Oh, rain!

mezzo-soprano & piano [3’]; words Mansour Noorbakhsh; 2023.

Commissioner:
George Elliott Clarke
Premiere: Laura Swankey and Juliet Palmer, The Canadian Music Centre, December 15, 2023.

Oh, Rain!
Mansour Noorbakhsh from Vital Signs

Oh, Rain!
I would continue my rain dance in the rain.
I would pray within my prayer.
I would wish within my wishes.
I would stop running in zigzags.
I would drop and rise,
and rise and drop.
I wish I could live as a shared wish.
I wish I could share my wishes.
I would see with my lips.
I would speak with my eyes.
I would fall as a raindrop
and burn to the end as a burned brand.
I would breathe the love
I would breathe the love…
breathe the love…

I was looking at You, Woman—silently,
while you were hugging the girl quietly.
Did phoenix cry thus?