DEDICATION

To my best friend I'm so proud of
who writes songs that make me sigh
To the man who once said sorry
for a song so good I cried
To the girl who brought me coffee
when I needed caffine quick
And the people who have fed me
when I was dizzy or felt sick.
To the lady singing Viking songs
who first let me join in
To the filker who requested
one of my songs to sing
To all you filkers out there
who made me feel like I belong
And to every circle singer
that ever sang a song.

By Michele [Miki] Dennis

I am the Queen of a' the Fae
An' I take what I will
For any that take ought from me
It will go very ill

So I ha' lost ma ain Tam Lin
To a wonton, human maid
Who stole away ma Paladin
An' that price must be paid

So Janet wie yer mantle green
Ye think ye ha' things straight
But ye ha' crossed a mighty Queen
An' I need only wait

For I can wait while mountains rise
An' weather back to clay
An' I can wait to gain ma prize
For I am the Queen of Fae

So hold thy love and keep him then
As ye an' he grow auld
An' live the life of mortal men
As life an' love grow cold

Then ye shall see thy children born
But ye shall see them cry
Ye shall see them greet an' mourn
An' ye shall see them die

An' on the day ye breathe your last
I'll come for what is mine
Then just as though na time ha' past
He'll rise up young an' fine

An' I can wait while mountains rise.......

An' I will ha' ma ain Tam Lin
Once more here by ma side
'Till all the stars above grow dim
An' human kind ha' died

While ye and yours will go to dust
In suffering an' pain
Ma lover lost to mortal lust
I will, with ease, regain

Then neither Hell nor womankind
Shall tear ma knight awa'
With powerfull spells his soul I'll bind
To the Dreadful' Queen of Fae

Till then I'll wait while mountains rise............

Michele [Miki] Dennis

THE VANISHING

She said she could hear singing on the wind
Something calling her from not far away
Excitedly she threw the window open
And let in a breeze sweet scented with the may

She told me who they were and what they sang
How she had met them once so long ago
Of their beauty and how gracefully they danced
And how hard it was to ever let them go

She slipped out of my arms while I was sleeping
I should have stayed awake and held her tight
But she left my side and I just didn't see
As she walked into the darkness of the night

When we were tired of searching she begged us try once more
She swore that she'd heard voices in the dark the night before
She had left him for a moment to see who might be there
But when she returned he'd vanished

Michele [Miki] Dennis

THE UNDEAD FOLK SONG

Now folk singers they do not tire nor ever fade away
You can hear them singing any time both night and day
The secret of their stamina from all I’ve seen or read
Is – to be a good folk singer it helps to be UNDEAD!

Well some of us are drownded down in the deep blue sea
Thrown o’r the side by pirates bound for Americi
Dragged down by vicious whirlpools or mermaids full of lust
We will rise up singing though wet and still concussed

Sometimes we will sing to you from six foot underground
You’ll be amazed how tons of earth cannot dampen the sound
Decapitated, strangled, throats cut from ear to ear
Covered in mud and piles of leaves we sing out loud and clear

The world is full of murderers, at least that’s how it looks
Cruel hearted parents, false lovers, evil crooks
They lurk in every shadow to deal out a grisly fate
We will sing out against them, although a little late

Even if you cut us up and make things from our bones
All you get are pipes that whinge or a harp that moans
What e’r you try to play on them from Bach to old Greensleeves
All you get are folk singers sounding kinda peeved

As ghosts we haunt the country round causing lots of strife
We wail and make a frightful noise, much as we did in life
Our lack of corporal bodies, it should fill you with fear
And it makes it very hard to put our fingers in our ears [NAAAAAA]

So though you wish that we would stay safely dead and gone
With no necessity to breathe we just go on and on and on and on
Don’t reach for cross or garlic, remember what l said
To sing a real good folk song it helps to be UNDEAD

Michele [Miki] Dennis

THE WILD HUNT

For Talis

He climbed the sacred hill, the breath rasping in his throat
He ran as though hounds chased him, teeth catching on his coat
He howled aloud to Heaven, or was he calling Hell
As the wind alive with sound and scent smote him so he fell
Remembering the promise in words the ancients wrote
He raised his face to listen for a distant horns bright note

We are the Lords of Annwn, the riders on the storm
Orion, Herne, Diana, we take on many forms
We ride the winds from Hades, through lightning and hurricane
Where there's nothing separating the slayer from the slain
Some are cursed and others blessed and few are human born
We're the hunter and the hunted and we all follow the horn

I want to join the hunt he cried, his voice almost a scream
I want to feel the fever, I want to live the dream
To breathe the smells of man and beast that stir like woman's kiss
Not even that can move the soul, wake passion such as this
The chance of sublime pleasures, the thrill of joys unclean
The taste of terror, bitter-sweet, divine and yet obscene

We are the Lords of Annwn, the riders on the storm....

