pull no more

In the Western society a harp, or playing harp, is associated with a feminine image or activity of a very limited type: a “pretty” woman playing pleasant music, often connected to divinity, due to the history of its visual representation.  In contrast, for this piece I aimed to connect the harp to true, raw femininity, as for me it replicates an action only female human body is capable of: a childbirth. Harp is an extremely intense instrument physically because for each note the string must be pulled by hand/finger flesh. I associate this intense action with the sense of pulling during the labor contractions, based on which I wrote the following poem:

pulling the strings repeatedly is like giving a birth -

you feel the constant pulling of your spine-string,

yet before the heavy work of pushing starts.

the only consoling thought is that

the exhausting sensation will eventually be over

in the greatest release both bodies deserved,

but no one knows when that long-awaited moment arrives.

until then – endure

Live recording from Opperman Music Hall, Florida State University (Tallahassee, FL)