On the road with a Mad Hallelujah

Just got home from a tour sharing the rhymes alongside my soul siblings, the Mad Hallelujah Tribe.

From watering fertile minds in the concrete jungle of Wellington, to acoustic all night improvisation round the fire at Autumn Arena (one of the most loved-up little festivals in the galaxy), to rhyming stories of protest and regeneration at the National Permaculture Hui, to  jamming from deep poetic stillness up through big-hearted dancing at the Wunderbar in Lyttelton to a full house of grinning grooving souls.

Rapped all the way down the coast of the South Island in full moonlight with my soul brother/musical right hand human Daniel C, with no soundtrack except for freestyle rhymes…

For me, this tour was ostensibly to launch and share some of the poems/music from my new Sacred Activist album. Often when I talk about sacred activism, I'm referring to explicitly political action taken with sacred commitment. But in these times – particularly in a dark epoch politically for New Zealand – travelling around to coax hearts onto a unified vibration, recognising our shared commitment to earth, love and community – this feels like sacred activism in itself.

It felt big to bring my Hope poem home to Christchurch for the first time, with the original music that Daniel composed for it, and to share it with earthquake-weathered folk who know firsthand about the community and creativity that can emerge out of destruction.

Hope 'cause when I hold my quivering heart out onstage
Someone I've never met comes up and tells me they feel it
Hope 'cause no matter what the doctor's diagnonsense says
When the cells in the body believe any wound can be healed... they just heal it

Thank you to all the magnificent souls who came out to resonate and cocreate with us! And most massive of gratitudes to the generous friends both ancient and brand new, who hosted, supported and nourished us every step of the way, sharing abundance from your hearts and from the land (and dark chocolate quinoa cake...)

And keep an eye on those Mad Hallelujah Tribe kids! They're going places, and they're carrying some very special musical medicine.


Sing a Mad Hallelujah, darling
Sing it up & down the islands
When you wake up it's morning
When your rivers run to the sea,
The land's arms are there to hold you
And may flowers carpet your path

Find your love in everyone
    (including &
not excluding
yourself)
Sing to the blood moon
if she calls you
to bleed with her
Get real quiet
when the violin
starts to unlock the
secrets of the universe

It's weird being a little bird
It's weird but it'll burn
Good luck with enlightenment!
rhyming down the long road
where mountains meet sea
The people will dance
to your songs,
or sometimes just the mountain
Either way, sing,
Messenger
We
are neurotransmitters our
prayers sing back to the
body of universe

When the sound system feeds back,
pull the plug, pull the people close
on the porch steps of the galaxy

When words run out,
freestyle
in languages we're only starting
to remember

When the recording equipment fails,
store it on your heart drive.

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