Don’t be a child. Be a child.
Be a child about love. Don’t be a child about codependency.
Be a child about playtime. And take it serious.
Like it’s the most important time you have.
Don’t be a child about cleaning your room.
Be a child about building a fort.
Don’t be a child about money.
Be a child about a new, empty cardboard box.
Don’t be a child about blaming your brother.
Be a child about wrestling.
Don’t be a child when a child says ‘I hate you’.
Children don’t know hate. They just heard you and the mean world say it.
And they wanna grow too fast.
Don’t be a child about new plastic crap you saw on the internet.
Be a child about music. A piano is a wonderland. A drum set is a jungle gym.
Don’t be a child about sharing your instruments. They were made to be played.
Jelly wipes off. You can disinfect snot. They’re not gonna break it.
Be a child about sleep. Lot’s of it. Sprawled out like a fattened king post Jubilee,
covers exposing your warm, dirty feet.
Don’t be a child about shitting the bed. It happens. Own it. Fix it.
Be a child in the morning. Find your father meditating in his room and meet his brightened heart at your entrance. Try out his pillow.
Stretch on his mat. Bang on his drums.
Be a child in the evening. Look into your mothers face and know…
things are o.k. in here. There’s a big, dark, scary world out there but mom’s here.
Even if she’s not.
Don’t be a child when it’s time to go. An easy exit means treats on the ride home.
Leaving is hard but when it’s time it’s time.
Be a child about holding on. Grip tight for a few, furious seconds then POOF!
Something completely new, different and fine, just fine.
Don’t be a child about time. Know it. Neither love nor hate it.
Accept it. Learn it. Manage it.
Be a child about friends. Always more new ones. Your best ones are for life.
Be a child about enemies. Slay them like dragons with foam swords of thunder.
And remember how easy it is to make up monsters because it’s fun. But always make sure the monsters are playing too. Don’t make monsters out of friends.
And remember - they’re all friends. We’re all friends. Except bullies. Bullies are wounded friends waiting to be loved. Don’t be a bully.
Stand up to them with love lasers.
And whatever you do - don’t grow up, Child.
Hello! It’s been a long, summery minute since my writer hat’s seen action.
The boys have grown and, as seen above, have shed any lingering shyness for the silver insta-screen (thanks for the shout out, Harvey! Well done, kid. & no, you can’t get a phone yet.). They’re also sleeping in later, gifting me the wee hours to steel some serenity and carve a working am practice time. The mat. Sticks & pad. Morning pages. I’m hoping it adds up to more you & me time. Intending so. Keep me on track, wouldja?
I hope you’re surviving the cold, dark winter of ‘26. I find myself in spells of PPTSD (pandemic) checking in on the news every 10minutes longing for a grain of hope to brighten the way. But alas, despite the push-button, next day delivery culture we’ve painted ourselves into… real change remains incremental. Slooooooowly inching along… In which direction? Guess we gotta wait and see…
In the meantime we lean on our pillars; music, love, words, practice…
….each other…
So, with lots of excitement and satisfaction I’m here to share some news. After loads of filtering, editing, waiting and working I’ve assembled a trio to help me record and release a cluster of my original songs. We’re calling the project Treebirds (for now). We tracked instruments and lead vocal’s live in house at my old buddy, Jeff Thomas’ studio in Havertown, PA. The great master of telecaster, Justin Mazer laid down some beautiful guitar work. I plan to have overdubs finished this month then it’s off to Charlie Muench for mixing (he did some killer bass and harmonies too!). We’re looking at May for the official release w/ a bunch of warm up shows here & there along the way. Stay tuned. More on that soon.
Gig Schedule:
Feb. 6 : Philly Nelson w/ sp. guest Treebirds @ Godfrey Daniels / Bethlehem, PA
Feb. 18 : DSB (solo Treebird) feature at Open Mic. 118 North / Wayne, PA
Feb. 19 : Hezekiah Jones @ Lost Elephant / Elmer, NJ
Feb. 21 : Frog Holler Godfrey Daniels / Bethlehem PA - SOLD OUT.
Feb. 27 : Chris Kasper Manor Mill / Monkton, MD
Feb. 28 : Chris Kasper Godfrey Daniels / Bethlehem, PA
Thanks for reading. Holler back. Would love to hear from you.
xoxo,
d
