the second of my wife's pantoums set for soprano and piano quartet

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This is a live recording from a performance at the Tarrytown Music Hall, Tarrytown, NY on January 19, 2008. Performers are Erika Sunnegardh, soprano, and the New York Piano Quartet

SUNRISE (A PANTOUM)

The sun is rising in the east.
A bud of color breaks the night:
“Today my joy will never cease;
Out of darkness I bring light.”

A bud of color breaks the night,
A flower promising to bloom:
“Out of darkness I bring light
To any heart that gives it room.”

A flower promising to bloom,
To fling its fragrance on the air,
To any heart that gives it room,
Obliterating all despair.

To fling its fragrance on the air,
Without regret or backward glance,
Obliterating all despair,
Inviting all the world to dance.

Without regret or backward glance,
This flower blossoms into song,
Inviting all the world to dance,
And woe to him who thinks it wring.

This flower blossoms into song:
“Today my joy will never cease,
And woe to him who thinks it wrong.”
The sun is rising in the east.