Winter Tree by Erik Balkey
written for Connee Chandler
Wait for stream to download.
In May of 2007, I once again commissioned Erik Balkey, the amazing young poet/folk singer/songwriter, to write a song inspired by my essay called Winter Trees from my book, A Gift of Vision. To read this vision, click here. I am thrilled with his results and feel Erik really captured the soft vibration I came to feel about the cyclical nature of life and death and hope and growth in the year after my husband Cliff died in 1995. I hope you like it.
Erik has allowed me to make Winter Tree available in streaming audio on this website. If you want to get a copy that is in MP3 format, please contact me, at connee22@verizon.net. For now, my arrangement with Erik is that you can pay me $1 for the MP3 and I will pass all the proceeds on to Erik until he has the song available on a CD in the future that can be downloaded from iTunes or other MP3 sites.
If you have a person, family history or other special story and you would like Erik to write a song for you, contact him via his website, www.erikbalkey.com. I highly recommend his work. This is the second song he has written for me, and he is now working on the next one.
Winter Tree by Erik Balkey, copyright 2007, all rights reserved
A year had gone since he had passed
How long would the darkness last
I painted resting winter trees
I found comfort, I found peace
The leaves were gone, the branches bare
I can see what isn't there
The heart is where the beauty lies
A winter tree reveals deep blue skies
I feel it in my bones
The spirit, when I let go
A season white with snow
A winter tree shows everything
A soulful heart / keep faith for Spring
The spirit yearns / the flame still burns
The cycle turns / you gain a ring
The Winter's just a time for rest
To count the endless ways we're blessed
The night is dark before the dawn
I say, "Winter, bring it on"
Trees are nourished by the rain
Surrender to the things that change
Leaves come back every Spring
One year stronger / one more ring
I feel it in my bones
The spirit, when I let go
A season white with snow
The winter tree shows everything
A soulful heart / keep faith for Spring
The spirit yearns / the flame still burns
The cycle turns / you gain a ring