Cecilia Livingston/Duncan McFarlane - SALT AIR (Kalypso, Circe, Penelope) [Cycle World Premiere]

Live from WFMT
with host Kerry Frumkin
January 27, 2025
Laura Strickling, soprano
Daniel Schlosberg, piano
1. KALYPSO
I don’t know why my skin seems thin,
or why I’m tired all the time.
I wish the rain could break this heat;
there’s not a cloud left in the sky.
I don’t know why I should repeat
this sad old fallacy: somehow
the weather thinks that we should be
together; night comes around,
but it’s too hot for me to sleep, now
so much of what we had, you took-
took with you, when you went away.
I know I sound- I know I look
like I’ve got something on my mind;
there’s really nothing left to say
or raise in vain against the tides.
It’s nothing- nevermind; it’s just
a wish, that if it’s not too much,
if it’s alright, some night I’d like
to walk out in the rain, again,
come home to sleep, to drift and dream
off to a world elsewhere, with you,
where it keeps raining all the time.
2. CIRCE
He eats all he can
of the fat of the land:
chewed and swallowed.
He drinks as if wine
can erase all his crimes:
sweet luxury.
So men are made
of what they eat:
their bodies composed
from the flesh they consume:
beef, pork, poultry:
the geese, pigs, and
cattle they raise;
their souls informed
by appetite,
their endless taste
is always right.
We call them dogs,
and goats, and swine!-
transforming men
of every kind:
devolve your hands, a little fur:
become the beasts you always were.-
(to herself)
-The very same
as what you eat.
We know that the most
man should be is a pet:
languid and soft.
Docility curled
at the foot of your bed:
placid as silk,
a belly full,
a vacant mind:-
(to herself)
-expect no more
from all mankind.
3. PENELOPE
What is it
to be waiting?
What is it
to be waiting
for you?
Is it
wanting?
Is it
loving?
Is it
moving through me like a fire?
Desire?
Is it
loneliness in empty rooms?
Stillness...
Old-fashioned lovers kiss
did they ever miss
each other?
When will you come home to me?
When will I bloom again?
Darling boy,
I breathe the same salt air,
the same sun on my hair.
When they see the boats
from the headland
they’ll strike up the band!
Darling boy
will you ever again
hold my hand while we’re sleeping?
What is it
to be waiting?
What is it
to be waiting?
for you?
Is it
loving?
Is it
loneliness in empty rooms?