Listen to the Voices of Concinnity perform “Shadow Reel to Last Breath,” a part of Jessica Rudman’s and my choral work A Forest That is a Desert. I am very honored and grateful to the performers for their beautiful recording.
Here is the text:
“Shadow Reel to Last Breath”
There is no revelation
in her vexed words, lost sleep,
the catch in her throat.
Shadows reel about the room
where a lamp is always on,
a little sun.
We turn her body,
turn her sheets,
take turns around her bed.
We walk,
with anarchy and darkness
on the clock,
an arc.
Rock, and step, and circle.
Listen, listen,
her speech is rough
and loose.
We keep our tears silent
and our gazes blank.
The hour comes round at last.
