For soprano voice and keyboard
Yesterday I walked to the end of Filey
Brigg
The sea was brown to landward
blue to seaward
The tide was coming in as I
reached the end
The two seas sloshed at each
other across the limestone slabs
Yesterday I walked on a long
curving stretch of beach
The sand was almost dry under
my walking boots
The tide had left a golden arc
for kite-running children
The sea was a patchwork of
shadows flecked white in the wind
Yesterday I sat in the sun and
briefly sketched
The sky was a vast armada of
clouds sailing the troposphere
The sun primed their canvas
sails every shade of white
The wind rose and fell in waves
of moor-scented air
Yesterday I brought my lover
here through time and space
The woldland was every green in
Hockney’s paint box
The trees stood in distant
lines still waiting for their leaves
The breeze ruffled her delicate
hair kissed her freckled cheek
This is the first of three North Yorkshire Songs written for the jazz singer Lauren Kinsella and keyboardist Matt Robinson. It joins the cycle Origami Letters as a body of song composition that may be extended by improvisation and re-arrangement. All perfomance instructions are to be considered as starting points, no more.
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