Teaching Stories & Poems
NEW: SPIRITUAL AWAKENING
What does it mean?
NEW: AUDIO POEM:
THIS HAS TO CHANGE
This recording of This Has To Change was performed by Lisa Rafel.
THIS HAS TO CHANGE
He said, Hey, don’t stress, You’re the best!
Don’t cry, you’ll be fine –
You want some wine? Try a distraction,
Or something stronger
Soon it will get better – Just a little longer
‘Fore the changes come to pass
Independence at last
Equal power, equal choice
Equal freedoms, equal voice!
Um Hmmmm
Um Hmmmm
He said, Hey, don’t stress, give it time
Women understand, they got strength and style
Women gather things, they walk the extra mile
They bridge the gap, they cut the crap
They rearrange - They’re not to blame
That some men want their life the same
Treating women as a game
Huh hummm
Huh hmmmm
She said, Something’s not right
Let’s get some light to see it brighter
Raise the band-aid from the wound
Look inside to see the hiders
Those deniers, insiders,
angry criers, complicators,
Baiting haters, agitators
See the depth from where it comes
‘Cause that story has no glory –
A new story has begun
No more pending, stalling, fending
Wishful thinking or pretending
Time to write a different ending
And let me tell you why
This has to change
This has to change
Um hmmm
Um hmmm
I was told by someone older -
it’s not your place – to make the plans
The man’s the driver, the decider,
He’s more experienced and wiser
If you complain, you’re in the fryer
Then they can call you a divider–
Cause when the liars make the rules -
Men who justify their might –
The women know the truth
Um hmmm
Um hmmm
Boys grow up learning how to fight
They think winning is the prize
They’re blinded by their minds
Let’s stop this heinous lie
Um hmmm
Um hmmm
We say, we are in a turning
The wheel of life is burning
Wake up to what is churning
In your hearts there’s different learning
We can’t get lost in dreams and schemes
Of language that’s combatting,
And fearful copycatting
That’s distracting, and lacking
Entrapping and attacking
Because …
Freedom isn’t free
When someone’s standing in your way
When they make laws devoid of feelings
When your life feels stripped of meaning
Freedom isn’t free
We gotta stand against the storm
Freedom gives us vision
It’s a reason to be born
Um hmmm
Um hmmm
This has to change
This has to change
No more waiting in the corner
We’re not waiting any longer
This has to change
Um hmmm
©2020Lisa Rafel
ANCIENT MOTHER
Quan Yin, giver of compassion, mercy and kindness.
ANCIENT FATHER
Softening your heart to hear the masculine voice.
THE RIVER
Caught in the narrows, the churning
Sucking current push-pulled her down and up,
Throwing her like a rag doll carried by an angry child.
Searching for air, she thrust her face above the foam
Toward the deep blue sky, where clouds were flying
Like migrating geese heading home.
Where are they going she wondered?
Soothing her fearful gasps, she bent her legs that had Protected her and tucked them in.
Her body rocked like in a cradle from an old dream.
Tilting her face up to see clouds again, she filled her
Lungs and swam toward an aqua blue just ahead,
To the calmer sea that was waiting.
©2025 Lisa Rafel
