I ask myself, what would Buffy do? Maybe if she can I can too, Keep fighting for justice it’s the right thing to do, Armed only with my compassion, some savvy and a quip or two, Slaying vamps and fucking with the Patriarchy since 92, Slay the patriarchy with some witches brew and some hullaballoo, My crew do too, Always remembering when you’ve got a screwdriver, everything looks like a screw, Always willing to review and see things anew, Right on cue, here’s a who’s who of the vamps of Sunnydale coming into view. Hang out in Sunnydale at the Bronze, Cibo Matto and Bif Naked playing like an alt nineties last night at the proms, We’re smart, we do our recon, We check our comms, Now we’re dropping love grenades and truth bombs. Patriarchy’s the real Big Bad, And I’ll fight Dracula or Vlad, You wouldn’t like me when I’m mad, Oh, I’m shattering your worldview? My bad. Fighting my demons, I’ll help you with the monster under your bed, But it won’t stop the dread, Even when we grind it’s bones to make our bread I ask myself, what would Buffy do? Maybe if she can I can too, Keep fighting for justice it’s the right thing to do, Armed only with my compassion, some savvy and a quip or two, Slaying vamps and fucking with the Patriarchy since 92, Slay the patriarchy with some witches brew and some hullaballoo, My crew do too, Always remembering When you’ve got a screwdriver, everything looks like a screw, Always willing to review and see things anew, Right on cue, here’s a who’s who of the vamps of Sunnydale coming into view. Meet me at the library, We’ll stick together when things get hairy, I’m throwing down with this demon if it gets lairy, Got my witches brew of baneberry, womandrake and black cherry, And after, we’ll party and make merry What’s the monster of the week? Now I’ve practiced thinking before I speak, Aware of the harm even carelessness can wreak, Aware my fragilities… others view as weak, Learned to chase my curiosity when it’s piqued, Learned that it’s peace and joy I seek. Buffy taught me the hardest thing to do in this world is live in it, This place is full of suffering There’s no denying it, Many ways to tackle it, from fighting it, To finding out what’s underlying it Worth aiming for peace and harmony, Even if we don’t come close to achieving it. Embrace the pain. Spank your inner moppet. Whatever. Just know we’re in this together We can really be there for each other not just fair-weather We can do better Without the burden of aloneness, We’ll feel light as a feather Our love untethered.

Wanted to Shoop like Salt-N-Pepa, Throw those discs like Spinderella, Hang in a Buffalo Stance like Neneh Cherry, When life was more ‘Little House on the Prairie’, In trouble like Shampoo, When I did what I wanted to do, Wanted to be Supa Dupa Fly like Missy Elliot, get my freak on, My confidence and joy obvious and appropriate. Wanted to be a raisin girl like Tori Amos, Talking shit with my mates in tinted lip gloss, 6 underground with the Sneaker Pimps' Kelli, Playing anywhere but here, A small town Machiavelli. Like the Bangles, I walked like an Egyptian, Ignoring the inner voice that’s like a malediction, Wanted to Walk up Santa Monica Boulevard with Sheryl Crow, But ended up feeling like a tourist on Skid Row. 17 like Brandy and Monica, I wanted to know the boy is mine, Wanted to know he wasn’t gonna fuck with me and waste my time, Like Lisa Loeb I missed you, Like Sinead said, nothing compares to you, Damn, like Sophie B, I wish I was your lover, Even though you were just a friend of my BFF’s brother. Don’t Speak, like Gwen, But if not now, when? If I didn’t say what I felt, what then? And You Oughta Know, like Alanis, I just fell in love, didn’t plan this. Was a zombie like Delores sang about Hyper vigilant and not ready for another bout, Stupid Girl, whizzing around my head, Like Shirley said, I can’t believe I fake it, all I am, take it Got through Sour Times with Beth Gibbons, Sitting in forever’s beginnings. Holding me in uncomfortable places, Allowing me to see their beauty too, Still hoping to see a wandering star with only you. (Sung Vocal) Feeling Clueless in this decade Can’t you see that we were made for each other? You’re driving me crazy, I’m thinking lately Baby won’t you be mine? If I give you a little more time? Could we switch it up? Would it be enough…. for you and me?

