From the song cycle of the same name. Words: Lara Candland. Music: Christian Asplund. Sung by Jennifer Babidge with the BYU Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Kory Katseanes, 3/19/15.
i. When I take petals and strew them
I wait for something to go awry.
I think: this year surely it will not end.
I do not believe
that this cycle of birth and death
can continue.
surely soon
there will be a final season.
On my bed I write and spin
in the agony of waiting
in the agony of thinking surely
the darkness will stay.
This dread of forever vanishes
when the petals finally are born.
In my joy I think: something
must be done.
I have traversed
this very lake for many years
and this time I must do something
and what I must do is put on a wedding—
pull flowers off branches and scatter them
on my path and marry my dark
dark darkest winter
to my lovely, quiet sister spring.
