SATB div.
“You have to hold her like she’s made of glass– fragile, as if she would shatter at your very touch.” Close harmonies, rhythms driven by the slam poetry tradition.
Premiere by the Mid-Columbia Mastersingers, Justin Raffa, conducting
Minimum Purchase of 10 Copies Required
PROGRAM NOTE
“Glass” was composed as part of a collaborative process between the Mid-Columbia Mastersingers and the Urban Poets Society. Urban Poets Society gives voice to writers through youth programs, open mic poetry readings, and other activities designed to empower through the written and spoken word. This poem was written when the poet was just 17 years old, and comes from a sensibility formed by slam poetry and hip hop culture, which you can hear in the internal rhythms and rhyme scheme. The music combines that structure with harmonies more associated with vocal jazz, as well as an approach to repetition reminiscent of minimalism.
GLASS
You have to hold her like
she’s made of glass.
As if she would shatter
at your very touch.
Seeing as she is
see through
light bounces through
her crystalline being
at the warm touch of sunlight.
It is apparent that her heart is transparent
and as delicate as fine china.
And I’ve seen the scar
the cracks and breaks
I wonder if you’re like me and
people took chunks out of you
when they walked right
out of your life
and while I filled up all
my empty spaces
with so much spite I take
one look at her and think
my demons
could be gone
for quite some time
And when I think that happiness can only
be obtained in my sleep
I look at her
and think
man she is the most beautiful thing I
have ever seen.
And I know some people have come
and scarred your heart but believe me
when I say they only cut out
the rough edges,
and now I can see you
for what you truly are.
A gem, a precious stone worth more
than you know
Because sometimes
if you try
to break something,
it becomes more
beautiful
—-by DJ Willard