Breaths

Tonight, rather than wait around for the few trick-or-treaters who bother with this neighborhood, I went out to attend the Rise Up Singing circle at the Fireroast Mountain Cafe. It was fun; we honored the spirit of Samhein by dedicating songs to departed loved ones. I brought along copies of a Sweet Honey in the Rock song for us to sing a capella:

Breaths

chorus:
Listen more often to things and to beings.
Listen more often to things and to beings.
Tis the ancestors' word when the fire's voice is heard;
Tis the ancestors' word in the voice of the water...

Those who have died have never, never left.
The dead are not under the earth...
They are in the rustling trees, they are in the groaning woods,
They are in the crying grass, they are in the moaning rocks.
The dead are not under the earth...

chorus

Those who have died have never, never left.
The dead have a pact with the living...
They are in the moment's breath; they are in the wailing child,
They are with us in the home, they are with us in the crowd.
The dead have a pact with the living...

(repeat and vary chorus as a round)