Where's the nearest possible world, Where the truth is luminescent, glowing ever present, incandescent Thoughts and prayers warping lives and also spacetime Wondering if your nature is divine Draw a mandala, start a journey, To the nearest possible world, where your joy is unfurled Lament the good that could have been That's streamed through our fingers, despite our best intentions The love that seems lost from this dimension, Don't get too caught up, in this grief it's bought up Has to be grist to the mill, for climbing that hill Towards further love, creating or finding meaning, Towards a tower there on the horizon, gleaming, (shine, and let us be, at last. Shine...) Where's the nearest possible world, Where the truth is luminescent, glowing ever present, incandescent Thoughts and prayers warping lives and even spacetime Wondering if your nature is divine Draw a mandala, start a journey, To the nearest possible world, where your joy is unfurled Lament the casual cruelties, in-sensitivities, You've foisted on others, anything you've done to make them feel alone and unseen, unsafe or unclean But don't self-flagellate, there's too much work to do for self-hate, Buddy we all make mistakes, Be kinder, cut yourself some slack, if you're compassionate, you're on the right track Where's the nearest possible world, Where the truth is luminescent, glowing ever present, incandescent Thoughts and prayers warping lives and even spacetime Wondering if your nature is divine Draw a mandala, start a journey, To the nearest possible world, where your joy is unfurled (Embrace the fragile line of life to clarify our path)

Mind flooded with sense memory, trying to engage with them mindfully, not overwhelmed when they arrive suddenly, my body wracked with PTSD How to deal with so much cortisol, certainly not with alcohol, I’ve been here too long in this man-made prison, have to go into nature to see things through a different prism, stop and just listen Feel the world. Be in it. Not separate from it. I want to feel the bigness of the sky bearing down on me, every star a sun shining down on me, The whole universe projected into me, my thoughts supernovae, rippling their way across the galaxies I want to feel my place within it all, The centre point, but small Spinning but still, holding it all together with my will, Anything is possible from here, everything is clear, no doubt or fear, Containing it and being contained by it, the feeling of sunlight on my eyelids, glimmering through the leaves, Dip my hot feet in the crystal clear stream, So I go and I sit, that's the nearest I can get, hear the tiny movements in the undergrowth, the birds in the sky, don't want to be the one crashing through, moving relentlessly, like there's nothing to see The feeling of the breeze on my face, want to embrace, the wild part of me, the one that lives on endlessly, in the very fabric of this place, I want to feel the bigness of the sky bearing down on me, every star a sun shining down on me, The whole universe projected into me, my thoughts supernovae, rippling their way across the galaxies I want to feel my place within it all, The centre point, but small Spinning but still, holding it all together with my will, Anything is possible from here, everything is clear, no doubt or fear, Containing it and being contained by it.

The horses surging readily, Grappling with complexity Traversing space-time steadily Not totally determined by context and heredity, Bound by ties of culture and physical necessity, Able to see myself momentarily An act so mundane it’s hard to see it as extraordinary Able to see myself as the charioteer, before the vision disappears But both the horses are part of me, journeying this realm The horses speeding readily, with me at the helm. I’m a child of the universe, the dream of a goddess, Here to be a sorceress, an adventuress, Yes my clowns, yes my circus, I’ve always been crystal-clear about my purpose, I know this ends in Habeus Corpus, Can’t talk my way out of it like Zeno’s tortoise, Everyone needs some forgiveness, In a world full of sharp edges, Full of deprivations and excesses That makes a mockery out of plans and pledges. Onwards on this grand circuit, Have to take the pain with the joy within it, The chariot’s wings sometimes tattered, When the crash of the waves leaves me shattered, parts of me scattered, But I can keep my eye On the skies, Fixed on what I value, Both the horses helping me as I pursue Surging in perfect harmony, In conformity to eternity The horses speeding readily Our own versions of Dionysian dismembering All of this for the sake of remembering Go through the process of regathering A cherubic vision, lions, bulls, eagles, and humans, Wheels within wheels, truth beaming in lumens To those who think theosis is hubris, Nothing is forgotten that can’t be remembered, Nothing lost or surrendered, Everything is everything, (And anything else is a red herring) This part of the journey light, Winged for flight, Harmony no longer takes a fight Plumage bright and built by right, This joining the Olympian victories Induction into the mysteries, And now I’ve made and paid my recantation And enunciated my earnest declaration A conduit for inspiration, Acting on my obligation Aligned with my inclination Now we’re moving together The road underneath bending to the skies like the tale of Nachiketa, Seeing and seeing And cogitating and contemplating, The suffering now ameliorating Never hesitating or vacillating When the day is done, back to the One, Back through the Supernova into the Universe’s Ova, Take the horses to the stable To give them nectar and ambrosia.

