Psalms of lament

6/23

Martin’s been waiting to talk with me all day long. Antigone, he says, the music, the beginning. Well, the beginning, you know what you’ve been watching, it’s like a flowing river, like crossing over into death…

The river Styx…

Yeah, but then I looked and i realized it was like a vagina….like a birth canal…

I saw that the first time…

But the music. Like ancient prayer …I can’t get it…the priests, the Delphic Oracles, they get messages from God, pass them on…but they speak to God. Say Why must we suffer like this/? How long must this go on? Zeus, do something…our joy is but a fleeting moment, the suffering…I’ve been listening to Muslim muezzins. Close to our flamenco. But….not …anguished enough. Our flamenco, still too much show.. Where do I go?

I think. In the Bible, there are laments. The Psalms are strong. And uncensored. They express anger to God. Hatred of enemies. Abandonment. They were sung…

Yeah, but what do they sound like?

Here’s what you do. See if you can find Greek Orthodox settings. Same roots. Our oldest Christian music. Or try Jewish liturgical settings. There’s a holiday, Tish  B’Av, the commemoration for the destruction of the Temple. For 24 hours they sing the Lamentations.

OK, ok….

An hour later, he’s back. This is it, he says. And he plays for me a setting of Psalm 22, Eloi, eloi lama sanbacthani…My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me? It’s been set as a Holocaust lament.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSOB4Oqe-bs )

Perfect, I say. It’s what Jesus quoted on the cross. Hear how close to Muslim it is?

Yeah, and our gypsy music. All from the same place.

That Spanish romance with death, I say.

And he laughs.

I recall when an Honduran judge, a defender of human rights, was cast into jail. They asked him what he would do. He said, I will sit. And read. And write. And reflect on my sad situation.

He laughs again. Yeah, that’s it.

I’m working late. RL drops in. He’s concerned that he found Jeremy and Priska’s door open again. Place looked empty in the dark. He’s very protective of us. We go up and check. I think it’s OK, but I call Jeremy just to make sure.

So I stop in. Watch an Alfred Hitchock Presents from the ‘50’s. And a Leverage. Yeah, goo to be back.