can't be separated

there are moments in this journey
when we face things
things like death
inspiration
boredom
anxiety
hope
faith
fear
doubt
"that he not busy being born
is busy dying"--Bob Dylan
the low hum in the ear
the constant ringing
it's all the soul's business
and isn't it funny,
when we think,
it is the business of the body,
soul and body
can't be separated
when this happens
we stumble like a drunk...

wkm
Nashville

New "Double Album" Underway From W. Keith Moore!!!

http://wkeithmoore.com/moretocome.htm

Running in a field

most of you remember when Daisy died
this past New Year's Eve she passed on
the greatest dog one could ever hope for in this journey,
i still get a tad emotional thinking of her
even now,
but yesterday brought an unexpected joy..
a sign, if you will..
my wife called and we were talking about life,
then she said,
"Did i tell you about Daisy's grave?"
We had buried our fine companion in the back yard,
her grave is to the far right at the bottom of the hill.
She has a small Angel as a headstone..
"No", i replied, "what is up with her grave?"
she said she was standing on the back porch yesterday morning,
she just happened to glance over toward the grave,
when her eyes focused,
she saw large white/yellow Daisies covering the grave!!!!
The Daisies are not anywhere else in the entire yard,
only on Daisy's grave!
I am still amazed at this, still dumbfounded,
i asked my wife what she thinks this means,
She said,
"I know what it means,
Daisy is running in a field with St. Francis.."

wkm
Nashville

very odd dream

tired
weary
summer
dog days
humidity
feel like going home..
seeing my baby
petting my dog
riding horses with my son
visiting the tabernacle in my church...
i had a strange dream last night,
i was on a steamer crossing the Indian Ocean,
i am not sure why i dreamed this,
i have never worked on a ship,
been on a ship,
or crossed the Indian Ocean,
in this dream i was a writer,
working on a novel
it was about a man on the run,
he was fleeing his old life
he had been a banker or an accountant,
he sold everything he had,
hired on with a ship in Baltimore,
he had been on this ship for a year,
he had grown a very long beard,
he prayed the rosary,
though he wasn't Catholic,
he had lost weight,
was very thin,
very odd dream

wkm
Nashville

no matter where roam..

Sunday morning in Kansas City,

the Holy Rosary Catholic Church,

I attended Mass this morning with four pipe carvers,

the church was small and cozy,

filled with diverse and friendly folk,

the Cuban descent priest read the Gospel in English,

then a Vietnamese man read it in Vietnamese,

it sounded as if he were chanting,

he read with a strange rhythm and cadence,

at least,

strange to me..

but this too was enchanting..

when the Vietnamese in attendance responded in unison,

i quickly understood why the reading was necessary,

more than a quarter of the congregation spoke the language,

i love the diversity and beauty of Mass,

no matter where I roam,

i always feel at home..

 

wkm

Kansas City, MO

acrobat

U2 has a song where Bono says,

"I must be an acrobat to talk like this,

and act like that."

St. Paul said,

"The very thing I hate i do..."

i know how they feel..

sometimes i say or do things,

and later i think,

"who are you?"

i usually fall easiest when i ignore the tension,

when i let my pride replace the struggle,

"the things I want to do,

i don't do."

Once again,

'I need you to free me from this Lord..,

you are the only one who can..'

 

wkm

Kansas City MO

dang hot..

it's hot..

dang hot..

as my crazy uncle used to say,

"summer done jumped on us!"

i like summer

i like all the seasons

fall with its femine softness

winter with its blue breath

spring with its van Gogh colors

and now the relentless heat..

St. Francis read the seasons..

like one would read the gospels.

4 perspectives of God's grace,

in an endless cycle of love.

 

wkm

Kansas City MO

Deep Within

there is always a little voice speaking
mostly we ignore it
suddenly, something happens,
we hear it again..
our souls
this voice..
waking this morning i read an email,
a friend is struggling with where and who he is,
his honesty and candid heart came across with every word,
the voice is restless
he is listening,
and now he is wondering what to do..
our journeys are never ending,
our longings endless,
always within we are moving,
even if we never leave the zip code we find ourselves,
as Willie Nelson sings,
"Still is still moving to me"..
we are all travelers,
looking for peace,
for purpose,
and this can only be found in one place,
deep within.

wkm
Nashville

"We haven't located us yet."

the shape of the journey
some roads are straighter than others,
but then again,
some are as crooked as a pirates grin..
do you ever wake up in the morning and wonder,
'where am i?'
at least wonder within,
this is where it matters most,
where we are within...
there is a line in the film Darjeeling Limited,
the train they are on is lost in the Indian desert,
someone asks,
"How can a train be lost? It's on tracks."
the response is the line i like best,
"We haven't located us yet."
we do our work,
we raise our families,
hopefully,
we struggle with God..
and in this we often find,
"We haven't located us yet."

