by Owen Dobson (1914 - 1983)
Everything is black, air, water, sun,...
Language: English
Everything is black, air, water, sun, moon, all light, dirt is black. Heav'n is in mourning for our Son. The earth is dead: it will rise again, Almighty God. Now I understand what light is: it is our Son. It is Jesus, no longer trembling in my arms: it is the Christ. Oh my boy: Jesus, my first and only one. Now on my knees with Joseph at my side, I ask Thee: send the resurrection now. Give the air and water and sun and moon and the dirt; thy light again. Send the presence Almighty God, send it even to evil men. I see Jesus in the clouds, oh, free Him from death for life: We must be free to sing: Loose the birds for their songs, Bloom the flow'rs for their songs, Light Martha, whose brother came back from death, light Mary Magdalene, light Gethsemane's gardens: Light those walkways with lilies, and heal the wounds of Christ. Let me rise up into your starry sky and love our Son, and praise thee. Ah, comfort me in paradise.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- by Owen Dobson (1914 - 1983), appears in Beyond the Blues -- New Poems by American Negroes, first published 1962 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Robert James Berkeley Fleming (1921 - 1976), "Everything is black, air, water, sun, moon, all light, dirt is black", 1966, published 1968, from The Confession Stone (The Songs of Mary), no. 7. [text verified 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-07-26
Line count: 18
Word count: 179