Beautiful Scandalous Night

Under an African Sun

Under an African sun, I want to live

In a small hut at the convergence of streams

Deep in a rustling banana tree glade

A simple structure of bricks and beams

It needs a big porch where we can sit in the shade

Me and my visitors lounging in style

In basic wicker chairs carved from vines

Found deep in those forests near the Nile

Under an African sun I want to kiss you

Find I can't live without you

Have you kneel and ask me

Tell me I never have to.

I want that sun to set on hands still clasped

Our hearts still 'twined when death finds us

Two souls as wild as the savanna

As free and tender as the wilderness.

Under an African son I want to raise mine

See him playing football with his Dad

Content and happy with the whole world

Never missing what he never knew he never had

And his sister, how I'll fuss over her hair

How we'll dance in the kitchen, laugh together

Have fun, play hard and love harder

Live life and learn much from each other.

Under an African sun I want laid to rest

A girl, foreign born, with a native heart

I want my legacy to be within these borders

A work of God in which I played but a tiny part.

That Precipice Called "Goodbye"

at the edge of the precipice called "goodbye"

how do you find the courage to take that last step?

to plunge head-long into the tension laden air

plummeting through time and space

a decision that cannot be un-done.

is it truly courage?

or is it mingled with stupidity?

the loss of what could still be, what has been

clouds the mind and emotions

coupled with the dizziness of the heights

and the thrill of the danger of the fall.

for what adrenaline could be more

than flirting with the edge, dancing its rim

playing the fool for one more chance.

who can blame you for trying?

what if it had been possible,

and you had never looked back?

never threatened to take that step into mid-air.

just dare to tread there

with nothing supporting your foot

and the sinking feeling of body and soul

as you make that first startling conclusion:

your fall will not be stopped easily.

you will not escape unscathed.

should you have ever jumped?

wow

Quote

From "The Shepherd of the Hills":

"Here and there among men, there are those who pause in the hurried rush to listen to the call of a life that is more real. How often have we seen them, jostled and ridiculed by their fellows, pushed aside and forgotten, as incompetent or unworthy. He who sees and hears too much is cursed for a dreamer, a fanatic, or a fool, by the mad mob, who having eyes, see not, ears and hear not, and refuse to understand.
We build temples and churches, but will not worship in them; we hire spiritual advisers, but refuse to heed them; we buy bibles, but will not read them; believing in God, we do not fear Him; acknowledging Christ, we neither follow nor obey Him. Only when we can no longer strive in the battle for earthly honors or material wealth, do we turn to the unseen but more enduring things of life; and, with ears deafened by the din of selfish war and cruel violence, and eyes blinded by the glare of passing pomp and folly, we strive to hear and see the things we have so long refused to consider.
Pete knew a world unseen by us, and we, therefore, fancied ourselves wiser than he. The wind in the pines, the rustle of the leaves, the murmur of the brook, the growl of the thunder, and the voices of the night were all understood and answered by him. The flowers, the trees, the rocks, the hills, the clouds were to him, not lifeless things, but living friends, who laughed and wept with him as he was gay or sorrowful.
'Poor Pete,' we said. Was he in truth poorer or richer than we?"