5.
A Voice Awakening - 1992

A voice awakening
in the ringing air
softly calling
to my heart

A gentle voice
from another world
will stir and slowly
gather might

And sudden joy
light up my loneliness
touching the glow of love
which in me dwells

Sweet and low
voice of song
carry the burning fire
of my melody

Voice of hope
sounds that echo spring
the mead of love's kind word
will linger on

@1992 Maireid Sullivan
--------------------------------------------------------

6.
The "Court of Joy" - 1992

Like Percival before, I know I will be welcomed home
when shrouds of mist lift from my adventure.
Now I must return to the love I really know is true,
to my enduring flame, my "Court of Joy";

And, with every turn I take, I know
that I can expect the final summons.
The grand stories I will recall 'round the hearth
give voice to miraculous restoration of my "Court of Joy".

The difference between glamourie and love
rouses me to toil for my quest.
Wherever I look, all the archetypal lessons apply.
Now, I know I'll never lose my way, to my lovely "Court of Joy".

A great gathering stands in rapture there,
seized by blessings of irony's sovereign myths.
Each rousing voice tells of their healing, their epic heart story,
the tale of their winding journey home, to their own "Court of Joy".

Magic, laughter, enchanted song -
"theolepsy" invokes this place,
this hallowed realm, this "Court of Joy".

Cup, spear, stone and word mark its trials of destiny:
Vigilant feeling intellect marks the way to its chalice of love.

The unriven truth is that we must hasten if it is, at all, to be found.
Then no one can question where we have come from
or where we thought we were bound.
It is the new horizon - eternal presence in our loving "Court of Joy".

@1992 Maireid Sullivan
---------------------------------------------------------

7.
Feeling Wings - 1992
Tk 2, Dancer, 1994

Silent love says so much more
than fiery songs can ever sing.
Deep thoughts reach out to explore
and find the hidden spring.

I look into my soul
to spread enfolding feeling wings
On high my woman's hear will soar
moving slowly with the winds.

And the world will roll along
with a spirit and a power
bringing words to love song
to bind our hearts in one.

Oh, love and freedom
you are ever-lovely things
we live and die for freedom
to hear love's spirit sing.

@1992 Maireid Sullivan
---------------------------------------------------------

8.
Soaring - 1992
Tk 7, For Love's Caress: a Celtic journey, 1998

Soaring high over swirling winds
gazing down on our shining globe
hued in the sun, singed with fire
the tilt, lilt, lull of the mind's eye

Sanctuary calls from a far off time
Anchor deep, hope released
riding the tide compelled to ascend
and leap out with a shimmering soul

Solitude waits for the fullness of time
unspeakable love, passionate voice
calling out to the sighing earth
to lips, eyes, heart of all I can hold

A poet I'll be, a child, very old
Looking afar, beyond our time
for innocent hearts, penetrating mind
unfolding the songs of the ages

@1992 Maireid Sullivan
---------------------------------------------------------

9.
Turn Around - 1992

Oh Throat - throbbing heart
Red blood coursing my veins
Turn around - turn around

Carrying the thought
Turn around - turn around

Tell this heart that cannot tell itself
Turn around -- turn around
Go back and start anew
Turn around --turn around

Slow down this restless pace
Turn around

I know now
I know now I knew all along
Turn around -- turn around

My song awakened -- chanted on and on
Turn around
Ecstasy: The place I seek
Turn around -- turn around

Beams of the spirit
Turn around and see
Mystic meaning mounting to heaven
Turning 'round I see
you in my thoughts
Yearning for harmony

Turning 'round I can see
Soft -- let me whisper
I must be still
Be still to listen
Emerge my muse.
This gentle call is for you

@1992 Maireid Sullivan
---------------------------------------------------------
Rhythm guitarist Steve Wilson generously encouraged me to write songs.

10.
Time - 1992
By Maireid Sullivan and Steve Wilson
Tk 10. Dancer, 1994

Time beseeching time
sleepers deep within the mind
old music calling to race memory
alive down deep inside.

So unto Bride, Queen of song,
from race memory we pass through you.

We play on ancient ground
scatter leaves on wisdom’s mound
The roots of history and memory
are buried deep in song.

How can we reach…
how can we reach the source of tunes?
Chorus:
Yesterday, yesteryear
Live-on, live-on
Yesterday, yesteryear
live on- live on

Feel the tunes of yore
through Bardic tales and Bardic lore
Old music calling to race memory
alive down deep inside.

So unto Bride, Queen of song,
from race memory we pass through you.

@Dancer 1994 Maireid Sullivan
---------------------------------------------------------

11.
Bringing it All the Way Home - 1992
By Maireid Sullivan and Steve Wilson
Tk 6. Dancer, 1994

Walking down the street
in a world of my own
thinking about a plan for tomorrow
rethinking all my plans
rethinking everything I know
here in this distant land
feel the changes come and the changes go

Chorus:
How can we change what may betide?
How can we shape our tomorrow?
Singing our song again --Bringing it all the way home.
Singing our song again --Bringing it all the way home.

There’s a bird flying high
fights the wind way above us
forgotten voice of nature
singing soft in the air
remember all your plans
remember everything you know
here in tomorrow’s land
let the seasons come and let the seasons go.

@Dancer 1994 Maireid Sullivan
---------------------------------------------------------

12.
Colour Me - remembering sitting by the river, under a blue sky on a warm day, where the river meets the warm Atlantic Gulf Stream at Bantry Bay, as life in the present unfolds far away, over layers of multicultural experience, upholding love and appreciation for the riches bestowed upon us.