wkm
Nashville

a vine of sweet fruit

respect the name of Jesus..
this is the cry of the liturgy today,
with prayers, words, and action..
this is hard
really,
if we are honest...
this does not come easy,
often it does not flow from a place of great desire..
most days it is a dry, dusty decision..
but in this is a lean spirituality
in this grows a vine of sweet fruit
in this is a real honesty
talk to God (prayer)
speak real things about living this crazy life, (words)
give away money, time, and thoughts for something other, (action)
something other than the man in the mirror..
God have mercy..

wkm
Nashville

somehow about you and i

the wind brings relief
and often grief
i see storm clouds billowing on high

rain pours
hail falls
lightning strikes the trees

is this somehow about you and i?

i'm praying for you my friend
what message could i send
to help lift your eyes on high?

words seem weak
i am afraid to speak
my lips are frozen and dry

is this somehow about you and i?

God made the wind
makes it over and over again
even when it blows too long

the rain falls on all
from the weakest to the strong
no one can escape its song

if i could waylay your pain
harness this damn wind and rain
i'd keep your heart high and dry

trouble comes like a thief
nothing brings real peace
nothing but a mysterious sigh

is this somehow about you and i?
is this somehow about you and i?
i think it's somehow about you and i..

wkm
Nashville
for a suffering friend

Father's Day

i began work on my new album Saturday
Scott Partridge is producing it,
he lives in a REAL log house in Hermitage TN
the vibe at his studio is peaceful,
Scott is a laid back dude,
and when he started playing Steel Guitar,
messing around with one of my new tunes,
i could not stop smiling..
there is a beautiful plaintive voice to a Steel,
it brings a beauty and color to my songs unlike any other sound,
he and i are dedicating this album to our dads..
it was appropriate we began recording when we did,
Father's Day weekend..
i know this will end up being the album my dad would have liked best,
this may be a double disc album,
i have written 30 songs for it..
27 songs are possible..
i have never done anything like this,
but after one day with Scott,
and 5 songs already recorded with me singing and playing,
it may just happen.
my son was there with us,
a true full circle kind of thing...
All of this is grace..

wkm
Nashville

Milling Humans..

last night i watched people
one of my best friends plays in a rock band,
he is the guitar player..
he took me to a gig they did downtown Nashville last night,
they rocked the joint!
It was raw, loud,
at times beautiful..
before, during, and after the show i watched people,
milling humans
body language
eye contact
no eye contact
fidgety, funny, formal,
suddenly a girl was lifted,
turned upside down,
while a guy and a girl held her this way,
about two feet above the ground,
she drank a beverage from a hose of some sort..
i did not try this..
it is a world of wonders in so many ways,
so much life
so much bizarre behavior,
so much mundane behavior,
little slivers of joy amidst bravado and false happiness,
it's amazing isn't it?

wkm
Nashville
for Jody and Nolte

habanero

"We seem to live in unapprochable liitle arenas,
none of them touching upon one another beyond
some fragile, nominal sense of language that isn't in
itself especially common."--Jim Harrison from his novel, "Sundog"

it seems lately to me that life is a series of moments,
fall asleep reading,
wake during the night restless for some unknown reason,
read some more,
wake around 5:00,
go the gym for an hour and a half,
come back to the apt,
cook breakfast..usually some kind of omelet,
infused with habanero, serrano, and cayenne peppers,
head to work,
8 hours later..
back to the apt to begin again..
within all of this,
there is the Hound of Heaven,
reminding me Whose i am,
and who i am..
occasionally, songs appear..

wkm
Nashville

live

we never know where lightning will strike
where pain will come from
we are mostly oblivious to the wind
to what it may blow gently or with force into our souls
but one thing is certain,
we are all strugglers
we are all fragile
we are all very close to either adventure or boredom
to faith or doubt
to burning with purpose,
or to freezing with uncertainty as to why we are..
in all of this,
we are strugglers..
and by grace,
we take another breath,
reason,
hope,
live

wkm
Nashville
for Cara..

