NaPoWriMo #12 - Jeanne's Voices A found poem made from the chapter headings and illustration captions found in the book “The Children’s Joan of Arc”. Jeanne’s voices The peasant maid of Domrémy a baby girl She knelt weeping and prayed garlands of wild flowers The battle “I am only a poor girl” From
NaPoWriMo #11 - Birdsong The birds have no idea What’s been going on Here they are on the Monday Morning of the world Singing I sit in outside in crisp April air Caught between seasons Thaw-freeze breath and Coffee steam rising like incense The birds have no idea When they snap the silence
NaPoWriMo #10 - Wonderful Ed's Blood-Red Cardinal Easter Sunday I lay in bed and watch helpless as A fresh blanket of snow covers Spring’s progress White White White I scan my bedroom for the brightest thing The blood-red breast of a cardinal Perched on the top closet shelf Carved from scrap wood In the ramshackle backyard
NaPoWriMo #9 - Your Voice Gave Out On Good Friday Reading the gospel Your voice gave out When they laid him in the tomb The finality of it The silence Of flesh forsaken by spirit Tragic as a fallen child The Smell of myrrh The Weeping mother The Hollow wind The Naked sky
NaPoWriMo #8 - Maybe God is Self-Isolating Maybe God is Self-Isolating This morning I lay in bed half-awake and try to pray into silence The first words I hear “Maybe God is self-isolating” Maybe It certainly feels that way to me and has For a long while now Long before all of this began If you have
NaPoWriMo #7 - Watch This poem was written using only excerpts from the headlines and descriptions of the videos presented to me by the Facebook Watch algorithm on April 7, 2020. Watch Looking to unwind tonight? Stay home Still in pyjamas Here’s a new video My 80’s inspired ode to social distancing
NaPoWriMo #6 - Cloud Cloud This morning I watch a pillar of cloud pass By the picture window I am opening the eyes of the living room To another frozen dawn Framed above by icy daggers dripping from the eaves Below by a monotone whitewash of snow Yet another ritual on Yet another Monday
NaPoWriMo #5 - Photograph Photograph How did that photograph Reach through my screen and shake me Awake Into tears? Why this one image? Sepia toned Hand-pulled print Pointing always to its maker Who laboured over details for a year This perfect balance of shadow and shine Every mark a witness to some moment Made
NaPoWriMo #4 - The Good Stuff The Good Stuff You’d like to think you could hoard the good stuff Store it up in the bunker for when you need it most But you can’t You don’t even know what it is You always grab the wrong things You have no idea What will
NaPoWriMo #3 - Glitch Glitch Every Pixelated pause Stuttered stream Warbled wave Every Can you h Can Can yi ear me? Can bout now? How bout now? Good? I can hear you Maybe Every Garbled glitch a gift To remind me The real crisis is connection.
NaPoWriMo #2 - Sparks Sparks In the predawn dark After wrestling with my bladder An early awakening I turn on no lights To keep the house asleep And maybe myself with it I hush the door shut Take off my robe Move it towards the hook and see The sparks Hear the crack Of
NaPoWriMo #1 - When the Needle Surrenders When the needle surrenders to the groove There is a new song Or is it an old song Played for the first time on this Emerson console? Christmas With Harry Belafonte Folsom Prison Made new by Warp tuning Crackle and hiss Harmonizing with electric hum Even the house joins the
The Goods for a Pandemic Even in a Pandemic, There’s Good All Around Us It’s not hard to find reasons for despair as we are all at home by law or by choice to stop the spread of COVID-19. But I’ve also found it surprisingly easy to find reasons to hope. Whether
The Goods for a Pandemic Even in a Pandemic, There’s Good All Around Us It’s not hard to find reasons for despair as we are all at home by law or by choice to stop the spread of COVID-19. But I’ve also found it surprisingly easy to find reasons to hope. Whether
A Musician's Guide to Live Streams That Look and Sound Awesome Live Streams are Exploding Right Now Maybe you’ve been wanting to try live streaming for a long time. Maybe you thought you’d never pick up a phone and hit that LIVE button. Whatever you thought of live streaming at the start of 2020, it has quickly become the
March Concert Dates Hello from the bow tie bunker! Spring is creeping up fast and with the warmer weather I’m getting ready to hit the road for a series of shows that will take me around the province. Here’s where you can catch Von Bieker performances this month, along with event
The Goods for February 21, 2020 I’m a collector of good things. Something wonderful happens when we take a moment to celebrate the fantastic things going on all around us – especially when it’s easy to focus on the less-than-fantastic and downright maddening. A simple shift of focus might do you some good this week.
"Take Her Easy" is A Grief in Process Today I am releasing my latest song, Take Her Easy. Unlike my other tracks, Take Her Easy is free. You can get it right here, right now. Get Take Her Easy Free The song is also available now to stream on all major platforms – Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, Google Play,
Songs From Home: Off The Cuff Each Wednesday I play a half hour set from the comfort of my home to yours. Or your office. Or your bus ride. I’m open to requests, so be sure to comment if you have something you’d like to hear me attempt. This week I played “off the
Songs From Home: Places We Can't Live Part One Each Wednesday at noon I go live on Facebook, with a new half-hour set of originals and covers. This week, I introduced my upcoming album Places We Can’t Live by playing a selection of new tunes on the album, and old tunes that the album is transforming. Enjoy the
Show Announcements for January 2020 2020 has somehow arrived and with a new decade come new opportunities. Here are the places I’m performing this month. January 23 – The Red Hart, Red Deer The Red Hart is a fantastic brewery and taproom owned by some fine folks. I’m happy to return to this cozy,
Knowing He Would Fail, He Set Goals For the past several years I’ve been making and breaking goals each year around this time. I don’t mean ‘breaking’ like you would break a world record or even break a sweat. I mean failing. Why bother setting goals at all? I view resolutions as a “shoot for
The Waiting Season Christmas Time is Here. Almost. ‘Tis the season of waiting. I play a 1963 Silvertone guitar. I remember seeing the online listing. I debated back and forth. I worked the budget. I wondered how wise it was to order a fragile old guitar from Vancouver Island in the mail. The
What If Nobody Shows? I’m afraid of crowds. But not like you think. I’m afraid the crowds won’t show. I’ve had to confront this ugly truth about myself this week and I thought this might be something you deal with too. It all came to a head Saturday evening. My