Colour Me - 1992
By Maireid Sullivan and Steve Wilson
Tk 1, Dancer, 1994

Colour me
By the river and the water of the deep blue sea
It’s just me
Breaking down the walls upon the shifting sand

Chorus:
Something has begun
This dream won't come undone

Crumbling grey clad city walls
Hide our ancient lore
This treasure we have won

Colour me
Painting with a memory that used to be
It’s just me
Echoing the music of a distant land

Chorus:
Something has begun
This dream won't come undone

Crumbling grey clad city walls
Hide our ancient lore
This treasure we have won
MEMORY - MEMORY - MEMORY - MEMORY - COLOURS ME

@Dancer 1994 Maireid Sullivan

back to top

1993

13.
Heavy Heart - 1993

Paled to sleep, though still heaven seeking
in sweeter torment stirring.
Nightlong wooing woe, till I am reprieved,
and with the light, transformed.

Cast from your heart, still imploring.
Grieving in an ebbing shallow.
Longing, yielding, yet dreading
the waves that stir in me,
roused by storms of winter.

No meeting at my heart
lifeless but still unforgetting.
No meeting at my heart.
Is this worship, or regretting?
No meeting at my heart.

@1993 Maireid Sullivan
---------------------------------------------------------
Acoustic guitarist Andrew Burns recommended I reflect on my childhood memories.

14.
Recurring Dream -1993
Lyrics & melody by Maireid Sullivan, arranged by Andrew Burns
Tk 2, For Love's Caress: a Celtic journey, 1998

Crystal water
still calling to me
the bubbling rock pools
my brothers and me

Fishing for minnow
trout and salmon upstream
crimson rhododendrons
they colour my dreams

Warm summer gulf stream
on the cliffs of the sea
on the prow of the land
my spirit joins eternity

Chorus
And Oh! How I still feel that magic in my heart
And Oh! How my spirit flies
back home again. In my recurring dream
I close my eyes and I realize
I can bring it all back to me

Sunlit stone farm house
on the crest of the hill
smell of horses and stables
saddles, bridles and hay

Bluebells and fairies
as we danced through the fields
down to the Holy Well
where the praying women kneel

Gathering of neighbours
harvest threshing feasts
hiding in the haystacks
so much laughter released

Chorus
And Oh! How I still feel that magic in my heart
And Oh! How my spirit flies
back home again. In my recurring dream
I close my eyes and I realize
I can bring it all back to me

@1993 Maireid Sullivan
---------------------------------------------------------

15.
O're soft green fields - 1993

When I was only 12 years old,

my family left home for America.

O're soft green fields and valleys,

to the paved sidewalks of San Francisco.



And who could have known

I would gain so much freedom.

The world of my thoughts

took the place of green fields.



But I've always known

I would never forget them.

They are part of me still.

And so will remain.

@1993 Maireid Sullivan
---------------------------------------------------------

16.
To America - 1993

When I was only 12 years old, my family left home for America.
My father had been working there, and we set off to join him.
On that icy winter's day, we rode to Shannon Airport
boarding a giant silver plane, to take us to America.

From the window of the plane, we soon saw an astonishing sight
A giant's playground of building blocks, the city of New York.
As the plane came in to land, my thoughts were left behind.
Memories kept calling to me but my new life was in America.

All that day, we flew across the sky, from east to west
Until at dusk we saw the lights of San Francisco Bay.
Mother's face showed hope and fear, as she gazed at the lights below,
leading her seven children on to a new life in America.

My new friends loved to hear my voice, while I felt like a foreigner.
From a tiny village of just 14, to a cosmopolitan city,
From the carefree world that I once knew, of soft green hills and valleys,
to the crowded streets beneath Twin Peaks, the paved playgrounds of America.

And who would have thought
I could gain so much freedom.
The world of my thoughts
Took the place of green fields.
But I've always known
I would never forget them.
They're part of my still,
and so will remain.

And there, in 1966, the world began to change.
All around me, people wearing flowers in their hair.
Our father took us on the march for Civil Rights & Free Speech against Vietnam,
to uphold the 1st Amendment for the United States of America.

At Monterey we heard the sounds that shaped a generation.
We danced until the sun came up, then talked about reincarnation.
The music was the messenger that gave a sense of union.
When millions of people around the world were moved by sounds from America.

Then at the age of 21, my father took me to Australia.
I fell in love with Melbourne, and knew I was destined to stay.
The friends I made then are still my friends now,
and they fill my heart with gladness.
Still, I'll never forget that wonderful life, before I left for America.

And who could have known
I would gain so much freedom.
The world of my dreams
rise again from my memory.
Now I am sure
I will never forget them.
They're here with me still
and so will remain.

@1993 Maireid Sullivan
---------------------------------------------------------

17.
The RUN - 1993

When I had to go, I ran down the stream
picking up speed as I leapt from rock to rock.
I watched as I flew and I knew, as I touched each stone
with just the tip of my toe, that I was safe from a fall.
When the rock fell, I would be in flight.
It was a dance of balance and grace - of inner stillness.
The stillness, at energy's source, flowed through me.
I felt in tune and safe.
Delight blended with courage:
Honouring truth, I know now and I will know forever.

@1993 Maireid Sullivan
---------------------------------------------------------

18.
Dancer - 1993
Lyrics and melody by Maireid Sullivan
Arranged by John Norton
Tk 4, Dancer 1994

Dancers bow to each other
hark to the musical strain
silent lips -- moist and tremulous

See the dancer

Move in silent cautious stretches
listening to the murmur of yearning
feeling pressure of a secret spring

See the dancer

Call to the silent sun
lingering last ebb of light
on latent bows in bud

See the dancer

Nature remains an anchor
thought -- dancer in the air -- the breeze
springs from the toe -- lights on the ground

See the dancer

Reach for the music of the spheres
listening to the murmur of yearning
feeling pressure of a secret spring

See the dancer

@1993 Maireid Sullivan
---------------------------------------------------------

19.
I Believe In Love - 1993
Tk 7, Dancer, 1994

Tonight...
My soul yearns upward
My body seeks the ground
I am alone now, my heart is aching

I want to delve deep
Into the water
Into the air - into your arms

Did my quick heart
reach too soon for you
I sit and dream of you
beneath the rising moon

Under the shower
of silver moonlight
I am striving
my heart to free

Chorus:
But I believe in love
I love the tender love
the warm and joyous love
I found with you

This joyous glance of life
will hold no sorrow
when the tumbling waters
of love run free

@1993 Maireid Sullivan


back to top

1994

20.
Journey's End -1994

Leaving the land - taking to the air.
Rejoicing in the world for what lies ahead
a feeling of 'being there'
All I've ever been or known or am
against fighting, faraway, travelling man -
far and wide travelling woman.

