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In the Darkness Before Dawn
In the darkness before dawn I find poems,
frame photographic images, climb ladders
to hang draperies of costume fragments,
bits of lace, brocade and buttons.
In my pocket there is a bound book
containing all the sad poems I never wrote.
In this book I read of kisses and crochet,
loneliness and longing.
I would read them to you,
but they are about remembering,
and I no longer know the woman
whose memories they enshrine.
The words are whispered by others
who insist I write them on ephemera,
then turn the page again before I learn to breathe,
and through that breath become aware
I am alive in yet an other place
where consciousness becomes the slayer
of whatever it is that clamors
to trespass the edge of waking.
Charlene Baldridge Freelance Writer and member of San Diego Theatre Critics Circle
Regularly writes for: Riverside Press- Enterprise, La Jolla Village News, Performances, Senior Life.
Members
Charlene Baldridge is featured at Balboa Park’s Museum of the Living Artist at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday,
June 20. Juxtaposed with music and fine art demonstrations, she will read old and new works, including
"Old Lady Sings the Blues," "Winter Roses," and "Motherwit." The latter two poems have been set to music
by opera composer Jake ("Dead Man Walking" and "End of the Affair") Heggie (www.jakeheggie.com).
Written for Frederica von Stade, "Winter Roses" (with poems by Baldridge, von Stade,
Raymond Carver and Emily Dickinson) was premiered in 2004 by von Stade and Santa Barbara's
Camerata Pacifica. The 20-minute song cycle has had numerous subsequent performances,
and individual songs, including two by Baldridge, are frequently performed in recitals.
"Motherwit" is part of a new Heggie song cycle titled "Facing Forward/Looking Back,"
duets for women with piano, to be premiered August 8 at Chicago's Ravinia Festival
by young singers from the Ravinia Festival Steans [sic] Institute. Further,
"Motherwit" will be recorded by Frederica von Stade and Susan Graham in June.
Email: Charlene Baldridge
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