Can you say you acted with integrity when all is said and done? When The ferryman waits for no one.... Onward he ferries, Trying to remember a time my mouth didn't taste of pennies From the coin on my tongue, Close my eyes to better listen to the song that he sung Try to get you to believe altruism and goodness are a rarity Ignore it, we're capable of real sorority and fraternity, Try to get you to act from a feeling of scarcity, Ignore it, of the things that matter, there's plenty Try to get you to focus only on prosperity, your life a treasury Ignore it, chasing wealth will leave you empty, without clarity, Try to make you think we’re shitty people necessarily, Ignore it, most people act with compassion, honesty and fidelity Can you say you acted with integrity when all is said and done When The ferryman waits for no one Onward he ferries, Trying to remember a time my mouth didn't taste of pennies From the coin on my tongue, Close my eyes to better listen to the song that he sung Too old to rhyme? Or try it whilst I still got time? Got something important to say, Trying to point out the ways the world’s in disarray, Tried to make hay while the sun shone, Tried to make my way before I was gone Charon, born of Erebus and Nyx, Now taking me across the Styx, Try to get you to believe humanity's a monstrosity Ignore it, we’re capable of epic beauty and profundity Try to get you to act with animosity, a reverie of antipathy, Ignore it, you can act from peace and generosity Try to convince you we’re stuffed full of barbarity, raging insincerity, Ignore it, it’s a parody of humanity, You can act in solidarity, achieve serenity Try to get you believe it’s natural, this disparity, Ignore them, it’s the result of fuckery, We can aim for parity, make equality a priority.

I’m like a forgotten melody, notes drifting over like the bough of a willow-tree, Roots stretching out like a barely extant mythology I move through the forest unseen, the refrain from Pan’s seven reeds, Each note a resonance effecting you deeply, helping you breathe I’m substance over style, I’m quick with a smile, Give an inch I’ll give a mile, My skills versatile, My bars beguile You’re looking up my lyrics in a html file I’m a lamb in wolf’s clothing, Not OK with fear and loathing I’ll help you out like it’s nothing, My skills bread-winning, My bars leave you spinning I’m like a forgotten melody, notes drifting over like the bough of a willow-tree, Roots stretching out like a barely extant mythology I move through the forest unseen, the refrain from Pan’s seven reeds, Each note a resonance effecting you deeply, helping you breathe Good things come to those who wait, Good thing you’ve got the patience of a saint, Say your piece but show restraint, I’m more likely to see an elephant on my eyelid, than a germ across the sea, I might not be your cup of tea, I’m at the centre of a kerfuffle, making sure no-one’s in trouble, I’m always up for a chuckle, but keep my seat-belt buckled I’m like a forgotten melody, notes drifting over like the bough of a willow-tree, Roots stretching out like a barely extant mythology I move through the forest unseen, the refrain from Pan’s seven reeds, Each note a resonance effecting you deeply, helping you breathe I’m not hanging noodles on your ears, Save your taunts and jeers, you don’t think I’m good? Hold my beer. I walk around in hot porridge, I’ll leave you feeling encouraged, I’ll take dumplings, not flowers, You’ll leave here thinking you got superpowers, I’m the early bird who catches the worm, I’ll politely wait my turn, I don’t have tomatoes on my eyes, I can see through your disguise.