A warrior woman of peaceful means
tending fields and loved ones.
Crossing friendly thresholds of a pristine world -
fresh water from the well.
But we know, today, what we've done
to the land, the sea, the air -
ourselves.

Time to sit by the fire and reflect at a slower pace
on the kaleidoscope of images around me.
Trying to assimilate the incredible variety of cultural resources
in a busy life style.

I can protect my fragile body
while I open my mind and heart at a different pace.
Be charmed by strange voices on the radio -
beautiful, beguiling, hypnotic childlike beauty.

The 'foreign' voices that make no sense
yet sound so familiar and enticing
Rhythms - new to my feelings - charming
I cannot move - I stand and listen.

Things known and unknown -
vacant pause - sweltering light.
A traveller may never return

Children all around - playing, begging,
lifting, carrying, climbing
Bright eyes - startled eyes - inviting eyes.

Women voting - fatal errors unknown,
unseen, crashing, screaming - too late
Start afresh - move on - merely a sign -
a secret meaning

@1994 Maireid Sullivan
---------------------------------------------------------

21.
What is a dream? - 1994

Pale blue
Gold over shades of blue descending
with the passage of time
Chagrin - close or open my mind -
tumult of hues carry ecstatic fusion of images -
grey over night - cigarette light - a stranger's call.
Fighting a war
Caped messengers deliver to your wish -
see for yourself - it's too late.
Climb over the edge of time into the dark unknown -
feel the heat of surprise
Sacred offering
Dark eye - aching primal pulse -
dripping - winged - running
Cold sweating dream of fear - heart pounding -
cool thoughts on the front of hot
to be confused with sleep.
I enter - lights out - excruciation -
focus of experience - reunion.
Delicate touch
bridging differences, when it's dark out
and the light is near.
Lips shape words that carry power
to make sure something happens.
Drink to magic mystery and unveiling!
Champaign and philosophy
Picturesque, grand, luminous - running water -
beating heat on carved walls
from the ancient worlds of vast empty space.
Primordial silence
we carry everything within us -
only thought separates us from infinity, divinity
- solid universe.
I could lie alone - I could love too much -
beautiful pain of reality.

@1994 Maireid Sullivan
---------------------------------------------------------

22.
Wishful thinking - 1994

Pillars of history trapped in another time
praying for salvation - miserable exaggeration.
Fantasy - wishful thinking.

Traveling lightly over foreign soil
come home to deep resonance of comfort
cold comfort - sooner is better.

Cold wind on the desert horizon
rituals from ancient unknown time
against vast mountainous backdrop

Overwhelming space - slowly crossing
majestic order on ancient dunes,
silhouetting crescent moon.

Slow dance across deserts of time.
Ripple of sand and sea
across this good earth of mankind.

Pulsating trance. Transcending chant.
Dance of release - frightened, frenzied - captured.
Cry across desert winds buried in sand
never to be seen again

Imperial powers to shape the world.
Stay away from it.
Chant of women who know their place
Entwine only in beauty.

Swallow nature's bounteous gifts
Fill time with chosen views.
Why should men and women be divided?

A mistake has been made.
Religious leaders must pull down their barriers.
With their own hands they are undermining us.

@1994 Maireid Sullivan

23.
I Don't Want to Hide - 1994
Lyrics & melody by Maireid Sullivan, arranged by Andrew Burns
Tk 3, For Love's Caress: a Celtic journey, 1998

Every time I fall in love, I never let it show
When they fall in love with me
I don't want to know about it

Can I go out with you a-lot
I Like your style
(I don't want to hide)
Can I go out with you a-lot
You make me smile
(I'll put aside my pride)

Let's just leave all that talk about love aside
With you I know that I could feel free
It's not so important where we go
It's how we feel about it on the way
A certain kind of baggage is OK

You know I'd be happy just to be there
just to go with the flow
and see what we can share
You've got to be brave
if it's love that's calling you
Please forgive me
if I seem a little strange
But I can hear my heart calling - watch out

I like the way you walk
I like the way you talk
the way you wear your hair
And how you think and how you say it
makes me want to know you more
I want to see us cope under pressure
React to strange situations,
how we respond to adventure

@1994 Maireid Sullivan
---------------------------------------------------------

back to top

1995

In February 1995, I journeyed to the USA, to arrange music distribution.
While staying with my sister, high up on Kings Way, Hollywood Hills, I gave my Dancer CD (1994) to the very hospitable owner of the popular café at the bottom of the hill, on Sunset Blvd. When I returned, he told me he loved it and paid me for the CD, in cash. I was elated! When I stepped out onto the sidewalk, I noticed, in a corner of the parking lot, a "homeless person" lying in a very clean sleeping bag.
I went up, called out, and a lovely young girl awoke. She startled me!
When I offered her the money I received for the CD, her look of shock moved to ecstatic surprise. I was stunned! When I walked away from her, I felt a surging joy 'opening' the sky - as though higher energy 'beings' also felt the joy I shared with that lovely girl. When I returned home, I tried to capture the experience in a poem, and when I recorded it in 1998, I named it "Anam Chara" -inspired by John O'Donohue's Anam Cara (1997).

