Almost, But Not Quite Spring sets a text by Barbara Crooker and was premiered by Choral Arts Initiative (Brandon Elliott, director).

 

This piece was composed in residence at Copland House, Cortlandt Manor, New York, as a recipient of the Copland House Residency Award.

 

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text

 

There is no color anywhere,

in the fields, in the woods,

only the monotony

of buff and brown,

fawn and dun,

smoke, slate, steel,

and now, coming into March,

the coldest nights of the year.

But each day, we climb

a few more inches

up the ladder of light,

and grackles and redwings

return, bringing postcards

of tropical sun.

The eye of the pond widens,

and geese scribble messages

across the grey sky:

"Hold on. Hold on.

It's coming."

 

—Barbara Crooker