A Migratory Air

Music by Paul Nahay
Words by Matthew Westbrook
Performed at the University of Maryland
College Park campus

Give to me the texture of a voice a voice
Lift me to the sleeping throat
I am air
The swallow passage
Forgot to close the door
So here am I
Chambered in a tunnel of wind
What is this bird that tried to speak
Lifting my hair
Beak pressed against my ear
It must be nearing the open end


I am hushed by wounds that glide grounding me
I see swift leaves intrude and fall
And fear the clinging colors will be lost
The sliding bow of minstrel changes key
I hope this will release me
From my own enormity
Free me from a room without walls!


Touch me to the horizon
The toe of this tornado touches ocean upside down
Till I am pulled by vertigo
Swept into the osprey spiral between white caps
Heart between my breasts
This season below removes me from whirlwind motion
Now I can form the firmament of a song


Let there be let there alight
At last the bird with peace of mind
Rests he on my shoulder
Freed from the cyclone
Till this becomes another land
Transitory is the dust we feather away
I open my mouth and the wounds the wounds heal
I can feel the voice of the bird unravelling
It lifts the billows while the sky threads me through

Category:

Music

Tags:

• migratory
• air
• music
• song
• soprano