24.
Anam Chara - 1995
("Soul Friend" in Irish-Gaelic)
Tk 14, For Love's Caress: a Celtic journey, 1998

When I awake
my dreaming starts
I dream of heavenly luminous beings
Anam Chara

I dream I am with them
with my eyes closed
I dream I am with them
with my eyes open

And when I walk along
I dream I take them
into the world with me
to show them the clay
that I am shaping

And they think it's so exciting
they love the adventure we're sharing
digging in the earth of pain
and shaping love
Fragile, delicate, beautiful love

Enduring love
eternal love
perfect love
passionate love
devoted love
yearning love
true love
young love
enchanting love
ardent love
precious love
sweet love
endearing love
compassionate love
unconditional love
giving love
making love
beloved love
my beloved love
Anam Chara

@March 1995 Maireid Sullivan
---------------------------------------------------------

25.
Virgin Mother - Lady Under The Lake - 1995

Deeply imprinted in my heart's memory
ever present - ever triumphant
kind and welcoming mother goddess
who begs us to show sympathy
in a fund of myth laid open to us
unveiled - from under the waters of the lake
the spell is lifted - now we can see
the Lady under the lake

So divine - so frighteningly beautiful
impossible to imagine
or look upon without wisdom
priestess of the primordial
goddess of beginnings
alone - enclosed unto herself
custodian of life - true sovereign
the Lady under the lake

Never subject to the authority of a man
a free woman - ever fresh and playful
dazzling symbol of renewal
youth and sensual freedom
ever virginal mother goddess
tenderly cherishing the child of her womb
destined for great things - servant of love
servant of the Lady under the lake

@1995 Maireid Sullivan
---------------------------------------------------------

26.
Sway, my singing praises - 1995

Sway, my singing praises
sweet thrill growing
swaying with the song
in a thousand parts - one voice

Again - nothing but transition
a simple reflection
bathing in still white light
at the foothills of my dream

Birds sing - bells ring
and a voice - like wings around me
incredible music - language of my soul
transfuses me with golden light

Luminous being - swimming in sunshine
wash away blue, blue sorrow
keep my sanctuary sacred
shimmering emerald green.

@1995 Maireid Sullivan
---------------------------------------------------------

27.
I Am A Rock - 1995
Tk 12, For Love's Caress: a Celtic journey, 1998

I have seen so many things
I have been so many places
Take me back
Take me where I've never been before

Take my heart, shape my soul
Call it anything you want
but keep me to our goal
Now that I have found you
I will never let you go

Take me to the higher limits
Show me everything you know
Take my heart. shape my soul
Call it anything you want
but keep me to our goal

Stones on the ground - I am a rock
Flowers in the field - I am the grass
Let me take you where you've never been before
Stones on the ground - I am a rock

@1995 Maireid Sullivan
---------------------------------------------------------

28.
Move On - 1995

There are parts of the brain
even scientists can't define
pathways to liberty.
And the only means is love
the only way through,
the end will justify the means.

CHORUS:
Move on - Move on - Move on
We know enough about fear and greed
Move on - Move on - Move on
Time to move on the greater deeds
Move on - Move on - Move on
We must make a choice for love
It's all about love - making a wider circle of love.

And the only means is love
the only way through
the end will justify the means.

We have come onto this earth
to conquer the world with unconditional true love
And the only means is love
the only way through
The end will justify the means
The end will justify the means.
The end will justify the means.

@1995 Maireid Sullivan

back to top

1996

29.
For Love's Caress - 1996
Tk 1, For Love's Caress: a Celtic journey, 1998

I gave my heart.
I gave my soul, to the children
I drew all my love, drew all my time,
for the children
Still I can hear the yearning cries
of all the children in this world

This world, feel it's greatness
The weight of the past bears down on my thoughts.
We are daughters of history,
mothers of a new world that's dawning
And this great old world can be renewed
in the name of love's caress

Chorus
Voices everywhere calling.
This world, feel it's greatness
The world, feel this endless vastness

Once-upon-a-time
I thought that hindsight was all I had in this world
but, we are willing slaves to only ourselves today
From seekers to finders,
our souls can tremble for love's caress

Chorus
Voices everywhere calling
This world, feel it's greatness
The world, feel this endless vastness

All of the angst we hear,
it's just well disguised imperfection, sophistication
When we can feel it all, we can reach out for it all forever
Through our eyes we can make souls tremble
for love's caress

@1996 Maireid Sullivan

---------------------------------------------------------

30.
Invisible Dancers - 1996

Like the invisible warmth of the sun
invisible dancers all around me
laughing as they dance
across the rolling, roaring sea

Bending, weaving
streams of brilliant colour
Laughing as they dance
on leaning grass 'round weathered trees

Touching, shaping
sweeping sounds of music
Laughing as they dance
across the steepled towers on the breeze

Calling me, telling me
all about their web of love
Laughing as they dance with me
'till my wandering heart is seized

@1996 Maireid Sullivan
---------------------------------------------------------

31.
Rapture - 1996
Tk 10, For Love's Caress: a Celtic journey. 1998
Inspired by Irish Poet, John Montague's "A Slow Dance"

Womb of time -- bearing down -
impelling light -- seeking life
spirit flower -- living river -
melodies merging -- praising glory

Breathless rapture
pressing primal thought
weaving the link of fire and air

Hearing, knowing
tracing an ancient call
dancing on living sacred ground

Flaming spirit
welding a ceaseless flow
carried on spiralling wings

Embracing warmth -- arousing call -
cascading thought --pouring down
visible power -- vivid dream -
healing hand -- relieving pain

Ringing -- singing
newborn -- purer form
tuning to higher shapes of sound
weaving the link of fire and air
carried on spiralling wings
dancing on living sacred ground

@1996 Maireid Sullivan
---------------------------------------------------------

32.
Swords of Light - 1996

Swords of golden light
slice through the dark of dawn
weaving waves
ecstasy subsumed
taken with the light

Burning cauldron of sun
ancient chariot of splendour
Firing spears of light
across this crimson dome
piercing the heart of darkness

Nature's ancient ecstatic drama
plays itself out, re-shaping the world
while another day is conjured into being
swept up across the sky,
on the way to eternity

Hovering for a breathless moment
Rippling, shimmering over murmuring trees
inviting, soothing, piercing light
showering calm
peace on Earth.

