Part VII

Western

words and music - Dennis Bidney


We are a culture born of the Western mind
We're citizens of the new promised land
Where milk and honey are now stocks and bonds
And the chosen ones have things well in hand

The land was ours righteously we're told
By right of destiny
Wave after wave bringing all things good and true
Waves sweeping away things heathen and profane

It was said the ones that were here had nothing of value to give
They were just standing in the way
Crushed their lives without remorse
A new world act from the same old play

From then till now we new comers have thrived
By the gifts of the land and our own designs
And while bring sorrow by our impropriety
We harvest the fruits of the great society

We span the globe with speed-of-sound mobility
We communicate massively
We wage night war as with vision of the day
And put missiles in front doors dropped from stealth bombays

We know the secrets of the genes in our cells
Along with the ways we can engineer ourselves
We have some cancer cures and drugs for fears
And countless diversions to keep away the tears

We have all knowledge wrapped up in little bits
Of zeros and ones on computer microchips
We've been lunar landers and just like climbing step ladders
The lights in the night sky are next

When will the walls of our arrogance be scaled?
When the sunlight kills and the toxic dumps are filled
When the rain burns the leaves off the trees
Or the song birds no longer fly free

No one is to blame but the sum is the same
And while consuming our sanctuary
The old one's secret eludes our western mind
That from the start this earth has been sacred work

.....He said come in and find light in the darkness
Go fill the need from the other side
And on cool, damp earth in cramped space
I'm brought face to face
With the fact that these are not Caucasian ways

He brings glowing stones to the center of our circle
He says that's where the energy should be
With water and sage and unknown spirits sweet
The scene is complete
For our passage into unfamiliar lands

Shut in, we begin, what's ahead I don't know
Sage then smoke, water then steam rolls through the air
It stings the eyes, the lungs scream
And the heat slams into every pore
And this white man's son is wanting to leave

Head down, confused
Struggling to find the breath of life
There's no light here, just darkness and oppression
But as the songs begin the rhythms hypnotize and as I join in I begin to revive
And to the mysterious place we have arrived

And in the vision the cosmic star burned
And in the vision, from light came life
The forest reached for the light
And the ancient stones glowed
From the tree's sacrifice

The steam cleanses the body
The sage purifies the soul
And from the oppression comes light in the darkness

It says "nothing outside you has lead to your lost days
You've been running from the love
And it's guiding ways
Are you ready now to step out of the haze
Nothing to do with location, vocation or pay

You've just bartered pieces of yourself away
And to gain the world you've damaged the soul
Now take the time to fill the holes
The truth is within you
It has always been that way"

Just as sage kindled on the glowing stones
The day was burned into consciousness
In a small sweat lodge, sitting on earthen floor,
I found something I never had before
And what is more, I've been missing it

And don Juan says you can become a man of knowledge
And don Juan says you must gather your power
He says you don't know what is out there
You don't know what is real
And I think I believe it

He said come in and find light in the darkness
He said come in and perform some sacred work....



The struggle through the eons the violent transformations
The creative power driving life's vibrations
The forces of change from subtle to extreme
Have prepared for us a world we choose to demean

Will we realize that on giant's shoulders we stand
From them we have acquired the pedigree of man
And those entombed in the fossil diary demand
That the end not be by our own hands

_______________________

To Part VIII - Dream