I'M A POET

This is the poem that will help you reclaim your right to pursue the dream for your life.  Reclaim it from the voices that have tried to keep it silent.  Remember who your are!

(written by Kara Millerhagen)

I'm a  poet and I didn't know it!
Well, that's not true, I did
even though I wasn't labeled so when I was just a kid.

But, I did write, and they did rhyme
some (though not all the time)
I poured my heart upon the page
seven years old
tears, love, rage

but I don't know, what was it?
that made me stop, but I did quit.
I believe I saw another's poem
and I compared it with my own
and found that mine were not enough
of heart of beauty of smart of stuff
not good enough
or would enough
or could or even should enough
of right enough
spite enough
delight enough
Enough!  Enough!
I threw those poems away.

And now years later, wouldn't you know it,
I find myself to be a poet.
And I cannot retrieve a single page
of those seven years of tears, love, and rage.

But I do know this:
That little poet that lived and died
she never lied.
And she is the barometer by which
I gauge everything I put upon the page
not that it is enough, dear youth.
Simply that it is the truth.

©copyright 2009 Sister Productions

 

Be an Elf for Yourself

Elves are tricky. They can give us our hearts desire or they can give us a pie in the face - whatever it takes. They know how to work and they know how to play and it is all the same.  To be an elf for yourself means to give yourself whatever you need to stop being crabby about life and start living it.  You don't like it?  Let the elf in you change it. See "Gudren" perform "Be An Elf For Yourself" live on YouTube.

(Written by Kara Millerhagen)

When the weather turns cold and the snow is a blowin'
and there isn't anywhere you should be a goin'
and you've got some time for yourself
Be an elf.

When the stockings are hung by the chimney with care
don't hope for St. Nickolaus soon to be there
don the red suit and white fur yourself!
Be an elf.

Stuff your own stocking!
Make you some fudge when
the temperature drops and its not even budgin'
don't let it turn you into a curmudgeon
be an elf for yourself!

When the family is busy
and your friends don't call
and you pace till you're dizzy
and climbing the wall
if you know your own number,
call yourself.
Be an elf!

Bake some cookies in the middle of the night!
Wake up like a child with thrills of delight
pile on the frosting and take a big bite.
Be an elf for yourself!

So your bones are achy,
so your fingers are numb
so the bills pile up,
so the money don't come
so this so that and so what
be an elf for yourself.

Throw yourself in a snow bank!
Get out your sled
or make a snow angel inside of your head
but don't walk around like the living dead.
Be an elf for yourself!

So you've got lots of folks depending on you
and you've go a long list of things to do
just think of  those elves that made those shoes.
Be an elf for yourself.

But don't get so busy 
you can't stop now and then
to look in the mirror
with a wink and a grin
if you can't give it to you,
you can't give it to them.
Be an elf for yourself!

©copyright 2009 Sister Productions

 

THIS PINE OF MINE

This poem offers up a great illustration for the simple meaning of Christmas. The  world will never be able to give us enough bright and shiny things to balance the gnawing reality of this life: No one gets out alive. It is only in embracing death that we can experience the gift of life.

(written by Kara Millerhagen)

Truly a salesman he
his quick wit, his comedy
"as green as green can be"
this pine of mine.

Though the color I found a bit bright
and something not quite right
still I drove out-of-sight
with this pine of mine.

Even while the needles fell
as I hung the star and the Christmas bell
sniffed the air and couldn't smell
this pine of mine.

Still, I denied.

Until you said
"it's painted green and mostly dead"
then the bells went off inside my head
about his pine of mine
how I'd known all along
something was terribly wrong
still I trimmed and sang a song
about this pine of mine
how I knew, I knew,
a green isn't that true
and the anxiety within me grew
about this pine of mine.

Am I so taken in by what I see
and what I wish to be
that I deny reality
like with this pine for mine.
Do I buy what the world has to sell
even though I can usually tell
a spray painted all is well
like with this pine of mine.

Remove the paint.
Scrub the needles bare
so that I can see what is really there.
It is at both life and death I stare
this pine of mine, wise and aware.
For while the tree vendor easily fooled me
he could never, never fool the tree.

The tree knows
about the emperor's clothes
about bitter snows
and waiting for the rose
about a frozen and unyielding earth
and about a baby's birth
and it is not afraid to die.
And now, too, a little less am I.

I no longer wish my tree
as green as green can be
and the tines upon my floor
that are evergreen no more
look like faith to me
shed so confidently.

This is proclamation bold
Be not afraid for behold
tonight a savior is born
and He is Jesus Christ, the Lord
and I too will shed my tines
Just like this pine of mine.

©copyright 2009 Sister Productions

 

Driven by Love

Each of the poems in this song illumines a different aspect of those roadblocks that attempt to hinder us in being driven by love.