@1996 Maireid Sullivan
---------------------------------------------------------

33.
Ramifications - 1996

I'm not interested
in social ramifications of being with you.
I only want to know
how far my mind and heart can travel with you.

Out of reach and out of sight - out into eternity.
Together we affirm our experience for each other.
Can you go with me?
Can I go with you?

AH! The primal call
I can feel it all
turning me inside out.
Let me fall into your arms.

I want to be there with you.
Don't block my path.
Over time and distance,
into the beaconing light

Is it possible that we can see forever,
be forever, know forever, all in a day?
I sit by your side and laugh with you,
play with you, see with you,
make life with you.

@1996 Maireid Sullivan
---------------------------------------------------------

34.
Carried along - 1996

Carried along in my boat, like a swan
sparkling water reflecting the sun
casting a light out onto the deep
spray washing up and over my feet

Carried Along --Carried along --Carried Along -Carried Along

Bubbling river meets the sea of my mind
Dark calm waters deepen my dream
pulse of the waves roll me up on the tide
surge on a whirlwind piercing the sky

Carried Along --Carried along --Carried Along -Carried Along

Elements call from the edge of the world
Beckoning sirens up from their sleep
Secret chanting carries me on
waves through my heart washing up like a song

@1996 Maireid Sullivan

back to top

1997

35.
Made for Love - 1997

Miracles happen on the love vibration
through me and out to you
I can feel it in my hands
touching you, I fall and rise in love
Sweet words make love easy
I am made for love

@1997 Maireid Sullivan
---------------------------------------------------------

36.
Love growing itself - 1997

On a journey through fire
to the sanctuary of the Queen

Impersonators of The Word
The Word has been twisted around

Trance-out wilderness calling
tearing up body and soul
telling me its easy
to follow my dream

Stillness imploding
into the unknown
weaving back and forth
revealing myself

Striking a chord with love
surrender to love, by itself
renaming everything on its way
to an endless journey

@1997 Maireid Sullivan
---------------------------------------------------------

37.
Woman - 1997

Loretta Lynn slept with Aliens
Virgin Mary slept with God
When women ruled the roost
men had to legislate against it
even became eunuchs to prove it
and they told us in their own words
These are the Epistles
and they are over the top
We know it worked for sure.
We still can hear the battle cry

@1997 Maireid Sullivan
---------------------------------------------------------

38.
Dawn - 1997

Mountain trumpet
leading the dawn
Piercing the night
with the sound of light

Thunder clouds rumble
deserted castle walls tumble
reflecting white light
a pilgrimage to see the king

@1997 Maireid Sullivan
---------------------------------------------------------

39.
Imagining 2020 - after a dream in 1997

How could anyone turn away from bliss
and think that they could live their life all by themselves,
and by cleverness alone?
---
By the year 2020 our children's children will own this world.
It will be so.

Great elders who died this year may be reborn through our children.
Some say it could be so.

And we will look down on our inheritors and see our great teachers.
It could be so.

Living masters who showed us the way
may be asking us to do the same for them
when they return as children.
Then we will be their new heroes.
It could be so.

And they will be so precious to us - again,
and it could be so.

For they may have been the reason we now know our way.
They were our teachers - the reason we have so much love to give.
They were our teachers and they may be our grandchildren.
It could be so.

They will have grown.
By then, they will better know what needs to be done.
They will not waste time and energy fighting.
'Just the facts, Mam. Where is love?'
It could be so.

And love is everywhere.
By the year 2020 love will be everywhere.
Love will come of age.
It should be so.

Behind the facade, in the quiet heart of feelings,
an unlimited resource.
Plenty for everyone. Abundance for the taking.

We will be the keepers of bliss,
and we will all watch it grow.
What value is anything without our memory of love?

Why would we turn away from wonder,
to live by cleverness alone?
When we become the keepers of bliss,
we will never put aside love?

How could we turn away from bliss?
How could we turn away from bliss?
How could we turn away from bliss to live by cleverness alone?

@1997 Maireid Sullivan
---------------------------------------------------------

40.
We will meet like minds - 1997

I turned and there you were
Well! What a surprise
Looking into your eyes
I could look longer.

The two of us - free to embrace or stand alone.
To weave through each other's being
free in each other's presence
intertwining to care for each other.

Like a tree - standing silently without care for time
Can we trust what we know?
Our ability to know?

Dealing with, and looking for surprise.
Participating in our own unfolding - creating knowledge.
Understanding the wisdom of many mysteries in our unfolding self

Unravelling the implications of understandings
as we show the extent of the knowledge
we came into the world to gather - expecting to learn and think
about adaptation - biology vs philosophy

@1997 Maireid Sullivan
---------------------------------------------------------

41.
Angel - 1997

I stand near you
I love the feeling of your presence
Your hold on me is joy and gladness
In your presence I reel

My place with you is a world apart
yet always present perfect companion

Cloaked in your cocoon
enveloped in golden silence

Radiant kindness uplifts
soothing exultant tones

Nothing is a problem
everyone is lovable
any other thought is tainted

Through the day and night
always in my heart.
Your enchantment
makes everything worthwhile.

@1997 Maireid Sullivan
---------------------------------------------------------

42.
The Sweep of Time - 1997

Do we care what our ancestors thought?
Do we know that we are part of the sweep of time?
Do we know that we are responsible for the follow through?
Have we travelled the vast horizon?
Are we following the sun?
Is the sun a metaphor for wisdom?
Is wisdom a metaphor for the brain?
Or is the brain an augury of spirit,
a transmitter and a receiver of thought waves.
And we get to choose our own means of transit,
our own thoughts,
slipstreaming behind super hero 'meditators'
for just the hardest parts of the journey.

