From soul to spirit is the hood I claim

Reflections after 4 days in the Big Bear Mountains with 18 mentors and 45 young men from some of the most difficult neighborhoods in Los Angeles, using elemental knowledge, indigenous practice, ritual and love to awaken our wounds, heal, discover our gifts and accomplish together

what we cannot do alone. 

There is also calm after the storm

A subsiding of feelings born

From love for young men torn

Between faith to homies mourned

Fear of the gods we scorned

And new life wanting to take form

We went to the mountain to remember our names
Given by spirit before nightmares came
Informed by the wind, water and flame
With a prayer that the streets may someday change
The earth under our feet won’t feel the same
When anger meets love and trust trumps blame
From soul to spirit is the hood I claim

Youth asks me: Can I have the life I desire?
The one I asked for when facing the fire?
Can I learn to forgive the thief and the liar?
And release these habits in which I’m mired.

To walk this earth as the man I wish to be
I must forgive the thief in me
The one that stole my dignity
Will you absolve me first? That’s my plea
Will you look past my actions to really see?
The wounds that need healing inside of me
My actions are a scream that “I” must become “we”
Until then no man is truly free
“in lakesh” – you are the other me

Will the elder in me find the love to maintain
My purpose when faced with this mountain of pain
That descends from the heavens like torrential rain
Yes “from the heavens” is correctly named
God sends us this challenge, it’s simple and plain

It’s ours to tame judgment and blame

From soul to spirit is the hood I claim

So break my heart, I can take it

Challenge compassion, maybe you’ll wake it

Up in me, so I don’t have to fake it

I steal from your youth just a little bit

The ingredients of life. I’m hangin onto it

Mix in some wisdom for a perfect fit

It’s a grand feast. Let’s partake in it.

Coming down from the mountain we’re never the same

Transformed by god's breath feeding our flame

Can both youth and elder hold onto our game

Through each other’s hearts we remember our name

From soul to spirit is the hood I claim

Tony LoRe