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Fay Roberts - The Breath of the Soul

from The Speaking Strings by Anaïs Bokanovsky and Fay Roberts

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about

This piece was written as part of a commissioned set of pieces for an exhibition of the work of James Lee Byars. The enormous, hand-carved marble sphere called "The Breath of the Soul" was the initial inspiration for this piece, among other things.

lyrics

The breath of the soul is flawed,
Scored by the indentations that caressed,
That brought it here, that made it what it is.

The sigh that is stone rolls, as it must,
Making tracks, as it goes, in the dust –
Black and white and, later, gold.

The essence of the stone
Is the groans heaved in its weaving,
The sweat poured,
The flesh and blood beaten against its surface,

The heart worn with each sharp stroke
Shaping the whole, bestowing grace,
Carving a face into this change of nature.

And when the last stroke is taken,
The stone rolls to the centre of the room,
Where all turns on its axis for a while;
A sweet and bitter while.
Until time passes and dust falls,
Changing its shape again, softening its shadow.

For perfection is in the making
And when the breath stops…

The sigh is still.

And all that is left of the stone
Are the tracks that it made
As it passed through the dust of a world
Which keeps on turning.

credits

from The Speaking Strings, released December 24, 2015
Fay Roberts (lyrics, vocals)

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all rights reserved

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