"Song of Miriam" by Elaine Hagenberg

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"Song of Miriam" by Elaine Hagenberg
Poem by Rabbi Ruth Sohn
for SSA choir and piano
https://www.elainehagenberg.com/song-of-miriam-ssa

Performed by Victory Women's Ensemble
of Des Moines Christian School May 10, 2017
Accompanied by Elaine Hagenberg
Commissioned by Philip Brown and Hopkins HS Bel Canto Choir


"I stand at the sea and turn
to face the desert stretching endless and still.
My eyes are dazzled
The sky brilliant blue
Sunburnt sands unyielding white.
My hands turn to dove wings.
My arms
reach
for the sky
and I want to sing
the song rising inside me.
My mouth open
I stop.
Where are the words?
Where the melody?
In a moment of panic
My eyes go blind.
Can I take a step
Without knowing a
Destination?
Will I falter
Will I fall
Will the ground sink away from under me?
The song still unformed— How can I sing?
To take the first step—
To sing a new song—
Is to close one’s eyes
and dive
into unknown waters,
For a moment knowing nothing risking all— But then to discover
The waters are friendly
The ground is firm.
And the song—
the song rises again.
Out of my mouth
come words lifting the wind. And I hear
for the first
the song
that has been in my heart silent
unknown
even to me."