june1954

Art Songs ~ Solo Vocal with Piano

June 1954 (Mary-Beth O’Shea-Noonan) 2000

This piece was originally commissioned by a grant from the Cummington Cultural Arts Council and premiered in Cummington, MA. This performance is from February, 2007.

Performers: Alan Schneider, tenor and Brenda Moore Miller, piano

Copyright Permissions

“June 1954” used by permission of Mary-Beth O’Shea-Noonan

K A E Z A F E A R N composer ~ pianist ~ educator

June 1954 by Mary-Beth O’Shea Noonan

I was conceived

in a shack by the sea,

its shingles bleached

and beaten nickel gray.

There were waves that day

washing over the foundations

of the old salt works.

My father told me this,

his eyes the blue

of a still inlet after rain.

and I can imagine such a thing.

My rising like a cry

from my father’s throat,

breaking free of his longing

and swimming, all head and eager tail,

all salty, fishy human need —

I swim into the dark

and heavy egg of my mother.

This is me.

My mother’s eyes

were green as ocean weeds,

but I did not, of course,

see them open wide,

did not see the pupils swell,

deep and black as tidal pools.

A blade of seagrass swirled

oblivious to the wind

heavy with the rank

sulfur scent of low tide.