Little piece of sun

by Jes Karper

I learned this from a friend, Kelsie Pombo. It was written by Jes Karper as a fire drilling song: a song to sing while manually making a fire with sticks. I like to sing the chorus as a round. All verses and Jes’ version below.

He says:

That song jumped out of the fire at me several years ago… i have been on a journey of remembering humans and what we were like before all of our crazy institutions and systems… ancient skills like making fire from friction are a big part of this meditation on being a human…  i was reading about the kalahari people and their culture that was so very ancient and nomadic… and they would carry their fire with them when they would move and use an ostrich egg with sand in it to hold the coal…  if and when their fire would go out completely they would gather everyone old and young and start singing their fire song and hand drilling on a hearthboard… every person would have to spin the spindle at least once before the coal would be made and the song held the rhythm of the hands moving the spindle back and forth…   anyway that is part of the inspiration and the song is written to that rhythm… thanks for taking interest in that song, i would be happy if it gets sung as often as possible… on and on through the ages… 

Chorus:

Come come come little little little piece of sun
Sing the song of where you’re travelling from
Your glow is warm, your colours shine so bright
So come come come little little little piece of light

The ancient tree has lived a fruitful life
Collecting starlight from up in the sky
Growing tall and branches ever strong
Standing still and rooted for so long

(Chorus)
One small branch will give us what we need
For every piece of tree contains a seed
Of starlight stored up over all this time
Reaching out to gather in sunshine

(Chorus)
One straight stick will serve us for a spindle
A flatboard for a hearth tinder bundle and kindle
Spin the spindle ‘round and make a hole
Carve a notch and gather up a coal

(Chorus)