Poem by Pesha Gertler, "The Healing Time".
A gutsy celebration of life's rough lessons, blending classical, close-harmony and gospel music into a tightly integrated whole. The song's sweet and soulful conclusion features prominent solos for one or more singers. Winner of the Ithaca College Choral Composition Contest.
Commissioned by Out Loud Chorus; Shawn Benedict, conductor (Ithaca, NY) Winner: Ithaca College Choral Composition Contest
The song features one or more soloists, who may sing the music as written or improvise in a gospel style. The colorful accompaniment, with its syncopated rhythms and metric changes, calls for a versatile and solid pianist.
Text: Finally on my way to yes I bump into all the places where I said no to my life all the untended wounds the red and purple scars those hieroglyphs of pain carved into my skin, my bones, those coded messages that send me down the wrong street again and again where I find them the old wounds the old misdirections and I lift them one by one close to my heart and I say holy holy. Copyright by Pesha Gertler. Reprinted by permission.
