Fitting new words to an existing song isn't too difficult. But I've done things backwards this time. I've put down in verse some thoughts that I'd like to share, but not merely as a poem. I would like to find a powerful melody, on which these thoughts might travel. Help, anyone, to choose a tune, new or old?

Having a fuzzy memory for melody, I can't think of any that could be arranged to fit the rhythm of these lines (4 feet twice, 5, repeat, then triple time like DA-da-da through the chorus) except maybe "Listen to the Music," and that doesn't support the feelings I tried to express. (I was listening to "Stone & Sand & Sea & Sky" when I started writing this last spring, so I'd imagined something with that kind of feeling. Parts of "Dark Day in July" have a similar kind of resonance. When working on this, I butcher "Both Sides Now" for a verse, and use a sort of beating rhythm for the refrain.)

I'd appreciate any suggestions, either for tunes or pointing out where my meaning isn't clear. (Don't worry about my feelings: I'm thick of skin.) I know this piece is too awkward and wordy to go far, but it would be nice to be able actually to sing it, and if anyone else enjoyed it enough to sing it, I'd be delighted. Thanks, anyone who is still reading:


Deciduous Lives

A loved one's life, a withered leaf -
Pain and loss and fear and grief -
Born to bud and grow, and fall and die.
Raised in green and tender youth
To catch the sun and find our truth,
Sweet strength repays the ones who lift us high.

Dance in winds of life and power
Living every gifted hour,
Shine with brightest wisdom near our end.
Wind-torn young, or age-worn leaves
Tumbling, crumbling, memories:
Soil to feed next season's growth again.

(Chorus:)
Leaves decay, forests burn.
Nothing's lost; they'll return.
Ever homeward circling
We give life in our turn.

I would not trade my pain and grief
For safety as a pressed dry leaf
Emotionless and brittle on a page.
Mountains rise and crumble too.
A perfect bloom is one that's new,
Renewing year by year or age by age.

(Cho.)
Leaves decay, forests burn.
Nothing lost; they'll return.
Ever homeward circling
We give life in our turn.



(Am I supposed to say copyright 2008 Maureen Parrott? If anyone wants to use it, go ahead, but please check with me before modifying or making commercial recordings. Hey, I can dream, can't I?)