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geese

When I was in high school I sang in the Madrigal Singers, and one of the songs in our repertoire was “The Silver Swan”, by Orlando Gibbons.

The Silver Swan who living had no note,

When death approached unlocked her silent throat,

Leaning her breast beside the reedy shore,

Thus sang her first and last and sang no more.

Farewell all joys, O Death come close mine eyes.

More geese than swans now live, more fools than wise.

That describes what one would call a “swan song”, when the end of something arrives, like one’s life.  This blog is not meant to be that kind of swan song – it is meant to convey my voice to others, now that I am wise.  I am a swan, speaking to the geese – the fools.  Yes, I am an older woman, with a life much shorter than what I have lived already.  I have silver hair, I am a wise woman, a crone, a voice crying in the wilderness (and as I was writing, the ‘wind’).  I am at the edge, at that reedy shore, singing to all who have ears to hear.

It is my time to express my heart, my soul, my spirit – to sing my love to humankind.  And that love could take the form of tough love, not just that soft, warm feeling we enjoy when all is well, and our life is seen as positive.  There is much work to be done for all of the earth’s residents to live in safety and prosperity.  To create change often takes tough love and true grit.

People are not nice.  They are selfish.  They – WE – are human.  Sometimes I don’t like people at all – in general, and sometimes specifically.  Yet we all deserve the very best that life has to offer – mostly the freedom to be who we are, without unnecessary barriers put in our way.

This is my voice.  I am free to express it openly, and I am grateful.

Here is an audio of the song.                                                                                                                                                           

Note: In the interim between the first posting of this article and today, February 2, 2021 I have begun losing my physical voice as the result of a motor neuron disease. I no longer can sing and can barely speak; however, I continue to use “my voice” to sing the Swanne Song. And I am grateful.