@1997 Maireid Sullivan

Desolation Sound - A Poetry Cycle, July 1997
These reflections were written in 'one sitting' -during an approximately 3 hour return flight from Seattle to Los Angeles, following a concert tour across the Pacific North West - Northern California, Oregon, Washington, with a final concert followed by a week-long holiday on Desolation Sound, British Columbia, Canada.

43.
Desolation Sound - 1997

At Desolation Sound, BC
I remembered how good it is to be alone
in a little crowd.
A group of people all alone
- with each other.
Plenty of time on our hands.
A lovely isolation!
A light exchange of love with no agenda,
and no need to try to please.
Each person in their own world.
Each person riding high
- on their own journey anyway.
Each person quietly knew
what was wanted - from each other:
it was easy to let it go.
Each person won a secret prize;
just what was needed.
It was paradise.
A gentle reminder
of love and joy, in solitude,
at Desolation Sound.

@1997 Maireid Sullivan
---------------------------------------------------------

44.
Out In a Canoe - 1997

Out on the still ocean bay
just the gentlest sweep of the oar
was all that was needed to move on the water.

I was surprised by how easy it was
to tune in to the boat and the water,
to feel 'at one' with the sea.

I felt permeated by feelings from another time.
How could I 'remember' this when I had never done this before?
Where did this deep knowing come from?

The slow quiet pace of the canoe
was so sweet an experience
like being with a life-long friend.

I loved the boat and the oar and the water
like a mother or a father loves their home.
But how could this be? And who can tell me?

@1997 Maireid Sullivan
---------------------------------------------------------

45.
Alone With the Moon - 1997

No longer alone with the moon
Holy mother, reborn in our hearts.
She bows in deep reverence to each radiant particle of life.
She lies down with the mighty earth.
She presses her lips to the holy ground.
She lets the water wash over her soft bosom.
She feels the warmth of the sun on her lovely body.
She bathes in the silent wilderness of the heart.
She dances in communion with the blessed soul of pure joy.
"Now!" She says, "You can love each other again."
"Now!" She says,
"You are no longer alone with the moon mirrored on the water."

@1997 Maireid Sullivan
---------------------------------------------------------

46.
The Sweep of Time - 1997

Do we care what our ancestors thought?
Do we know that we are part of the sweep of time?
Do we know that we are responsible for the follow through?
Have we travelled the vast horizon?
Are we following the sun?
Is the sun a metaphor for wisdom?
Is wisdom a metaphor for the brain?
Or is the brain an augury of spirit,
a transmitter and a receiver of thought waves.
And we get to choose our own means of transit, our own thoughts,
slipstreaming behind super hero meditators
for just the hardest parts of the journey.

@1997 Maireid Sullivan
---------------------------------------------------------

47.
If I Take Love Seriously - 1997

If I have no control over who I love,
can I say that I take love seriously?
None of the archetypes work for me anymore:
Love must let my heart be free.
And if I take love seriously
I must leave it alone to forge its own path.
I must stop idealizing love.
Ah! How I want to let that love go;
be free of love's possessive grasp;
find my own original moments.
Love can take care of itself. Love is a big child now.
When that love grew up I left home.
It won't be easy for that love to find me.
I keep looking over my shoulder
to be sure I am not being followed.
Now all I want is Joy!
Joy is my natural companion.
I love joy -- and I am thankful
for joy's generosity and abundance
and for joy's endless potential.

@1997 Maireid Sullivan
---------------------------------------------------------

48.
This Is What I See - 1997

I must be alone with you
but please, don't expect me to stay.
From one moment to the next
I don't want to know where I'll be.
But I realise that we learn with each other
and sometimes it takes two
to get really important things done:
I remember well.
At the very least, I must believe
I am alone -- for maximum stillness:
anticipating that Big Bang and the Black Hole giving way
to one of those beautiful white holes in time;
that, I am heading toward.

@1997 Maireid Sullivan
---------------------------------------------------------

49.
Alone Again - 1997

Nobody knows how you touched me.
We were alone and together
for those small moments of simple joy.
That was all we needed.
Now we can carry on
alone again and not together.

@1997 Maireid Sullivan
---------------------------------------------------------

50.
Mortal Confinement - 1997

I'm through with mortal confinement.
I can ignore human nature.
Human frailty is not for the dancer.

Take me away from it.
Take me out to the very edge of existence.
I want to look back from there.

Perhaps that will be the perspective I yearn for.
From here it seems like freedom; the pinnacle of free spirit.
Freedom to roam the vast horizon.

Freedom that beckons the heart
and pleads with us to listen:
a plaintive cry for communion
at the outer reaches of discovery and wonder.

There we travel freely to meet:
To exchange our lonely cry for songs
weaving resonance and illumination.

@1997 Maireid Sullivan
---------------------------------------------------------

51.
After the Desolation - 1997

It was hard to pull away:
It is always hard to pull away when it is time to go.
Especially when feelings have been so engaged.
But the pain can be magnificent too.
The touch was magnetic.
I didn't want to let go, but I had to.
And the thought that made me feel I must pull away
- that, I truly honour.
The power of the attraction;
the force of pulling together
rejuvenated by pulling apart.
That thought gives power.
This time, the thought, I believe: Trust freely.
The improvisation: love the flight
- the tender stillness from which it springs.
Nothing satisfies me more:
The engagement I yearn for,
where joy sits, smiling out on the world:
waiting, for that moment to move me.
It is inevitable that it speaks to me.
I trust it more than anything else.
I am moved by its every deflection,
embracing divine love- foundation of my life.

@1997 Maireid Sullivan
---------------------------------------------------------

52.
Giving Thanks - August 1997
(On reflection, after returning home.)

After allocating a good amount of time every day in praising 'glory'
I feel so expansive and free.

No wonder great saints, spiritual masters and poets, like RUMI,
spent their time in praising glory. It is such a beautiful thing to do.
It leads me to feel that I really am 'out there' - 'in heaven'.
I have a powerful feeling that I am meant to be all-inclusive.
I feel it in a way that is different from thinking it.
It's as though my thinking and feeling are trying to come together,
but the thought hasn't crystallized fully enough just yet.
I reach for a fresh perspective and I get there for a fleeting instant.
I guess it comes back to continually seeking to overcome
the dualism that our culture practices so relentlessly.

