from Awakenings: In Four Voices
Poetry by Di Brandt and Dorothy Livesay
Music by Rebecca Campbell and Carol Ann Weaver:
performed by Rebecca Campbell and Carol Ann Weaver
1
Download Tangle
Tangle of wild tansy
in every crack
Old rag and bone shop
left open to rain
Clear high notes
piercing the sky
Like weeds, grandmother said
The knife edge of pleasure
forced to dance
blitzed by love, O
Underground rivers
diamonds
leaf mould
2
Download Nestle Me Down
Nestle me down
in goose down feathers
nestle me down
in the hay
Nestle me down
in goose down feathers
nestle me down
at the end of the day
Across the continent
there is sighing
sighing me now
to face the day
So nestle me down
in goose down feathers
nestle me down
at the end of the day
Nestle me down
and do not hurry
no, nestle me down
in the hay
Nestle me down
and never hurry
nestle me down
from the turn of the day
Across the continent
there is crying
crying me down
to face the day
So nestle me down
and do not hurry
nestle me down
from the trouble
of the day
3
Download Leap Joyful
The way out
is the same
as the way
in
A choking
daylight
blinding
bleeding
left behind
DON'T
Don't look
before you
LEAP
Awakenings premiered at the international conference/festival, Wider Boundaries of Daring: The Modernist Impulse in Canadian Women's Poetry, co-hosted by Di Brandt and Barbara Godard at the Scarab Club, Detroit (as part of Detroit 300), and the University of Windsor, October 2003. The text appeared in the multimedia anthology, Re:Generations: Canadian Women Poets in Conversation, edited by Di Brandt and Barbara Godard (Windsor, Manitoba: Black Moss Press, 2005); the performance was recorded by David Travers-Smith (© Carol Ann Weaver, 2003). Dorothy Livesay's poems first appeared in a limited edition chapbook, Awakening (Vancouver, B.C.: Hawthorne Society, 1991). Her words appear here in regular font. The words in italics are by Di Brandt. "Nestle me down" was adapted for song by Rebecca Campbell and Carol Ann Weaver, and appears here in the song version. Music and performance by Rebecca Campbell and Carol Ann Weaver.
Di Brandt. — www.dibrandt.ca
Dorothy Livesay — www.ucalgary.ca/UofC/faculties/HUM/ENGL/canada/poet/d_livesay.htm
Carol Ann Weaver — http://watserv1.uwaterloo.ca/~caweaver/
Rebecca Campbell — www.rebeccacampbell.com