Mockingbird
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Poet: Lydia Hill
Composer: Rupert Cross
Mezzo-soprano: Lilly Papaioannou
Clarinet: Cristina Strike
Clarinet: James Burke
Flute: Jose Zalba
Percussion: Gregory Felton
Listen to Mockingbird
Both of us had a strong interest in war poetry, we decided to write a war poem relevant to our time. The first poem I wrote, ‘Al Amara’, was not suitable for the project. Rupert explained it takes longer to sing a line than to read one so a line which works as part of a poem designed to be seen on the page loses meaning and impact when listened to as a song. Once I had grasped this I realised my writing needed to be much more compact. War poetry has a long tradition but what makes our time different is the technology. I aimed to set up a tension between the classically trained voice and the terminology of technology. Although modern warfare and communications are vastly different from the experiences of poets such as Siegfried Sassoon, the essential tragedy of war remains the same.
Mockingbird
Hush soldier’s son, don’t say a word,
Mamma’s going to buy you a daddy doll.
Daddy’s safe on a mem’ry stick
and if that memory stick should break
Mamma burnt his face on a CD ROM.
View the contours of his face
flattened onto an LCD.
Reach out, touch your father’s cheek
stroke his sunburnt smile,
feel every pixel.
Play his voice, pause, repeat:
‘Son, I love you make me proud.’
Pause, repeat:
‘Son, I love you make me proud.’
Hush son, Mamma’s here holding your hand,
rest your head against my breast
sleep soldier’s son, no need to fret
Daddy is being backed up.
Al Amara:
An earlier draft of ‘Mockingbird':
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