Winds upon the sacred hill howl wilder than before
Like flaying knives they sting his skin, cutting to the core
They cloud the senses, spin the mind until he can just see
The Twilight Lords and Horn‚d Ones amongst the ancient trees
The tumult that surrounds him it rises more and more
As if the Earth and Heaven were fighting a great war

We are the Lords of Annwn, the riders on the storm.....

From the void angels and demons of the Host appear
His plea heard, the hunt is up, the prey running in fear
Horses and riders thunder all around him through the rain.
Then he feels the rush of blood and the sudden, shocking pain
This close to death, life sings louder, everything's so clear
But as he falls beneath the hounds the horn's all he can hear

We are the Lords of Annwn, the riders on the storm....

By Michele [Miki] Dennis

MEDIATOR

In the dark and silent office there burns a single light
As a lonely figure works on late into the night
In the semi darkness he sits there all alone
And the new guy in security says,'Why doesn't he go home?'

But when there's nothing waiting there you can't call it home
When the only thing you are there is alone

So pray you never get to see the loneliness that lies
Behind the mask like shield of hie dark and piercing eyes
For he loved completely only once with all his soul and heart
But tragedy and violence tore her and his world apart

Now he must face a world that's cold and bleak without her
When all he ever does is think about her

But it is he that people call in times of strife or war
To find between opposing sides some common ground once more
To be the Mediator he must care for everyone
To gain their trust he must love all, show preference for none

The pain that comes with failure so wounds him to the soul
That no amount of success makes him whole

And those that call him friend hold him more valuable than gold
They have wept more tears for him that can be wrote or told
For he would go through hell for them and has done in the past
And their only wish is peace for him, some kind of rest at last

But he has seen the future and some far and distant day
When Destiny has cast him in her play

For when our distant brothers from the stars arrive
It's only he who'll speak for us to see that we survive
It is he who'll forge the treaty between the stars and earth
He'll mediate, negotiate a new age, a rebirth

For he knows there's something coming that will only talk to him
So he is waiting patiently for the talking to begin...

And so to live without her he knows he has to try
Because, until the judgement day, he knows he cannot die

Michele [Miki] Dennis

WAITING WORDS

My words to you hung in the air unused
If you should turn around they're waiting here
And if one day you need them, or merely to amuse
Just breathe them in , they'll still be fresh and clear.

Whispered far too soft for you to hear
Three little words it took too long to learn
They wait, like me, completely petrified with fear
That you will never bother to return

When you left, the bright and numbing cold
Froze words you didn't think to get from me
Sentiments kept young in ice as you and I grow old
Await a touch from you to set them free

The words we thought that I would never say
Were spoken when you'd gone and far too late
They lie abandoned 'midst the dust and the decay
Where the only thing they have to do is..wait.

Michele [Miki] Dennis

JACK IN THE GREEN

She sought a crown of mistletoe so she could be a queen
When amidst the snows of winter she met the man in green
He smiled, winked one bright eye and said, ‘You can call me Jack.’
The child of seven years just stood and gazed unfrightened back
Then he showed her wondrous things that no one else had seen

And the wood is old as England and surely older still
Sometimes it offers shelter and sometimes nought but ill
Deep within it Jack just smiles as he hears the hunt go by
And nods to all the younger gods as they blaze across the sky
Then he checks the silent traps and snares he set the night before
For although he is the Green Man he is red in tooth and claw

They met again one springtime amongst bushes white with thorn
Bright green shoots of spring leaves as the year was newly born
He was strong and she was fair and he would not let her go
He laid her down in fresh young grass despite her whispered ‘No’
And she never told a soul how her dress got soiled and torn

And the wood is old as England…………..

One high summer she trod the path through woods of ash and oak
There was Jack wearing the leaves as if they were a cloak
This time she did not hesitate nor wait for his advance
But she slipped beneath the green to join him in the dance
And there was nothing left to say so neither of them spoke

And the wood is old as England…………..

She came one autumn with a boy who ran laughing ahead
To pick berries as the trees turned from green to gold and red
There, basking in the sun, was Jack who paid her little heed
So she quietly turned away without even taking leave
The child with juice stained lips and hands, followed where he led

And the wood is old as England……………………..

