... ?

Can I shake you at
your foundation
where you stand in a hole
feeling grounded?

Can I shake your faith?
Or will you dig in?
Will you cling tighter?

Can I shake your etch-a-sketch?
Make you start over?
Will you draw on what
you drew before or stare
at the blank slate
terrified and relieved?
Will you start over?

Can I shake
your hand
like we just met?
Will you shake your
head at every
other thing I say?

Can I shake your cup of dice?
Can I pour your fate out
on the table and watch
your bones roll around
on the felt?

Can I shake you free?

And can you do the same for me?

Glass Architecture - from Songbook for the Church of the Undammed copyright 1983 by G.D. Lafontant

Glass.
Material of utopia.
You reflect,
you let pass,
you fill
with sun
light and warmth.

Clear, smooth,
solid water, unrippled;
unlike ice
not cold but
radiant.

Fragile
and sharp
when broken
you cut
and when you cut
blood
and
tears
like
glass.

Faith - from Songbook for the Church of the Undammed - copyright 1988 by G.D. Lafontant

From the Poet's fruitful pen
flows the song of love
and love again;
the seed that spills from heart
to head
inspiring poetic vision
made of word.
And every poet
whom is
by another
read
is one less poet
left on Earth
unheard.

I say that
all of us are poets
as sure as we have
plunged
souls first
into the wonder
of the world.

So, when loneliness -
bitter -
sits down
upon your breast
upon your brow
and nymph and satyr
jest and flirt
(serving only to make
the heart hurt worse)
turn you mind's ear inward
and hear
your heart's
pure and simple verse.

Now, turn this poem
to warm beneath the sun
and, certain, you shall find
another one -
whom you may or may not
recognize.
And you shall stare
into each other's eyes -
soft, sharp, deep and bright -
and find,
in their reflection,
love's clean and honest light
and glorious resurrection.

You Could Find - from Songbook for the Church of the Undammed - copyright 2008 words and music by G.D. Lafontant

Is it your fear of death or your will to live
lets you take that next breath when you wanna give in?
Is it your right to life or livin' right
gets you through the day so you can sleep at night?
Do you do it for you or for humanity?
Would you sacrifice your freedom in your fight to be free?

Would you give up your faith in a heaven above,
if right here on Earth you could find true love?

You looked for paradise but found the paradox
of a parallel world inside a paranoid box.
Well, apparently, you weren't prepared for this -
where is your precious parachute here at the precipice?
Will you bray out loud in desperate prayer
or will you quietly look for a winding stair?

Would you give up your faith in a heaven above,
if right here on Earth you could find true love?

Despite your age, in the spirit of youth,
will you spit in the faces of the spinners of truth?
Will you spiral down with the spillers of blood
or make a stand on the pillars of love?
Will you share your life and spend your time
spreading your word and expanding your mind?

Would you give up your faith in a heaven above,
if right here on Earth you could find true love?

(for Mom)

Between You and Me - from Songbook for the Church of the Undammed -copyright 1997 by G.D. Lafontnat

We draw our lines upon the sand
and stake off fences in the land.
We let our paranoia get the upper hand.
When will we ever understand?...

That there's a thin skin between inside and out,
a fine line dividing clarity from doubt,
a narrow ledge from the center to the edge,
and a breath's breadth from a whisper to a shout.

There are no boundaries - no borders ...
only ocean and wave ...
No chaos or order ...
Only love remains.

We lock the door and barricade the gate.
We let our minds back up with anger, fear and hate.
Too often we allow our wars to seal our fate.
C'mon! Wake up! It's getting late!

Cause it's a quick trip from a rise to a fall
and between you and me lies a hand-made paper wall.
An endless thread ties the living to the dead
and one truth encompasses it all ...

There are no boundaries - no borders ...
only ocean and wave ...
No chaos or order ...
Only love remains.