Our songs are inspired by poetry.
The words of the following poets are on our new CD The Unworn Necklace
The first section, Spring/Summer, was inspired by Japanese Haiku poets, Chine, Kagai, Issa, Basho and American poets Richard Krawiec and Kathryn Stripling Byer.
The second section is the Relationship cycle. These poems are by Roberta Beary, Wendell Berry, Rumi and Buson.
The third section, Autumn/Winter, includes Japanese Death poems by
Ranetsu, Senryu, Shofu, Roshu, and Michikaze. The other poems in this section are by Roberta Beary and Jaki Shelton Green.
The music was written by Sarah Kenan Shunk and Sylvia Freeman
Willow Songs, our first CD, is based on poems by members of the North Carolina Haiku Society.
Willow Songs
the text
Words Poet/Composer
landing on the oar/a praying mantis/halts the kayak Krawiec/Freeman
atop the feeder/the wood thrush clabbers/the window Krawiec/Stewart
credit card bills/cover the kitchen table/a line of ants Krawiec/Freeman
slow day/the presser foot quickens/against kente Moore/Freeman
slow steady rhythm/Japanese rainy season/echoes in my heart Smith/Shunk
beavers over there/my feet wet/over here Moyer/Shunk
drifting/with a balloon/a dog barks Straw/Freeman
family reunion/everywhere you look/the same smile Moyer/Stewart
his song/where she said he would be/indigo bunting MacQueen/Shunk
late summer rain/the almost tame rabbit/hops out of sight Russo/Shunk
pick up roars/through the dust cloud/red sea Church/Freeman
sunny side up/a vase of daisies droop/over breakfast Church/Stewart
up with the rooster/tending her tomato plants/
the childless widow Dunlap/Stewart
cicadas/the scissors' shearing/of red cloth
workshop ends/I step into the sound/of katydids Moore/Freeman/Shunk
harborside mall/left and right with measured steps/
an ibis looks for crumbs MacQueen/Freeman
commencement/a bead of water/on every pine needle Dunlap/Freeman
reading Shiki/in the morning dark/a rabbit's death cry Russo/Freeman
so cold/my mother's forehead/in the coffin Krawiec/Freeman
spinning tops/dad's favorite one/rests on grave Smith/Stewart
summer gossip/over back yard fence/blue jays scold us Moyer/Shunk
from leaf/to leaf to ground/bug and bird Straw/Freeman
vintage airshow /the dragonfly's/double wings Church/Shunk
resolution/beneath a new year moon/a dark road MacQueen/Piddington
in the great green room/the quiet old lady's hush/in my voice Bizzarri/Freeman
her hands aglow/beneath the willow tree/fireflies Dunlap/Shunk
wings tapping/my office window/butterfly's face Russo/Shunk
windows down/I slow for a turn/and birdsong Straw/Shunk
|
|