Good News

As part of my job, I have to proof concert programs for donor credits. All I am really supposed to do is check the first few pages to make sure everything is in order, and every one is credited appropriately. I have always taken it one step further, and I end up proofing the whole program. I feel like if I can’t attend the concert, the least I can do is read the notes and biographies of the performers, because I always learn something new.

Case in point. I was reading the program for an upcoming concert featuring new pieces (written within the last 10 years) from young international and national composers. While I may not understand some of the technical/tonal debates, it is still fascinating to read about the process of composition from the point of view of the composer. This particular program featured a piece based on Godspell, a setting of five unpublished poems by New Yorker Philip Levine. As much as I read, I am not usually a fan of poetry, but in this case, one of the poems struck a chord with me (if you’ll excuse a pun). I thought I’d share my discovery with you.

Note: In Old English (and in the Bible) the word ‘Godspell’ means ‘good news.’

Gospel
About life I can say nothing. Instead,
half blind, I wander the woods while
a west wind picks up in the trees
clustered above. The pines make
a music like no other, rising and
falling like a distant surf at night
that calms the darkness before
first light. How weightless
words are when nothing will do.

© Philip Levine

Philip Levine is one of the best-known contemporary American poets, the winner of a National Book Award (What Work Is, 1991) and of a Pulitzer Prize (The Simple Truth, 1994), and the author of more of a dozen books of poetry.