At thirty five they found her body lying in the snow
With ivy and red berried holly covered head to toe
The priest refused to read o’er her or grant her hallowed ground
So they left her where she lay and raised over her a mound
And it soon became a spot where no one dared to go

In later years Jack passed it by and something made him stay
So he planted thorn and oak on it and then went on his way

And the wood is old as England………………….

Miki Dennis

THE COSTUMERS SONG

TO; Laurie Morgans' I'm Looking for Something in Red

I'm making this costume in red
Something that's shocking to turn the fans head
Strapless and sequined and cut down to there
Stockings and garters and lace underwear
A guaranteed number, I'll knock the fen dead
In my hall costume I made in red

I'm producing a monster in green
With a fantastic mask so my face won't be seen
I can't see where I'm going, I hope I don't fall
But I'm not sure my wings will fit into the hall
And to make all the legs I've a whole football team
In my monstrous production in green

I'm doing one from a story in blue
The book calls for glass armour and lights that change hue
So I'm moulding some perspex to fit oh so tight
With enough electronics to fuse all the lights
But how in Hells' name do you go to the loo?
In this one from a story in blue

I'm recreating one in white
I must be authentic and get the cut right
No zips and no velcro - that's going too far
And authentic undies, not a wonderbra
And no sign of nylon or lycra in sight
In my recreation in white

I'm improvising in black
I found all the bits in a big plastic sack
It'll rise from the rubbish a great work of art
But if I move too quickly it might fall apart
It looks great from the front but I daren't turn my back
In my improvisation in black

I'm wearing this something in red
My years of experience at this have led-
Me to the conclusion that you'd rather see
Less of the costume and much more of me
So here's to the judges, I heard what you said
It's a prize for the something in red

Miki Dennis

DANSE MACABRE

Step into the darkness around the candle flame
Join my dance, you never will be sorry that you came
The hidden depths of shadows have dancers cloaked within
It's a song of sweet corruption and delicious sin.

So your body will do anything your mind tells it to do
But your mind will only want those things that I desire you to.

Across the universe our timeless dance steps lead
In search of pain and suffering, the things on which I feed
And I promise you'll enjoy it, each scream or cry or tear
The despair, the agony and, best of all, the fear

The nightmares you awake from disgusted but excited
I'll make them all come true, I swear you'll be delighted
When the victims and the flesh, the blood , the death are real
Let me show you how disgusted and just how good you'll feel

We'll prey upon the helpless, you'll love to hear them plead
And we'll cut down the brave and strong just to watch them bleed
You'll want it just as I do although you know it's wrong
But the wanting is the real gift of my seductive song

We'll step a measure of betrayal and of cruel deceit
To hunt a soul into despair will leave your own replete
It's an art to build up hope just to crush it with a lie
To keep alive a spirit that only prays to die

You will suffer pain so exquisite and so fine
I can raise you from a lingering death, time after time
You'll beg to find the pure bliss that pure agony can bring
A willing victim of the dance and the song I sing

Come and join the twisting dance, heed my siren song
Eternity can be so dull, it is so very long
A little entertainment is all I ask of you
And I won't ask for anything that you don't want to do

So your body will do anything your mind tells it to do
But your mind will only want those things that I desire you to

By Michele [Miki] Dennis

THE ECSTASY OF FLIGHT

TO; Sometimes When We Touch

Last night I dreamt of flying
Of sailing past the moon
Of soaring, dipping diving
To some forgotten tune
I felt the wind of heaven
I sensed the breath of God
And I awoke remembering
All that I had lost

CHORUS
Sometimes all in vain
On tiptoe I will strain
To reach up and try to touch the sky
I want to leap clear of the ground
Never to come back down
Don't hold me here when I only want to fly

Oh you can bring me bright pearls
And you can bring me jade
But they can never equal
The price that I have paid
Exiled here from Heaven
Would I be better dead
Than to loose the bridge of feathers
That my feet ache to tread

Please give me wings of paper
Or give me wings of steel
Anything to lessen
The longing that I feel
To rise up like the phoenix
Once more as light as air
To see creation from above
Oh Gods! it isn't fair

The printed word can lift me
And fly me far from here
The silver screen transports me
To distant hemispheres
But pure imagination
Never can requite
The cruel desire for freedom
In the Ecstasy of Flight

By Michele [Miki] Dennis

JURASSIC PARK PICNIC

TO: Teddy Bears Picnic

If you go down to the park today
You're sure of a big surprise
If you go down to the park today
You'll never believe your eyes
For palaeontologists everywhere
Will only be able to stand and stare
Today's the day the dinosaurs meet the humans

There're Raptors there with nasty big teeth
Who like to hunt prey in packs
Who jump out of ambush from cupboards or bush
In sneaky surprise attacks
They're quick to learn to open up doors
And amputate limbs with horrible claws
Today's the day the dinosaurs EAT the humans!