But, anyway, where was I? Oh! Yes!
I feel my best results come when I express my gratitude to Infinite Intelligence.
I think expression of gratitude is the most powerful means
of reaching out to another and it brings a great acceptance.
Gratitude is always appreciated, (especially by Infinite Intelligence,
which is the means to express its own 'full value').

The experience instantly comes full circle - back to the act of sending the thought.
Then I can feel it on a vaster scale, which unifies my sense of everything.
Just taking a moment to stop in order to 'identify' Infinite Intelligence
is like using the brain as a tuner; a transmitter and receiver.
Holding any thought with full commitment
gives the power needed to send the thought
through every cell in the body and out to the ends of the cosmos.
That's what we can do when we put the focus and the intention together.
Then we can turn on our receivers to listen, with our whole being, to the resonance.

That is basically what 'superhero' meditators do.
That's how they become so happy and loving and nonjudgmental and joyful.
When you get to that place of resonance, no other attitude is respectable.
The resonance is so great that it can't be fully contained
with all of the attention that we can give to it in one moment.
So, the best way to manage this intensity is to find a level
where we can keep it constant, in consecutive moments,
because it is a never ending fountain of joy and bliss. Never-ending!

My heart is beating right now with the great excitement
of having 'tuned in' to describe the process.
I can barely type! Oh! This is always so amazing!
I feel such intense energy rushing through me.
When it gets like this I just don't know what to do,
except just hold on and stay calm.
I shiver with excitement! And, I want to share it with others.

This is the purpose of singing and writing for me.
It is the practice of my growing courage to reach out
to everything and everyone, with love,
even those with whom I struggle.
At points like this I feel that I am really connected
to the great energy of love and joy.
And the quality of my relationships with my audience leads here.
When I write from the memory of my favourite experiences with others,
the resonance helps me to focus my thoughts.

This is one of my surest means of keeping the quality of 'the flow' going,
from person to person, over the consecutive moments.
I believe this is what happens in my concerts.
We all, together, enter this 'sanctuary'
and we can acknowledge being in love, with each other,
in as many ways as there is insight and courage and subtle agreement.

I sit here in my room and I feel the most sublime connection
with the whole cosmos
through taking myself into these thoughts.
Writing it down acts as a support for me.
I can go a little further, perhaps, and I won't completely float away,
because my fingers anchor me.
It is not easy to keep this intensity up all the time! It's a great sleeping tonic!
In my waking hours it is the ritual I use everyday, as the foundation of my reality.
The more I perform this subtle little sacred ritual,
the greater is the energy I experience.

It begins with actually spending time expressing simple gratitude,
for the eternal gifts of Infinite intelligence; for the wonder of life.
From there, it is an improvisation flowing through giving thanks
for the privilege of experiencing this wonder.
I give thanks from the bottom of my heart!
I feel recharged in every cell of my body and my spirit is renewed.

@August 1997 Maireid Sullivan

back to top

1998

53.
The Quiet vs Divine Life - 1998

I had been alone for so long,
I couldn't imagine living a sweet and happy life
with a gentle, loving man: I might get restless!
Now I have found a 'mighty champion of the world'
to share companionship;
someone who doesn't need to curtail my freedom.
I couldn't stay with someone
who's only guarantee is sweet fidelity,
since I know divine love fills the cosmos.
Divine wisdom is my patron - my lover - my friend.
I love being alone, yet not alone, in this sacred marriage.
The inter-play is communion, laughter, conversation, poetry, music.
I treasure this adventure, this sense of ceremony;
like a precious stone washed against other precious stones
to a high polish. Quid pro quo.
I celebrate the rarefied life that has unfolded for me,
in my ivory tower, looking out on my beautiful world.
I am humbled by the magnificence of the people I have met.
What I'm coming to is:
a magnificent reality
holds my unending interest.

@1998 Maireid Sullivan
---------------------------------------------------------

54.
Unending Interest - 1998

Right now my unending interest is held by the world of thought.
I can't get enough concentration on the sublime energy of thought.
Nothing attracts me more.

I feel that God really is accessible and I want more.
I want to see myself from God's point of view.
It's been a long time coming.

From God's point of view I am one with infinite intelligence.
It is the greatest shift of 'thinking' I've ever experienced.
When I 'get it' it is totally delicious.

Every time I 'get it' my senses fill with a glow of love and joy
- washing over me, swirling in and out of me.
And my heart expands to overflowing.

I need a nice cup of tea now;
pondering, until longing rises again
- habit forming!
I see the memory reflected in everything and everyone;
so easy and wonderful to share the joys it brings.

And I realize that if I am happy with this very moment, now,
nothing in the past should be changed,
because everything brought me to this moment.

How I am 'now' is who I really am.
Thoughts about myself, and everything
that I perceive to be outside myself, is really just what I think it is.

@1998 Maireid Sullivan
---------------------------------------------------------

55.
YES! - 1998

That is the way to quality control of life: The magic of creation.
What we think we are doing is what we are doing,
every moment is the process of creation.

The trick is in our ability to see ourselves exactly in the present,
as it flows onto the next moment, precisely.

It takes practice to sort through the swirling thoughts
to a place of stillness and observation.
But it's about time we learned to do it right. Don't you think?

@1998 Maireid Sullivan
---------------------------------------------------------

56.
One With God - 1998

We are one with God
and, yet, we carry on speaking to God
as if God is someone else.

What if God is just our point of view?
Imagine we are on God's side,
looking back at ourselves as someone else.

Wouldn't we laugh!
Wouldn't we think we were sweet little innocents
who often make silly fools of ourselves?

Seriously, folks, it's time we took a good look
at what we have created
for the image and likeness of God.