Novel

i love stories
great novels
it takes time to tell a good story
whenever one of my favorite authors writes a new one,
i hurry to my favorite bookshop,
down on the square in Oxford..
it is a ritual for me,
i buy the book,
have them wrap in Mylar to protect it,
i then go to my favorite coffee shop.
i order a double espresso,
sit down at a small table with my back to the crowd,
first, i smell the book..
nothing smells like a fresh book..
then i slowly open it to the first page..
the first line of a novel should be intriguing,
when it is so,
i read it twice..
close the book,
down the espresso in one shot..
get up and leave..
filled with anticipation for when the time is right enter a new world,
a new story..


wkm
Nshville

Sacred Heart

the "Sacred Heart" of Jesus
a fully human heart
beating like ours,
a fully Divine heart,
the heart we aspire to in grace
the image is our Beloved,
revealing His heart,
wrapped in thorns,
revealing Himself the great Lover,
reminding us how mad is the Father's love,
His love with our wayward hearts...
this image,
this vision,
should always birth deep gratitude..

wkm
Oxford
for Spencer Partridge

105

whenever i walk outside here in Mississippi,
the weather is always before me
it is so dang hot today...
somewhere Al Gore is counting his money!
but then again,
it is always this hot here in June..
humidity is 93%,
the temp is 97 degrees
the "heat index", (whatever that is)
is 105 in the shade..
even the grass is wet,
and it hasn't rained.
somehow,
this is like life in the spirit
you can apply the metaphor however you see fit..
my soul is moved by it,
moved to lie on the couch with my dog and watch soccer.

wkm
Oxford

I am a Beggar

Today i was surfing the web and I saw a guy named Keith Moore preaching a sermon called, "I am not a beggar".. i could stomach only so much of his perspective about how people who believe in God should not beg.. which inspired this song by W. Keith Moore.. "I am a Beggar"...  i recorded this on my son's mac and i am not used to the advanced features of Garageband.. so, it sounds a bit different than what I normally do.. i hope you don't mind...skol!

when I wake up in the morning
I know I should hit my knees
but most days i just lay there
and let my worries get to me

you know what I'm saying
you know where I'm coming from
just because i know Who loves me
it don't mean I'm ready for home..

Lord I beg for your grace
Lord I beg for your mercy
Lord I beg for your forgiveness
and I beg you change my heart a little more everyday, today..

I am a beggar of the highest degree
stumbling, rumbling, through this world
like St. Paul  the king of sinners
not that much less lost than anyone

Lord I beg for your grace
Lord I beg for your mercy
Lord I beg for your forgiveness
and I beg you change my heart a little more everyday, today..

when a howling wind blows into this life I live
and I am broke and lonely and find myself unable to forgive
I hope i'll fall on my face and cry out to God and friends
that I need a helping hand, i may need someone to lend a hand

Lord I beg for your grace
Lord I beg for your mercy
Lord I beg for your forgiveness
and I beg you change my heart a little more everyday, today..

wkm
oxford

u love

it's a beautiful thing

to be greeted by a dog

his entire body wagging

wining with joy

a dog is always glad to see you

i could be gone for three weeks,

or go out the door for three minutes,

his reaction to my return is pure joy..

Who made this creature this way?

why did He?

possibly as a constant reminder

of His own unconditional love..

wkm

OXFORD!

Without Warning

without warning
she comes
into the slumbering soul of man
she is wisdom
she is lovely
she's a beauty not made by hand

i tripped and fell this morning
over a thought i didn't wanna think
something pulled me into the deeper water
i took a breath as i began to sink

Sirens wailing on the hidden interstate
someone's in trouble just beyond the wall
i can't go
i can't leave
i am frozen in the feeling
that one day a siren will come for us all

without warning
she comes
into the slumbering soul of man
she is wisdom
she is lovely
she's a beauty not made by hand

whistle a tune in the shadows
hum along as best you can
learn to laugh, walk in a meadow
it's the hope for every woman and man

got an email from a friend in Poland
he says the festival is coming soon
wants me to come all the way to Krakow
wants me to sing a song, play some tunes

without warning
she comes
into the slumbering soul of man
she is wisdom
she is lovely
she's a beauty not made by hand

wkm
Nashville

Inspiration

Inspiration is brief, sporadic, and rare.--Rabbi Joshua Abraham Heschel


our souls must be ready
for color
for light
for wounds
for beauty
for silence,
boredom
drama
anxiety
physical pain
laughter
music
poetry
for when Hound of God howls into our lives,
the grace that constantly falls from heaven,
is for nought if we do not respond with a reciprocal howl of our own..

wkm
Nashville

cogent

a cogent explanation is a worthwhile pursuit
but sometimes there is no need
mostly, the best understanding comes through silence
contemplation is best in the twilight
either at dawn or dusk..

wkm
Nashville

Don't Look Back

meet me in the shadows
we'll talk about the light
it's important i stay hidden
this is mystery, this is life

two travelers on the road
dust clouds rise with every step
there's a lightness in their gate
they're discussing what they felt

when He broke the bread

train whistle blows in the twilight
it's rumbling down the tracks
gives me shivers in this silence
come stand closer baby, don't look back

