Stillness preceded the sonic storm.
Then the baton plummeted,
To summon low “D’s” from orchestral depths
And a hundred voices roared, “O Fortuna!”

The throbbing ritual had begun!
Rhythms drove and lurched
Through songs of Springtime, alcohol and lust.

Brasses flared.
Muted strings cast veils over the hall.
The chorus hummed and shouted
And tender solos wafted
Over graceful flute arabesques.

The thin white stick carved the air into segments
And by some mystical synchronicity
Instruments and voices reveled together -
Medieval Latin decked out in modern attire.

A baritone sang from a tavern
With electrifying irresponsibility.
The counter-tenor mournfully chanted
The complaint of an entrée roasting on a spit.

The love of my life skied her voice
To a high “D” then descended -
And we turned Fortune’s wheel back full circle
Rounding out this earth song beyond all comparing.

“O Fortuna!”
O Fortuna, indeed!

*July, 2006

This moment,
Now,
I hear your soft voice.
The one you use only for me.

I feel my arms around your hips
as you stand **** before me.

I smell you.

My god, your smells!

I am listening to the London Symphony Orchestra
perform Carmina Burana.
One of your many favorites.

Tough morning. Enough said there.

The air is cool and a slight breeze is coming through my windows.

I hear the incessant traffic on cuming street,
the fans I have in my bedroom and living room,
the music of Carl's primo vere,

and your voice.

It whispers to me across centuries,
softly, sweetly.
No trace of sarcasm
or acrimony.

It speaks to me of mountaintop cabins,
of quiet moonlit ponds,
of autumns last victim slowly falling to the ground
to join it's cousins.

It speaks to me of music,
timeless and universal.

It does not harangue, or plead or spout.

Instead it soothes me, caresses my body
with an undeniable comfort.

This moment,
Now,
I feel you deep within my core.

You are safe there.

Life is a joke
Sitting passively actively, inhaling the smoke
Eyes like radiation burns, lingering and permanent
Going insane, like a disgusting sermon
Preaching with black tainted beer where there should be bourbon
Image and sounds like a perverted Carmina Burana
Disguised as a driver, charging me a fare to where
I just wanna die, among the elephants, the poor, and the tragically faire

Looking for symbolism, where there is simply none
Watching the years end, in the same place they begun
IM GIVING UP MY VICES, says the drunkard
IM QUITTING WHAT KILLS ME, says the foolishly unencumbered
Parallel walls of grounded stars lead to the same ******* place
As any other god ****** road, between main and sixth, fallen from grace

Streets, lined with tattoo parlors and broken down antique stores
And the run down old churches, which only tell you ****** forever more
Theres only time for open caskets, one by one
As we gaze into the glazed eyes of an american dream undone
By complacency, as we watch it waste away in a hospital bed conundrum

Cigarette smoke rain clouds; harbringers of times ill to come
Puke your guts out people, get your fix, doesnt matter where it comes from
And as the acid rain dreams burn away reality
Well finally realize our lack of genuine alacrity
How long was I not there, we'll all wonder
As that wall of atomic fire rushes closer

Only until it's too late do we learn from history
And when our house of love and avarice is burning to ashes
Will we see the thousands of errors
That made us **** one another

"O Fortuna
velut luna
statu variabilis,
semper crescis
aut decrescis;
vita detestabilis
nunc obdurat
et tunc curat
ludo mentis aciem,
egestatem,
potestatem
dissolvit ut glaciem.

Sors immanis
et inanis,
rota tu volubilis,
status malus,
vana salus
semper dissolubilis;
obumbrata
et velata
mihi quoque niteris;
nunc per ludum
dorsum nudum
fero tui sceleris.

Sors salutis
et virtutis
michi nunc contraria,
est affectus
et defectus
semper in angaria.
Hac in hora
sine mora
corde pulsum tangite;
quod per sortem
sternit fortem,
mecum omnes plangite!"

(O Fortuna! had re-gained popular attention when it was chosen as the theme song for the film, The Omen, the story of a child who was the Anti-Christ.
The entire performance of Orff's Carmina Burana is gripping and spine-chilling. I had the pleasure of watching it from a box seat the the Broward Centre for the Performing Arts back in 1999, played by the Florida Philharmonic (defunct) led by maestro James Judd--it terrified me so much I couldn't sleep for days!-D)

1. O Fortuna (Chorus) (O Fortune)

O Fortuna O Fortune,
velut luna like the moon
statu variabilis, you are changeable,
semper crescis ever waxing
aut decrescis; and waning;
vita detestabilis hateful life
nunc obdurat first oppresses
et tunc curat and then soothes
ludo mentis aciem, as fancy takes it;
egestatem, poverty
potestatem and power
dissolvit ut glaciem. it melts them like ice.
Sors immanis Fate - monstrous
et inanis, and empty,
rota tu volubilis, you whirling wheel,
status malus, you are malevolent,
vana salus well-being is vain
semper dissolubilis, and always fades to nothing,
obumbrata shadowed
et velata and veiled
michi quoque niteris; you plague me too;
nunc per ludum now through the game
dorsum nudum I bring my bare back
fero tui sceleris. to your villainy.
Sors salutis Fate is against me
et virtutis in health
michi nunc contraria, and virtue,
est affectus driven on
et defectus and weighted down,
semper in angaria. always enslaved.
Hac in hora So at this hour
sine mora without delay
corde pulsum tangite; pluck the vibrating strings;
quod per sortem since Fate
sternit fortem, strikes down the strong man,
mecum omnes plangite! everyone weep with me!
____

About:
"Carmina Burana is a scenic cantata composed by Carl Orff in 1935 and 1936. It is based on 24 of the poems found in the medieval collection Carmina Burana. Its full Latin title is Carmina Burana: Cantiones profanæ cantoribus et choris cantandæ comitantibus instrumentis atque imaginibus magicis"

"Orff first encountered the text in John Addington Symonds's 1884 publication Wine, Women and Song, which included English translations of 46 poems from the collection. Michel Hofmann, a young law student and Latin and Greek enthusiast, assisted Orff in the selection and organization of 24 of these poems into a libretto, mostly in Latin verse, with a small amount of Middle High German and Old Provençal. The selection covers a wide range of topics, as familiar in the 13th century as they are in the 21st century: the fickleness of fortune and wealth, the ephemeral nature of life, the joy of the return of Spring, and the pleasures and perils of drinking, gluttony, gambling and lust."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CarminaBurana_