The dinosaurs are locked up tight
Try as they might they haven't a hope of getting free
And just to make us feel secure
The staff have all sailed out to sea
The animals can't reproduce, if that's the truth
We should have a restful day
But dinosaurs who ought to be spayed
Are hatching eggs without getting laid
Because life will find a way

If you drive down to the park today
Don't give a hitchhiker a ride
Don't call him names or pound on your horn
And never let him inside
And he may look sweet and not very tough
He may be dressed in an elegant ruff
But today's the day the dinosaurs eat the humans

Who shakes the ground as she walks around
And is bigger than all the rest
Good old T Rex who will swallow up kids
And Lawyers and other pests
She may be big but her brain is small
She can't come to grips with a car at all
If she had a tin opener then she would be dangerous

Such Prehistoric fun there'll be
For you and me with creatures from ancient history
All scientifically produced
Now we've solved lifes' greatest mystery
So they've got a second shot at coming out on top
They won't be caged in zoo
And the airforce won't be round with a bomb
To send them all to hell
Because we must have a Park Mark 2!

By Michele [Miki] Dennis

There was a young lord of this shire
With position, wealth and land
Whose home it was a great old house
With rooms so fine and grand

This house it stood in grounds all filled
With roses large and fair
The sound of fountains and the scent
Of roses in the air

And there from birth this Lord he played
In gardens bright with flowers
Amidst the roses purfumed breath
He spent his childhood hours

Then in his youth he took a wife
Both beautiful and gay
Who brought great joy into the house
And brightened every day

Together they would walk the grounds
This Lord and Lady fair
Amongst the blossoms and the scent
Of roses in the air

They lived in peace and harmony
And they believed their love
Was made to last forever by
The Lord in Heav'n above

But all too soon this maid fell sick
'Spite all the doctors tried
She faded quickly and in only
A few days she died

Distraught he walked the garden
In tears and great dispair
Consoled by flowers and the scent
Of roses in the air

But then fate smiled on him once more
And eased his grief and pain
And he began to face the world,
To smile and laugh again

For some years on he met a maid
Who healed his broken heart
And together they resolved to make
Themselves a brand new start

Once more the whole house it was filled
With flowers everywhere
And there was colour and the scent
Of roses in the air

So for some time they lived in bliss
And treasured each new day
Until the time that duty called
The young Lord far away

This parting made them weep and
It grieved their hearts full sore
For he must sail across the sea
For full six months or more

So this Lady vowed to keep the house
And grounds in good repair
Cheered by the flowers and the scent
Of roses in the air

But then one day walking alone
She felt a sudden chill
And the scense that something close at hand
Might wish to do her ill

She felt as though she were observed
Though no one could she see
That hidden eyes were watching her
From every bush and tree

And as she gathered blossoms
She felt a presence there
Amongst the flowers and the scent
Of roses in the air

Each day the feeling grew as she
Walked the garden round
And she began to jump and start
At each unusual sound

It seemed as though if she could but
Turn around quite fast
She'd catch a sight of someone there
Behind her on the path

Where she had loved the garden
She felt she should not dare
To enjoy the flowers and the scent
Of roses in the air

She was sure she could hear whispers
But could not tell where from
Nor what the voice was saying nor
To who it did belong

Footfall close behind her
Hot breath upon her cheek
And yet no sign of man nor beast
It made the Lady weep

To raise her spirits she went forth
To gather blossonms rare
To fill the great house with the scent
Of roses in the air

But as she knelt to pluck the bloom
A cry it sounded clear
And it froze the Ladies heart and
Filled her soul with fear

As she put out her hand to grasp
The roses thorny stem
A warning cry from nowhere
It rent the air again

A woman's voice cried out
As if in pain 'Forbear!'
As her hand closed on the rose
It's scent heavy in the air

Her hand it closed upon the rose and
the thorn it cut her deep
And as she fell to earth she heard
the guardian spirit weep

And as she fell to earth she knew
that the evil force had been
The garden and it's flowers
Not the spirit all unseen

The Lord he found her lying
Cold and senseless there
'Neath the blossoms with the scent
Of roses in the air

And she died as had his first wife
And no one could say why
For none but she had heard
The ladies warning cry

And ever more in grief he walks
Each pathway and each track
Through the garden that he loves and
Roses that love him back

And ever more he lives alone
Surrounded everywhere
By jealous flowers and the scent
Of roses in the air.

