This poem and subsequent piece was written at a time when I and many of those around me had been struggling terribly with constant, brutal attacks on so many things we held dear: everything from human and civil rights to the environment, our treatment of immigrants and refugees, our freedom of the press, and truth itself. A friend of mine said, “It seems like the world is on fire,” and that resonated with me deeply.
I found inspiration and strength and power in the historic protest of millions of women and men and children who took to the streets across the globe on January 21, 2017. I realized that this was a way forward—to take those flames that threatened to destroy our world and use them instead to fuel the passion and collective power of everyday people who stand up together to fight for justice.
THE SCORE: SATB, a cappella, with frequent divisi. Starting with a distraught cry, and spanning emotions from emotionally numb to contemplative, jubilant, and entreating.
Pineheart Press 