© by Andrew Glaze (1920 - 2016)

A journey
Language: English 
I was [three]1 years old
and I stepped up into the streetcar
while they thought I was taking a bath
where I sat next to a lady who smelled like raspberries.
Instead, she smiled like a macaroon.
“I’m going to find my mother,” I said.
“Jing!  Jing!” said the bell.
The conductor knew where he would be going,
how could he fail, set like intention
on that shining, parallel window-bar?
They asked me my name and I knew.
Trees and houses, gutters, motorcycles and cars.
So on ever since [with never a stop]2.

Available sung texts:   ← What is this?

•   N. Rorem 

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Elizabeth Glaze Searle's website, https://andrewglazepoetry.com/2018/01/16/new-poem/ [external site]

1 Rorem: "five"
2 Rorem: "without stopping"

Text Authorship:

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):


Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , John Versmoren

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 13
Word count: 93