Mr. Rembrandt tells a story
with his many shades of brown
wish i could ask one simple question
but Mr. Rembrandt ain't around

train whistle blows in the twilight
it's rumbling down the tracks
gives me shivers in this silence
come stand closer baby, don't look back

heading down to Corpus Christi
we'll arrive at supper time
we'll say prayers before we eat
before we drink His blood like wine

come get on the train is waiting
there is still enough time
but leave your baggage, baby you won't need it
just bring an open heart and an open mind

two travelers on the road
dust clouds rise with every step
there's a lightness in their gate
they're discussing what they felt

when He broke the bread

train whistle blows in the twilight
it's rumbling down the tracks
gives me shivers in this silence
come stand closer baby, don't look back

wkm
Nashville

When the Good Lord Grins

last night the wind was howlin
like the Holy Spirit mysterious
and in this dream i was walking
with a man i didn't know

there was a carnival in a meadow
and a preacher on a soap box
Palestinians and Jews
and a woman moaning low

call me on the phone
i need to hear your voice
need to hear your laugh
true love is a choice

let's talk till midnight
when the new day begins
it's when the universe sighs
it's when the good Lord grins

last night was a good friends concert
Lord that man is a guitar playing fool
like a child full of joy over something
but it's a secret he ain't telling you.

driving home late in the darkness
humming a tune in my head i've never heard
life' electric, vibrant, and vicious..
but we got a God who even cares about birds..

call me on the phone
i need to hear your voice
i need to hear your laugh
true love is a choice

let's talk until midnight
when the new day begins
it's when the universe sighs
it's when the good Lord grins

we all walk in this mystery of real life and dreams
we taste miracles and drive vehicles
with every person seeing different color schemes

some see green, some see blue,
others see in back and white,
tell me, did you understand what that singer was trying to say tonight..?

call me on the phone
i need to hear your voice
i need to hear your laugh
true love is a choice

let's talk till midnight
it's when the new day begins
it's when the universe sighs
it's when the good Lord grins

wkm
Nashville
for Phil, the guitar playin fool.

Color

Gene Miller is an artist
he is a dear friend of mine,
his wife Susan, his kids,
i'm thankful to know them.
last night he had a showing of his art
i came home with this piece
how wonderful and beautiful it looks on my wall,
it brings light to my little apartment,
it brings color to my horribly white walls
Gene also sings like a bird,
plays guitar like a fiend,
dang too much talent for one man,
and what is even better is his heart for our Beloved,
he is a fellow struggler
check out his work for yourself..
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=197800&id=98005103409&ref=pb

wkm
Nashville

SING!

Last night we had an event in the store and I was honored to play for a couple of hours with Scott Partridge and Phil Keaggy. In the midst of playing many tunes, I wrote one and remembered it this morning. It is very unusual for me to remember one after that long in between. Here is a rough demo of it, and i sure wish I had Phil and Scott to play and sing on the demo, they were both incredible in their interpretations on the fly last night..

Scott and I will be in his studio soon recording my next album, and hopefully Mr. Keaggy will join us on a few tunes.. that would be a beautiful thing.

everywhere you go
everybody knows
there's a song about to be sung

someones tuning a guitar
someones filling a fruit jar
and the dogs are starting to howl

someone will always sing..
about something

I met a girl from France
she wore strawberry pants
had a voice as smooth as a silkened hat

she played piano and cried
about a friend who had died
that dear friend was a 25 year old cat

someone will always sing...
about something

My great uncle played the fiddle
he always smelled like old spice
he landed on Normandy Beach

He met a girl on a farm
she hid him for days from all harm
and my uncle came home with a violin

someone will always sing..
about something

it's a gift from the Lord
this desire to make chords
this passion to make melody and rhyme

it does something to the soul
even for birds and black crows
to sing about something all the time..

someone will always sing..
about something

wkm
Nashville

sing

everywhere you go
everybody knows
there's a song about to be sung

someones tuning a guitar
someones filling a fruit jar
and the dogs are starting to howl

someone will always sing..
about something

I met a girl from France
she wore strawberry pants
had a voice as smooth as a silk hat

she played piano and cried
about a friend who had died
that dear friend was a 25 year old cat

someone will always sing...
about something

My great uncle played the fiddle
he always smelled like old spice
he landed on Normandy Beach

He met a girl on a farm
she hid him for days from all harm
and my uncle came home with a violin

someone will always sing..
about something

it's a gift from the Lord
this desire to make chords
this passion to make melody and rhyme

it does something to the soul
even for birds and black crows
to sing about something all the time..

someone will always sing..
about something

wkm
Nashville









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