Voicing: soprano, mezzo-soprano, piano
Duration: c.a. 4:30
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About
This piece was commissioned by my voice professor, Tammy Hensrud. It will be premiered by Tammy Hensrud and Tracey Engleman this coming year.
"Defiantly is written as a reminder that while sometimes it feels impossible to distinguish between being buried and planted, healing, growth, and community are always within reach. While trauma is hard and unglamourous, knowing you're never alone in your experiences and reframing your survival can be key to beginning to thrive once more." -Alekz Thoms
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Text
by Alekz Thoms, used with permission
I wish I didn't have to say, "me too,"
That I didn't have to expect you to say the same.
But what's done is done and what's said is said,
And now we, too must keep fighting.
Life in full is pain and despair among the bliss and contentedness.
But the burden of pain isn't carried alone.
It took me years to heal from where I was bruised,
to grow from where I was buried,
But years in the ground wasn't time wasted,
It was growing, healing.
Look at the garden, every beautiful flower was once buried
Under dirt, no light let in. But,
Defiantly, they emerge, stand tall, still have sweetness to give.
And from birth to death never are they alone;
The soil, the sun, the rain, provide tender comfort.
Too many have been buried, planted, that is true.
For better or for worse. Me, too.
Planted in darkness but nurtured all the same,
Now you may see the light again.
To be hurt isn't to be killed, and to continue to rise
is the strongest thing one can do.