Beyond excited for this event! I’ll be performing “Nine Twelve” with Jennifer Thomas as well as a mashup of “Fighters” with a song called “Ascension” from her new album. Kimberly StarKey, whom I collaborated with on “Little Drummer Boy” (we have a follow up song in the works as well) will also be performing with Jennifer. We will all be backed by the amazing Ensign symphony orchestra and chorus, and this will all be happening at stunning Benaroya Hall in downtown Seattle.
Seriously a dream come true for me. I can’t wait to share the stage with these incredibly talented people in celebration of our freedom.
Remember 9/12?
the day after the crashes
the aftermath when
the skies were quiet
the only tweets came from birds that were confused by the reverence
they looked on as we held hands at vigils of remembrance
we were scared but the fellowship vanquished the fears
because when the candlelight lit up the tears
we saw our own reflections in each other’s faces
and we mourned, together
the only races were those to get help for someone that needed it
someone we probably didn’t even know
people said hi to each other, and smiled
just walking down the street
all religions came together to pray
the non-religious came together – to pray
tales of heroes started to leak into our collective conscience
like flight 93
when that plan was hatched
there was no time for Facebook flaming because there were already flames
down on the ground
through the ashes and the panic
firemen didn’t stop to ask if
anyone was republican or democrat
or what kind of life they thought mattered
there was only one kind of life, and it mattered
every burning body deserved to live
every cry for help deserved to be heard
nobody was fixated on reposting or commenting on fake news
because they were asphyxiated
breathless
and what, a decade and a half it’s been
here we are, gasping again
the air is black again
it’s like we’ve been attacked again
choking on the smoke in our throats and noses every night
only there are no sirens or yellow coats or firehoses in sight
so what do we do
standing on the front lines of civil war 2
guns drawn, the skies are violent
we’re desperately trying to ascertain
umbrellas to shelter us from all the acid rain
every direction a maelstrom
every election is a hail storm
walking softly through a minefield of ballot boxes
and no matter which hole we punch, we’re knocked unconscious
there’s no stopping the brawls
we’re not even talking anymore
it’s just a cacophony of cannonballs
never content un…less there’s contention
so much energy to scream we lost our energy to dream
we lost our memories… shortened everything to memes
what happened?
we were the most united as americans
when they hijacked United and American
we were still as different as red and white
but we took the stripes and stood under the stars
told our stories in the moonlight and we discovered the same plot
woven in old glory we saw sisters and brothers made from the same cloth
an eternal fabric
we don’t need terrorist attacks to remind us of that
because every day someone crashes
and every day someone can be rescued
someone right next to you
because as we all know, this life can be hell
we’re all just trying to find heaven in it
and there’s a chain of deliverance that only works if we’re linked together in it
if hurt people hurt people, healed people can heal people
that’s the real appeal of people
only as the sum of our parts do we ever really feel equal
and peaceful
we don’t have to be the same, to be one
to find truth in truce
in this mess the only solution we have left
is love, compassion, and union
to cross that line in the sand, grab somebody’s hand
and stand together at the vigil
in remembrance of what it was like to be… human
I had that dream again last night
no, not the one where I’m in college and I can’t find my class schedule again
the other one, where I’m living in my dream house
it was a little different this time, but not different
still spacious, modern but cozy, nice furniture
and there’s always a hallway that leads to a part of the house i’ve never seen before
and it’s really clean, pristine
and it’s like, how did I not know about this? this is amazing – bonus square footage
but I hesitate to go
because once I emerge from the other end of that hallway
and make footprints on the silky white rug
once I put my dinner plate on the coffee table
and once I lay on the couch and do everyday couch things on it
it’s not new anymore
and what if there’s not another undiscovered hallway to go down
and that’s it, and I’m out of new places to investigate
and what if… well, usually about then i wake
and in my half-conscious state
I try to think about any rooms in my real house that I might have missed
like a brick that I can twist in my living room and the whole thing will switch
or a window that I haven’t looked out of recently
or worst case, some furniture that I can rearrange
so that it doesn’t feel the same
am I odd to see life like an odyssey?
why am I still browsing open houses on Zillow a year after I bought one?
how is it that sitting under a perfectly fine roof on a perfectly comfortable chair that I still feel like a vagabond?
aimless
like i’m trying to write soliloquies on a keyboard with no return
just an empty space above the shift key on the right
i have no way to start a new line, or a new life
so I wander in the wilderness
through the wayfaring I crave bearing
the drifting hurts to the bone
never quite sure of a moment
that’s why I keep trying to recycle words into poems
like if I could reverberate the tone
enough to turn nouns and verbs into stone
i could subvert the loneliness
but maybe the reason we’re prone to this thirst to roam
is because this earth… isn’t… home
and this whole human existence is like summer camp
we’re just here to have experiences away from our parents
yeah there are mosquito bites and the bed isn’t very comfortable
and we have to cook our own food but
didn’t we find part of ourselves in that camp fire?
was it the sparks or were we the little glowing souls floating in the smoky purple haze
and that mountain we climbed
with every step we took we left an older version of ourselves behind
there were stray branches, we got some scratches
and JJ got poison ivy
and the sunburns, those were probably the worst but
we’ll never forget the sun shining off the lake like a prophecy of light
we’re a little sore from learning to water ski but tonight
anything can happen
we might laugh until the sky turns bright
or stumble into a first kiss under the moonlight
either way
we’re gonna remember these days until we’re old and gray
and when the summer’s over we’re gonna go home and say
you’re not gonna believe what happened
I’m not the first person to feel like life is an exodus
I suppose it’s like Moses for the rest of us
I know the promised land isn’t listed on Zillow
and tonight, when my head hits the pillow
i’m probably going to dream of more new houses with secret passageways and unexplored rooms
but i can rest, assured that the only thing better than real estate
is a real estate
and I know the trust is mine to own
so I’m gonna keep throwing wood on the fire and blazing new trails and turning over stones every day
until i’m on the bus ride home
By 
