The Devotional Music of Ken Sandin

Intimacy

kensandin — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 00:11:39 +0000

I see a bright crescent
forming like a smile
at the bottom of your
pupil. (This is how pain
condenses to
honey.)

I unwrap the wool from
my body and allow
this thick nectar
to soak
through my skin.

Collapsing the Distance

kensandin — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 04:39:36 +0000


This is what Thank You means-
it is when the pores become
             so wide
that the wind
can slip through the skin
and tickle the heart.

It is acceptance
with Love.

And it draws our surroundings
closer- the chair, the ocean,
the trees... it brings them
inside.

It holds the atoms in my body
together, and now holds
your atoms
to mine.

The Way the Earth is Lit

kensandin — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 06:22:39 +0000

I have heard it was said
by them of old time
that the Moon
borrows her light
from the Sun.

But I say
a beauty as great as the Moon’s
inspires a great lover,
and it was this muse
that sparked the Sun’s flame.

The Sun’s sweet ballads
of love and longing
share the Moon
with all of us, and
in that sharing we are

given hope
that we too can find
such a beauty
to ignite us
into existence.

Occupy

kensandin — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 20:59:59 +0000

What I most want to occupy
is myself, but this doesn’t mean
I won’t engage with the world.

If I press my palms into yours
and we both lean our chests in,
the bottom tips of our shoulder blades
will curl to the heart.

There is immense suffering in this world,
and I don’t want to add to it
with anger.

Instead let me hold out my arms
in such a way
that you can trust I will
catch you,

and may your leap
be one of beauty
and grace.

Autumn’s Cry

kensandin — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 09:41:35 +0000


A leaf lightens
into gold
and leaps
from the branch to the sky.

        What whirling what spinning what dancing what joy!

(It is jealousy that clings
the other leaves to their branches, but only
for so long.)

Autumn knows this secret-
that we are all becoming beautiful
together.

Weekly Kirtan!

kensandin — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 08:44:36 +0000

Come sing with us every Friday night at Paia Yoga from 6-8pm!

Afterthought

kensandin — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 01:55:44 +0000

…it is Thank You
and I Love You, it is Joy and it is
Yes! it is the rising sun revealing
a soft pair of hands
sprinkling salt on the snow
covered sidewalk.

Because their feathers are just so beautiful

kensandin — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 07:31:40 +0000


Loving the sky does not keep me
from falling in love
with the fleeting birds,

and being heartbroken can sometimes be
so beautiful-

     I love every sensation in my body!
     I love every sensation in my body!

I love the tender heaviness of despair.
I love it when my kidneys puff up with hope.

I place my heart
under the vice grip
of beauty
and silently pray
to be shattered

and open
like the wind, never grasping
but lightly brushing my fingers
through all things.

I love my own sadness
as each fleeting bird
flies away.

This (blade of grass)

kensandin — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 23:28:14 +0000


The bottom half folds into the stem the way
some tongues do, cupping a soft streak
of shadow. 

The top half glistens with sparkle
and subtle sun glaze. It bends forward
to a slightly drooping tip. Beneath it
hangs a bold sphere
of dew;       

(
                  It could be any
              blade of grass, but its not
                         just any
                     blade of grass,                its this
             blade of grass

 here before me as the sun hovers above the canopy
                   to cheerfully greet
                        this day, this breath,                   this
             blade of grass

 that through chance or circumstance or something
                             unknown
             has enchanted me into a beauty
                       so deep
            that even if it could
                           get any better
) 

all I really want
is this.

Freedom

kensandin — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 04:15:09 +0000

A forehead splits
down the center like a
lightning-struck tree

and swings open
like doors on the
hinges of each ear.

A flock of birds
flies like smoke
from the opening,

and the heart
sings praises
to their wings.