Original poem by Cleveland Wall, music by Joaquín Malats, performed by Michael Wall.
lyrics
The Mother of Them All
Not that I think there’s a God, but if there were,
I think she is not a Him, but he is a Her.
Consider in her giddy youth how she made light
from dark, then in quick succession day and night,
earth and sky, sun and moon, land and sea,
all kinds of vegetation--flowers, fruit, a rather splendid tree--
the beasts of the field, birds of the air, bugs, rocks, and weather--
all from a standing start in six scant days, together
with the mudling seeds for an eventual throng!
Then note how her efforts flagged once the children came along
with their plaints and supplications and hosannas. (“Look at me!”)
Since then we’ve not seen much of that fabled creativity.
Oh, she keeps her hand in--tweaking dimensions, absently messing
with quantum particles, gaps in the fossil record to keep us guessing--
but mostly she is bushed from the endless guff
of creatures who, it seems, are never loved enough
and who, despite their bumptious swagger
anent which species is the tail and which the wagger,
are really needy little mites that balk at punitude
and, thinking sooner or later to catch her in an expansive mood,
keep springing upon their poor old mother the same old test:
Why are we here, and more importantly, which do you really love best?
But having wearied once again of this behest
Dear Mother’s slipped behind the stars to get some rest.
credits
from The Garden of Terrors and Delights,
released January 11, 2020
Voice: Cleveland Wall; guitar: Michael Wall. Recorded at Studio 11 in Bethlehem, PA. Sound engineer: Justin Merritt. Cover art: William Christine.
The Starry Eyes combine original poems with classical guitar repertoire for a strangely compelling dance in which the two
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