Behind your mask lies a secret face that the world has never seen. But I have. It is beautiful and terrible, tearing at my desolate heart. How I sought to heal what can never be healed; you cannot be healed. The damage was so long ago. To survive, you buried the unspeakable, for protection took a mate you did not love, constructed an identity. It seemed sturdy to most. But the facade was always brittle and cracks appeared, time and again, flaking the plaster off your ochre wall. Troubled one, an odyssey would be your fate. From city to city you roamed, with a child now, building then breaking bonds, never happy. A curse hung over you. And finally you came to me, my dark-eyed chameleon. ... If only I had known all this.
The Dark-Eyed Chameleon
Song Cycle by Mark Abel (b. 1948)
1. The burned horizon  [sung text checked 1 time]
Authorship:
- by Mark Abel (b. 1948), "The burned horizon", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
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2. Full sail  [sung text checked 1 time]
Your story, laced with tragedy. A life tortured, unfulfilled. How could I not respond? You, blessed being, won’t you walk down my path? I have been waiting here for so many years, lonely, knife-edged, the beloved has appeared, “The Invitation” issued. Flashing eyes, face of heaven, fertile mind -- and you want me. I am reborn, my suffering transfigured. The sun shines brightly, corona of joy. Our love pure and powerful, our destinies locked together. How did it happen, and so soon? We need no logic, living as lovers do, heeding a higher call: be devoted and vulnerable. All seems right, most of the time. Wait! Is this important? Need I ask who you are? I trust you will reveal.
Authorship:
- by Mark Abel (b. 1948), "Full sail", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]IMPORTANT NOTE: The material directly above is protected by copyright and appears here by special permission. If you wish to copy it and distribute it, you must obtain permission or you will be breaking the law. Once you have permission, you must give credit to the author and display the copyright symbol ©. Copyright infringement is a criminal offense under international law.
3. Premonition  [sung text checked 1 time]
Rain fell steadily today. It always makes me wistful. No matter, more hours to spend in the warm tent of our love. But you are silent and far away. Where? You can never say. I have seen this chasm before; it is uncharted and buried deep within you. And when I try to excavate, you dissolve into a smile that could melt a glacier. “Our love is the truth,” I heard you say, not long ago. Today is different. You are mute, frozen, alone on a dead planet without a name, orbiting a dead sun. I cannot hail you, my precious, my sphinx, across these light years of the soul. “It will pass,” you say, and in time it does. But this ghost, as ancient as thee, never sleeps. Under us the ground is always shifting, unstable like our California. I still think my love is all you need. Am I a fool, a saint -- or a target?
Authorship:
- by Mark Abel (b. 1948), "Premonition", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]IMPORTANT NOTE: The material directly above is protected by copyright and appears here by special permission. If you wish to copy it and distribute it, you must obtain permission or you will be breaking the law. Once you have permission, you must give credit to the author and display the copyright symbol ©. Copyright infringement is a criminal offense under international law.
4. Your girl  [sung text checked 1 time]
Your girl, wonderful and radiant, a small flower unfolding into early bloom. She touched my heart so deeply, and I touched hers, I do believe. Innocent, uncomplicated love freely given between us two. Sheer delight of child’s play, tucked her in at night, sat in the dark til Dreamland descended, marveled that this special bliss had finally come my way. Joy without measure. I thanked the Creator -- for the first time in my life. As we rode together that night, shrieking and giggling, I barely noticed your black cloud. Though I could not have known, this would be our final ride. The sky is blue and filled with your tomorrows. Denied good-byes, farewell, dear sprite. You must be a big girl now.
Authorship:
- by Mark Abel (b. 1948), "Your girl", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]IMPORTANT NOTE: The material directly above is protected by copyright and appears here by special permission. If you wish to copy it and distribute it, you must obtain permission or you will be breaking the law. Once you have permission, you must give credit to the author and display the copyright symbol ©. Copyright infringement is a criminal offense under international law.
5. Cataclysm  [sung text checked 1 time]
The fatal blow is struck by telephone. A low comedy of excuses finally gives way to a hollow metal sound: “I don’t love you anymore.” But who is speaking? You shared my heart, my bed, only hours ago. The monsters who made you are hovering near; we were introduced just the other day. They still have you in curious thrall. And someone has decided: Our love must die. My world, my dream is crumbling in this tiny room, beneath a flickering bulb. You say you prayed for us, but your god has failed. I am shaking. Opened so wide, shields lowered, with time exploding. I am being cast to the winds, without explanation, without apology. Did I ever know you? My questions will echo through the years, down De Chirico’s empty streets. As for you, the rest is silence. I am swept out to sea, pulled under by a rip tide of grief and devastation. I tumble and gasp; hands reach out, voices cry --- all a blur. My fate is to ride or die. This journey can never be described. Hold on. Eons have drifted by; finally the grip relaxes and I surface. It is night, the air is warm, stars swim above me. I pull for shore, alone, unseen; the dome of heaven lights my way. And now I have reached the beach. I am no longer thinking of you.
Authorship:
- by Mark Abel (b. 1948), "Cataclysm", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]IMPORTANT NOTE: The material directly above is protected by copyright and appears here by special permission. If you wish to copy it and distribute it, you must obtain permission or you will be breaking the law. Once you have permission, you must give credit to the author and display the copyright symbol ©. Copyright infringement is a criminal offense under international law.