Campfire

Melwood Cutlery at Shelter Valley Folk Festival, 2009

It’s one thing to write great songs; it’s another to play them. It’s another thing yet to play them around a campfire.

Around a campfire, the audience and the music and the performer merge into one, as the earth merges with the sky in between the stones of the fire. Each one wears the unmask of the true self lit by the sacred red glow. Everyone’s voice rises to be heard in a chorus.

In the circle there is every kind of warmth and welcome. Bodies huddle close, blanket-bound. Shared libation, sweet-smelling smoke and the fullness of the moon turn the group to a tribe.

Love and laughter dance in the shadows around the around the fire. There is knowledge, kinship, warmth and healing in the flames. There is spirit in the songs.

It takes a special sort of singer to stake a place around the fire, to haul up a stump and hunker down, to play and listen and give and guide.

Here’s to the ones who still who play around campfires, and the ones who make campfires for them to play around.

2 comments on “Campfire

  1. It was a great night!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>