By Michele [Miki] Dennis

THE FIELDS THAT WE KNOW

A bit out of earshot and just out of sight
Over the boarder by just a stones throw
There's a brilliant hued landscape, a crystal clear light
A place so unlike the fields that we know

Dragons and unicorns there you will find
Amaranth and Asphodel blossom and grow
Elves with a beauty beyond humankind
And sometimes they visit the fields that we know

Even time there is different and flows like a dream
No past, just today, no tomorrow
Timeless are its' people, eternal they seem
Nothing like those of the fields that we know

A patchwork of nightmares, a collage of dreams
So often you can't tell a friend from a foe
And not all you find there is just what it seems
It's far more unsafe than the fields that we know

But sometimes you see just a glimpse of this place
A subtle but definite shift in a shadow
A movement you catch as your head turns in haste
Of something not from the fields that we know

It's beyond the sunset and before the dawn
This side of a daydream, over the rainbow
It's not safe, it's not cosy, it's far from the norm
And it's oh so unlike the fields that we know

By Michele [Miki] Dennis

SERIAL FOLK KILLER

As I was out walking one morning in May
I met with a fair maid a making her way
I drew out a dagger and down she did swoon
And I did it again while out walking in June

CHORUS
So forget Mr Lecter, the Ripper and more
They none of them come close to my fatal score
For my list of victims is varied and long
I'm the Serial Folk Killer from story and song

While passing a river I cannot refrain
From pushing in maidens again and again
And I ought to resist the urges I know
To murder a girl when'er she says 'No'

So forget Dr Crippen, Sweeny Todd and more

When sailing the ocean and braving the tides
I've oft had to throw damsels over the side
By the full moon I find. if I call from the shore
I can lure from their beds a full dozen or more

So forget Mr Lecter, the Ripper and more...

I will creep through the hall when a lord is away
And hunt down his lady to brutally slay
Or I offer them marriage and off we do ride
But the wedding night none of them ever survive

So forget Dr Crippen, Sweeny Todd and more...

But now I've run out of fair wenches to kill
Of bloodshed folk singers have all had their fill
So off to the New World I think I shall go
To retire to the banks of the old O- Hi-O

So forget Dr Crippen, Sweeny Todd and more...

Michele [Miki] Dennis

LOVE SONG FOR FILKERS

I can't tell you how you make me feel
How we're sometimes just a word apart
But when I hear you speak the words
They can tear my soul apart
Oh sometimes when you tell your tales
Hidden meanings are revealed
And somewhere in-between the lines
You tell me how you make me feel

I can't play you how you touch my heart
How we're somewhere in the melody
But your fingers strike the perfect notes
To fill the world with harmony
Oh sometimes when you play the tune
Concealed descants seem to start
Then with crochets, quavers, riffs and chords
You play me how you touch my heart

I can't sing you what you mean to me
How love is in the rhymes and score
But when you take up the sweet refrain
Then my spirits rise to fly and soar
Oh sometimes when you sing your songs
They become a rhapsody
As the music and the words combine
You sing me what you mean to me

By Michele [Miki] Dennis

SISTERS THREE

For Gwen

You'll find us on a high Greek hill
Or a blackened Scottish moor
In the darkness of some rocky hole
On the apple islands' shore
Then you'll hear just what you want to hear
See what you want to see
But it may not mean..
What you think it means
When you ask the Sisters Three

Firstly you may find us
Dancing with the spring
Threading a measure gracefully
We damsels spiral, wheel and spin
Charting stars and mapping signs
Counting time with every beat
With twisting, turning, little steps
Of delusion and deceit

Secondly in summer
Or when autumn's high
We take our ease in hidden glades
And watch the world with a bright eye
Now worldly wise we gossip
Telling tales and weaving yarns
Dams we are and damned we be
As we cast our strange weird charms

Thirdly crones in winter
As the year grows old
We wait amongst the standing stones
midst biting wind and cutting cold
In the storm we up brew trouble
show visions in a darkened glass
Friendly curses, forecast fates
Shear the measured thread at last

You'll find us on a high Greek hill
Or a blackened Scottish moor
In the darkness of some rocky hole
On the apple islands' shore
Then you'll hear just what you want to hear
See what you want to see
But it may not mean..
What you think it means
When you ask the Sisters Three

By Michele [Miki] Dennis