Spirit, Soil & Soul 1 ~ Memory

First full length program:

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I wanted to write here that the last full reading in this one, where the Marquis de Sade is describing his version of Paris is made poignant for me owing to Rikki Ducornet's description of the surrounding circumstances that she was imagining him surrounded by.  The Marquis de Sade was arrested during the French Revolution when Robespierre was saying things like '“The revolution is the war of liberty against its enemies.', when that war of liberty constituted a mass execution of all political dissent at the guillotine.  Sade was imprisoned for writing.  For 'indecency' at a time when people accused of being even mildly bourgeois were being horrifically and brutally killed.  Astonishingly, Sade was imprisoned twice.  He was exonerated following his first imprisonment in order to serve as a judge, because Paris was short of judges with all the arrests taking place after the revolution.  Sade was swiftly relieved of his duties because he was unable to find a single person guilty of a crime warranting the death penalty.  He couldn't sentence anyone to death.  So, he was re-arrested and spent his days in the tower above the guillotine, hearing the crowds of people cheering as citizen's were beheaded.  From this vantage point, Ducornet imagines Sade.  His language is graphic, as was the situation she was describing him experiencing.

~

Free will, moving how we like
Free will, to fall apart and thrive
Animal and present
We let out wild cries
Ah, ain’t it good to know
That it’s all right
Oh, ecstasy and anger
Praise, grief, joy, fear
All are welcome in this circle
Cast to hold our being here
This is our dance
It’s prayer in action
These are the words
I need not say
Inner compass, inner map
Here to guide me on my way

And I know it’s all right

~Sodade~

Portuguese	English
Quem mostra' bo esse caminho longe?	Who showed you...
Quem mostra' bo esse caminho longe?	this distant way?
Esse caminho pra São Tomé	Who showed you...
Quem mostra' bo esse caminho longe?	this distant way?
Quem mostra' bo esse caminho longe?	This way ...
Esse caminho pra São Tomé	to Sao Tomé
Sodade sodade	Longing, longing,...
Sodade dessa minha terra, São Nicolau	Longing,...
Sodade sodade	For this land of mine, Sao Nicolau
Sodade dessa minha terra, São Nicolau
Si bô 'screvê' me 'm ta 'screvê be	If you write me letter,...
Si bô 'squecê me 'm ta 'squecê be	I will write you back
Até dia qui bô voltà	If you forget me,...
Si bô 'screvê' me 'm ta 'screvê be	I will forget you...
Si bô 'squecê me 'm ta 'squecê be	Until the day...
Até dia qui bô voltà, sodade	You come back, longing
Sodade sodade
Sodade dessa minha terra, São Nicolau
Sodade sodade
Sodade dessa minha terra, São Nicolau
Quem mostra' bo esse caminho longe?
Quem mostra' bo esse caminho longe?
Esse caminho pra São Tomé
Quem mostra' bo esse caminho longe?
Quem mostra' bo esse caminho longe?
Esse caminho…

Title	Artist	Album
Yaima	Reservoir	Pellucidity (2014)
Victor Jara	El Derecho de Vivir en Paz	El Derecho de Vivir en Paz (1971)
~Eduardo Galleano	Perfection shall remain the boring privilege of the Gods	Upside Down (2001, Lannan Reading 1999)
Adrienne Rich	What Kind of Times are These	Dark Fields of the Republic (1999)
Lula Cruza	Rio Contento	Circular Tiejido (2011)
Cesaria Evoria	Sodade	Miss Perfumado (1992)
Breyten Breytenbach	We Shall Be a People	Voice Over: a nomadic conversation with Mahmoud Darwish (Lannan Reading 2009)
Michael Franti	We Don't Stop	Everyone Deserves Music (2003)
Subcomandante Marcos	The Tree of Tomorrow	Our Word is our Weapon (2004)
Wangari Maathai	The Story of the Hummingbird	Dirt! The Movie (2009)
MaMuse	Good to Know	Heart Noveaux (2015)
Rikki Ducornet	Sade's Reverie	The Fanmaker's Inquisition (1999, Lannan Reading 2005)
Mercedes Sosa	Gracias a la Vida	Homenaje A Violeta Parra (1971, live recording from YouTube undated)