 In "Trust" we find all of those unrooted, generalized affirmations we use in an attempt to keep ourselves focused on the best outcomes. These affirmations are impotent until we take on the fear that is revealed in the end.

In "The Rat Race" we find that in our attempts to avoid taking on fear, we would rather run ourselves ragged and be another rat in the race.

Even hiding in "The Perfect Cover", regardless of where it is we choose to hide, is not going to help us uncover our identity and live an authentic life no matter how powerful those images are.

If we choose to hide behind an identity of "I'm a horrible human being outside of the realm of forgiveness" fear still remains in control and the mountain of our authentic life remains unchartered.

In the end, a choice is made.  There were two poems vying for
position here but "Endurance" won out.  "I have decided to outlive my labels." Nothing is more powerful than when a human will states "no more".  Fear trembles and we become driven by love.

(written by Kara Millerhagen)

Trust

The sun will shine.
The rain will come.
The children will be happy
they will dance and sing.
My love will love me.
My voice will be true.
The trees will stand.
The mountains will remain.
I will have strength
I will have joy
I will see my dreams
I will be real
I will be safe
The sun will shine!

I'm just so afraid it won't.

The Rat Race

What is wrong with the rat race?
perhaps it is that
even if one would win
one would still be a rat.

The Perfect Cover

I want to hide.
Beneath the serving set,
inside the salad
that is a part of the great meal
on the dining room table.

I want to hide
behind the wheel
of the right vehicle
heading down the right street
to turn right into the right parking lot.

I want to hide
inside the cleanest toilet
in the cleanest bathroom
in the cleanest house!

I want to hide in the family picture
inside of the right dress
in the right size
behind the behaved children
beside the supportive husband
on the refrigerator
in the homes
of the right people.

These are the places
I want to hide
because then for sure
no one will see me.

Hell

No forgiveness please
I can pay this debt.

If I feel bad long enough,
I will be released.
If I lament and beat my chest
so that everyone sees how sorry I am
I will earn my way out.

But please don't make me let go.
I need this in
order to be punished.
If I let go of punishment,
I am left with pain.
If I feel the pain,
then I have to let it go.
If I let it go,
then I have to understand
that it isn't about me
and if I do that,
I am going to have to change.

I would much rather stay in hell than change.

Endurance

I have decided to outlive my labels.

©copyright 2009 Sister Productions

 

THE DECLARATION

As we rescript ourselves after the choice is made to live an
authentic life, ideas crafted into words and then given flesh through sweat become the foundation for our new lives.

Here is the Declaration of Independence just in case you didn't know and just in case you still need permission to pursue your happiness and claim the ground on which you stand.

(written by Kara Millerhagen, arranged by Alisa Leonard)

We hold these truths to be self evident
that all persons are created equal
they are endowed by their creator with
certain unalienable rights
that among these are
life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness
Are you happy?
You have the right to be happy!

That to secure these rights
governments are instituted among the people
deriving their just powers
from the consent of the governed
that's you that's me that's you that's me that's you that's me we have the right to be happy!

That whenever any form of government
becomes destructive of these ends
it is the right of the people
to alter or to abolish it
and to institute new government
laying it's foundation on such principles,
organizing it's powers in such form
as to them will seem most likely
to effect their safety and happiness
Are you happy?  You have the right to be happy!

Prudence indeed will dictate
that governments long established
should not be changed for light nor transient causes
and accordingly, all experience has shown that
mankind are more disposed to suffer
while evils are sufferable than to right themselves
by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. 
Are you happy?
You have the right to be happy!

And the people all lived together in harmony,
happily ever after. 

I added that last part.

©copyright 2009 Sister Productions

 

GYPSY

Initially the song Gypsy was a poem about claiming the present time. There is a loneliness in the music accompanying the Gypsy words that is uncomfortable at first but soon becomes a friend in this process. Are you feeling alone? Good. Are you wandering around with very little in your pack? Good. Embracing the Gypsy energy builds confidence in our individuality. The right to unload baggage and choose your life, to be bold, daring and colorful and to be unattached to the material world are just some of the benefits in the song. There is a little Gypsy in all of us; give her some air.

(written by Kara Millerhagen, arranged by Alisa Leonard)

I am a gypsy
and a gypsy I'll be

a wind blown branch
on the family tree

I do not keep track of the stuff in my sack
so don't give me things you might want back

I pick things up here
I set them down there
and then I move on
from fair to fair to fair to fair to fair
because I'm a gypsy
and a gypsy I'll be

whether I'm young or a hundred and three
anything you want the next generation to see
don't give it to me

I would rather have a plan full of holes
than a hole full of plans.

I don't need a troupe of traveling players,
I am a troupe of traveling players!

Never sacrifice form for fame,
both will be lost.

I would rather have my freedom
than your friendship.

Live as though your life depended on it!

Today, I will do one experiment in the realm of possibility.
I am a gypsy.

©copyright 2009 Sister Productions