We see ourselves as small, and God as vast.
We see the earth as small and the cosmos as vast.
We see our use of the brain as small and our potential as vast.

Isn't this saying something interesting about where we are?
I think we are growing into ourselves as we evolve.
We are the only species with supposedly more brainpower than we use.

I believe there are many good people for whom the world is worth saving.
I believe in believing "the kingdom is within."
I believe we can create paradise in our own lives.
And that is just the start of my celebration of the power of 'believing'.

@1998 Maireid Sullivan

Back to top

1999

57.
INTIMACY - 1999

I'm glad I'm not alone with the moon.
I need every particle of life that sustains me.
Every person I meet is my connection.

But the intimate yearning of the heart is so fragile.
To see it requires a ritual
of intimacy that one doesn't find every day.

Everyone is there, in that vulnerable place,
in touch from the fragile heart and soul
on this journey of mankind through vast infinity and ingenuity
shimmering joy
brilliant bliss
communion!

@1999 Maireid Sullivan
---------------------------------------------------------

58.
Heaven and Nature Sings - 1999

Heaven & nature sings.
Rejoice in the glory of love.
The trouble with a pantheon of gods
is that they are preoccupied and hierarchical.
This makes it very difficult for me
to apply imagination freely,
without the oppression of belief that was formed
before I had a chance to get to work on the subject!

********
It takes a life long dedication for the individual
to unravel these 'pictures' of belief.
The sense of liberation
that comes from seeking truth makes me rejoice
in my effort to achieve liberation from over-arching structures
created by culture. So the effort is its own reward.
I guess that is what growing up is really all about:
Each individual playing their own special part in pushing the limits of experience
toward achieving the greater potential for the whole of evolution.

And, I guess, that's why all those 'political theologians'
of the 'holy' Roman Empire came to use their power
to destroy all expressions of the ancient wisdom schools of Europe.
Now we are doing it again to those old structures of thought,
through the marriage of religion and science!

As a matter of fact, we seem to have done so well,
through methods of science, that we are generally feeling more generous
in our re-evaluation of the roots of all religions.
Still, osmosis is the great culprit in our struggle for freedom.
What we absorb from the depth of experience can not be measured
and there is the ultimate catch 22:
Assimilation, solidarity, community, and transcendence: Kingdom come.

Ergo, I am completely responsible for application
of my analytical power, based on empirical observation,
combined with an intuitively improvised art of perception,
to cut through to the essence behind the images
that have been formed by and for ritual communication (and ultimate crowd control).

I've noticed that I must choose a specific reference point.
This leads to ritual; and one has to continually be aware
that ritual is a means to an end and not the end in itself.

The end is to 'be free' and original.
One of the empirical truths I've noticed
is that when people express their soul/being, in freedom,
they voice the same truth, across the world.
It's all about communion, ecstatic and intimate, with bliss.

And, I am very polite when I project my inevitable archetypes
on infinite intelligence.

@1999 Maireid Sullivan
---------------------------------------------------------

59.
Reflection
The Listening Room - 1999, Los Angeles

LISTEN -
You may have noticed that your listening improves when you close your eyes.
This is because our eyes take up more mental energy than any other sense.
They say seeing takes 18 times more energy than hearing.
Sometimes musicians will close their eyes while playing or singing;
to listen to their own music;
to call the music up from deeper sources of inspiration.

THE LISTENING ROOM -
Listening is an art of the imagination.
Listening to 'the right music for you' can revive and restore energy.
We can set out to do this by creating our own listening room
- soft lighting, favourite incense, and a good sound system.
This can be a place of retreat from the overwhelming demands of the world.

It can be a sacred place for listening to music -
'meditation'
or just a great environment to catch up on essential reading.
Such an environment enhances relaxation
- to arrive at an inner stillness and peace
that allows us to celebrate the gift of simply being alive
- to become more intimate with our own spirit, mind, and body
- to explore the imagination, luxuriate and heal
- to rekindle delight and open up to our ultimate sources of joy.

Plan ahead for your special treat:
- book an early massage
- light candles
- spray your favourite aromatic oils
- soak in a magnesium bath

Settle in for an evening of pure luxury with your favourite music;
- just listen
- dance to the music
- write a poem or song
- write a letter
- read a book
- paint a picture
Please yourself!
Commune with yourself!
Give thanks for our gifts of life!

@1999 Maireid Sullivan


1999
Of the 72 women I interviewed across the Celtic music diaspora, 30 were published: Celtic Women in Music (1999, Quarry Press)

2000
During October 2000, Ben and I travelled around Ireland to film conversations with musicians representing wide-ranging music genres.
Selected clips shared HERE
I returned, with Ben, to Australia in March 2002.

2001

60.
Never Drift Apart - 2001
(Dedicated to my beloved Ben.)
tk 1, Never Drift Apart, 2002

If in my eyes you see love
it is there for you
in the thought that flies

Breathing new life into my dreams
love awakened
when I looked into your eyes.

I have climbed high over many mountain peaks
to find the treasure
that in your eyes I see

Chorus:
Precious love, sweet darling,
dance with me forever
we will never drift apart

Enfold me now my destiny
this embrace will always be
my sanctuary, my sacred place, my peace

This is true love; I have no fear.
Now I am anchored
in the music of your heart

Chorus:
Enfold me now my destiny
this embrace will always be
my sanctuary, my sacred place, my peace

Precious love, sweet darling
dance with me forever
we will never drift apart

@ 2001 Maireid Sullivan


61.
The Knot - Poem for a poet
In loving memory: Los Angeles-based Arts Advocate, Irish-American lawyer, judge, poet, T.J. "Tom" Kerrigan (1939-2018),

The knot is cut
The spin complete
Now it's safe to
leave the old cocoon

I hail your spirit
full of grace
joy in bloom in
transformation

Hollowed out
from pain and passion
chastened, liberation
restored

Smiling heart
Now more tender and alluring
Deeper embrace
wonder full

@Maireid Sullivan