rel="nofollow" href="#u5c321865-3ed1-5983-9f52-79e96b51715a">Songs I Sing
The Foreword
Dr. Colwick Wilson
More Song book than Hymnal, ‘Songs I sing’ is a lyrical exploration of the value of words in the healing of the heart. With willing adherence to the tenet of “keeping a song in the heart”, B. Germain Reynolds intertwines the mundane interactions among friends, lovers and family with the rich cadence of elation, laughter, sorrow, pain, forgiveness and restoration in this compilation of songs she sings and commits to her Word files. Her woven tapestry of experiences resonates with familiarity yet provides a neutral space to reflect, sigh, and smile. Her ability to engross readers, in these songs of varying tones and subjects with thoughtful language and interesting imagery, is to be commended.
This book is a work of notable value, a preface of things to come. Readers will find this journey captivating and fulfilling. It is a thought-provoking collection of poems, whose progress broadens to include topics that may appear to be unyielding in abundance of expressions. The upbeat nature of resolutions reached for the engaging scenarios portrayed—points to a resolute spirit that seeks optimism over pessimism, joy over despair, resolution over brokenness and beauty over dullness. B. Germain’s deftness at placing these emotions and aspirations into artful juxtapositions heightens the sensitivities that can be easily missed without such deliberate designs. Often, in my own journey, I find myself quoting and referencing the offerings of this gifted Poet/Word Artist and I hope you join me in hearty applause to “Songs I sing”. Encore!
Loss
The window is open,
My soul pours out
unto the street of indifference.
When will it end?
How did it start
with a hole the size of seduction?
Drop by drop
Pain by experience,
the blood of dreams seeped out.
The shell remains,
Flesh and bones
Waiting for the touch of hope.
Who Gets Me?
When it rains, and I get wet
When they tempt me, and I am beset
When they come for me, and I am weak
When I break out in sweat and patently reek
When the fire rages, and my hair gets singed
When my feet are tangled, and my pride is dinged
Who gets me?
When the floodwaters rise, and my boat sinks
When the power is out, and everything is on the blink
When my pencil breaks, and I do not have a pen
When the milk spoils, and I have less than ten
When my team loses, and my tea runs cold
When the music stops, and I refuse to be sold
Who gets me?
When I wake up early and still miss the bus
When I open my heart, and my passion is a plus
When I sit on a chair, and the legs break
When they turn up the heat, and I’ve had all I can take
When my covers are cold, on an unmade bed
When I lean out the window and fall on my head
Who gets me?
Sometimes Sing!
Sometimes sing!
Energy bring.
When your breath is taken by a sight or sound
And marvel overtakes you.
When truth sinks into your conscience
And sets itself to music in your soul.
When you get so tired, plain words will come out wrong
Relax, there is always a song.
From babies to children, so they learn how to listen.
Teenagers testing their voices on top ten tunes.
Adults and elders shouldering care.
Those who grow plants,
Raise chickens,
Teach.
Softly as a hum.
Lustily, as often as you eat.
Sweetly in the tempo of a believer.
Loudly, above the instruments in the band.
Reverently hearing the words as a lesson just for you.
Proudly joining the bats, birds, fish, frogs, insects, mice, and whales.
Sometimes sing!
Human thing.
Songs We Sing
A cacophonous din in my head rings
Clashing with my soft cries for at-one-ment
Quieting when the choir of voices sings
Their pitch and cadence richly heaven-sent
Who takes first prize, second place, lowly third?
What came before, after, next, or dead last?
Will only dire consequences be heard?
Or can choices claim a role in the cast.
Character rules in the lyrics I spit
Nature and nurture write the final score
The songs are raw, repetitive, and writ
From my heart to yours our shared folklore
Songs we sing when we are sorry and sad
Songs we sing while we are merry and glad.
What to Do?
