Even When the Light is Low

I turned the clock back to the dark That’s what it felt like in my heart The midnight hour reappeared Among a few unfallen tears The hidden hand tugs on my shoulder Calls my name, but I won’t go Cuz the world speaks in poetry Just the way it’s supposed to be There is still a way back home Even when the light is low And even if my time is short Don’t tow me back to port Point me starboard, out to sea And let the tide have its way with me The hidden hand tugs on my shoulder Calls my name, but I won’t go Cuz the world speaks in poetry Just the way it’s supposed to be There is still a way back home Even when the light is low Are you weary, heavy laden? Just how long will you be waiting? The hidden hand tugs on your shoulder Calls your name, but don’t you know That the world speaks in poetry Even when it’s not supposed to be You will find your way back home And you will never be alone Even when the light is low Even when the light is low --Tom Prasada-Rao

(Written 11.7.23 as Tom endured chemo for a cancer that took his life 6 months ago--but could never take Tom's light).

Peace, My Heart

 

Peace, my heart, let the time for the parting be sweet. Let it not be a death but completeness. Let love melt into memory and pain into songs. Let the flight through the sky end in the folding of the wings over the nest. Let the last touch of your hands be gentle like the flower of the night. Stand still, O Beautiful End, for a moment, and say your last words in silence. I bow to you and hold up my lamp to light you on your way.

~ Rabindranath Tagore

Peace, My Heart (Lyrics) Adapted from Rabindranath Tagore, music by TPR (August 5, 2021, Sudbury, MA) Let the time for parting be sweet Let it not be a death but completeness Let love melt into memory And pain into song And let the flight through the sky End in the folding of wings Over and over the nest The flower of night Be gentle, be gentle The last touch of your hands Stand still, stand still O Beautiful End Peace, peace my heart I bow to you for a moment And I hold up my lamp

Thank You

Thank you for the coffee, thank you for the cup

Thank you for the morning and for waking me up

Thank you for the sugar, thank you for the cream

Thank you that the night was only but a dream

Ooooh, thank you

Thank you for the traffic and the menial job

For my baby crying and the craziest dog

For making me a button that says undo

Thank you for the way we make babies too

Ooooh, thank you

O mercy, O mercy

You are everywhere

You were always as close

As a whispering prayer

O mercy, O mercy

When the world doesn’t care

Be my bosom of Abraham

Be my rocking chair

Thank you for the rope that won’t ever let me go

Thank you for the yes when everybody else said no

Thank you for the seesaw, thank you for the swing

Thank you for the gloves in the boxing ring

Ooooh, thank you

O mercy, O mercy

You are everywhere

You were always as close

As a whispering prayer

O mercy, O mercy

When the world doesn’t care

Be my bosom of Abraham

Be my rocking chair

Thank you for a love that can overcome regret

Thank you for the joy that I haven’t found yet

Thank you for the apple, thank you for the tree

And thank you for dancing in the dark inside of me

Ooooh, thank you

--Tom Prasada-Rao

[Video of our friend Tom Prasada-Rao performing his song].

Between the Moon & Me

Sometimes the hour of sadness

Hovers like a cloud 

So fragile and so tender 

Too real to talk about

A finger to my lips

A silent reverie

Just between the moon and me

O how the words unspoken 

Linger on my tongue

Trying to convince me

That what is done is done

But I know what I wish for 

When I’m counting sheep

Just between the moon and me

It’s a minor bird

In a minor tree

The song I know by heart

The key of you and me

And now the past plays tricks

On my memory

Tries to make sense

Out of what will never be

But I am just the prose

She’s the poetry

That’s why she will always be

Just between the moon and me

—Tom Prasada-Rao

[Lyrics written by a talented high school friend].

One Another

 

When one voice meets another

In a wave of harmony

When a woman heals a stranger

With her careful empathy

When the night falls quiet

To a million skyful stars

I know I am right there where you are

When one mind meets another

In generosity

When one man holds his brother

In his arms of sympathy

When the sun sets the sky

Into flames overhead

That’s when I remember what you said

December’s leafless trees

Reveal the mountain’s shoulders

So can we shed the anger

That keeps up from each other

Time is tugging I can’t fight it

No matter how I try

Til I slow down and discover

With the eyes of a child

All the magic and the wonder

In a million grains of sand

And a whole world

In that child’s out stretched hand

There’s a whole world

In that child’s out stretched hand

--Tom Prasada-Rao & Rachel Bissex

(Written somewhere in the nineties in Austin, TX)

Tenderness

Before there was a carrot
Before there was a stick
Before there was a Zodiac
And 12 signs for it
Before there was Karma
Before Pavlov's dog
Before the thousand prayers
To the million names for God
Before the iron hand of fate
Before the IQ test
There was only tenderness

Before there was justice
Before there was hope
Before the braided strands
Of the hangman's rope
Before there was truth
Though it felt like a hammer
Before the truth marched
In Birmingham Alabama
Before the wages of sin
Before I confessed
There was only tenderness

Some believe in Jesus
Some keep Kosher
Some raise a pint of Guinness
To a four-leaf clover
Some believe in science
Some believe the rules
Now and then some believe
Believing is for fools
But I'll keep the faith
As I'm laid to rest
I believe in tenderness

--Tom Prasada-Rao © 9/10/12