Name: Blackwaterside
Duration: P00H04M37S
Description: After hearing Anaïs play this at our first rehearsal, Fay found that she wanted to write an answering piece from the others' perspective. The song (traditional Irish) and poem are weaved together.

Blackwaterside

from The Speaking Strings by Anaïs Bokanovsky and Fay Roberts

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about

After hearing Anaïs play this at our first rehearsal, Fay found that she wanted to write an answering piece from the others' perspective. The song (traditional Irish) and poem are weaved together.

lyrics

One morning fair I took the air
Down by Blackwaterside
'Twas gazing all around me
The Irish that I spied

She was made of eyes,
Unblushing,
A quick step,
A tumble of hair,
And we fell into each other.
Ribbons entwined in the dance.

’Twas in the first part of that night
We lay in sport and played,
When this young man arose and he gathered his clothes,
Saying, "Fare thee well today".

Intoxication drummed
In my blood,
Tugged words
Where the faith of
Fingertips should have sufficed.

That's not the promise that you gave to me
When first you lay on my breast,
You could make me believe with your lying tongue
That the sun rose in the west.

She looked at me with those
Deep-drowning eyes,
Melting me to the core,
And I was lost again.
This is not an excuse.
This is a prayer.

Go home, go home, to your father's garden
Go home and you weep your fill,
And think on your own misfortune
That you bought with your wanton will.

Other vows draw me,
Unwilling, with feet of clay,
Heart cleaved into
Stuttering meat,
Bones slivers, step broken.
Marching beats drive me now
I do not think I will ever dance again.

There's not one girl in this whole wide world
So easily led as I,
Sure the skies they will fall and the seas they run dry,
When they marry you and I.

Listen.
As the sun touches the sea,
If you can hear me,
Follow the dancing path it lays
Across the waves
And it's there we'll be together.

One morning fair I took the air
Down by Blackwaterside
'Twas gazing all around me
The Irish that I spied.

credits

from The Speaking Strings, released December 24, 2015
Anaïs Bokanovsky (harp, vocals)
Fay Roberts (spoken lyrics, vocals)

license

about

Allographic Press UK

Allographic aims to specialise in producing written and recorded publications of poetry, short stories, artwork, photography and music (sometimes all at once...). We plan for our publications to be available to buy online, at our live events, and in the shops, in a variety of media.

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