Commissioned by the Rose Singers at Coral Reef High School for the 2020 ACDA Southern Region conference. Shanpatrick Davis, conductor.
Excerpts from text by Pablo Neruda (1904 - 1973), translated by W.S. Merwin (1927 - 2019)
I like for you to be still
It is as though you are absent
And you hear me from far away
And my voice does not touch you
It seems as though your eyes had flown away
And it seems that a kiss had sealed your mouth
As all things are filled with my soul
You emerge from the things
Filled with my soul
You are like my soul
A butterfly of dream
I like for you to be still
It is as though you are absent
Distant and full of sorrow
So you would've died
One word then, One smile is enough
And I'm happy;
Happy that it's not true