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Based on the poem Requiem for Myself by Christine Valters Paintner
Vocals: Margo Hennebach
Electric and acoustic guitars, mandolin and bass: Mark Saunders
Production by Mark Saunders and Margo Hennebach

lyrics

Requiem for Myself (song lyrics)

When I die, when I die
Plant a pinwheel in the field
So we can both be healed
By the power of the wind.

Then one afternoon
You can stumble through the rain
To meet me once again
when your world no longer spins.

You are soaked from tears and storms
Kinship with the darkest sky
I am rainbow axis whirling
Joyful, me oh my!

You, inspired, then
Tumble gleefully
Across the grass from me—
For a moment you have found

Respite from
The burden of your grief
And I’m the happy thief,
A pinwheel in the ground.

Knowing that the world will be
With you now for years to come,
You can pirouette so free
‘Cause love can’t be undone.

Knowing that the world will be
With you now for years on end,
You can pirouette so free
‘Cause time is still your friend.

Never think this brief sojourn was
Wasted as you head back home.
There’s a fire waiting there
For you, my precious love.

When I die, when I die
Plant a pinwheel in the field
So all can be revealed
All will be revealed

When I die, when I die
When I die, when I die
When I die, when I die, when I die.

Requiem for Myself (original poem)

When I die
plant a pinwheel
in an open field
where winter’s wind
and rain march forcefully
across in battalions,
and you can stumble
out there to meet me
one late afternoon
when you feel the world
must surely be ending.

You, soaked
from tears and storms,
kinship with dark sky.
Me, rainbow axis whirling,
an orbit of
joyful defiance.

You then, inspired,
tumble gleefully
across grass, pirouette,
forgetting for a moment
grief’s burden,
knowing the world
will be with you
for many years to come.

Never think
this brief sojourn wasted
as you head back
to the fire waiting at home,
laughing to yourself
the whole way.

---Christine Valters Paintner

From the poetry collection Dreaming of Stones (Paraclete Press)

credits

from Sound and Stillness: An audio collection of poems by Christine Valters Paintner, released August 9, 2020

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all rights reserved

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Abbey of the Arts Galway, Ireland

Abbey of the Arts, in partnership with The Dancing Word, produces albums to inspire soulful connection to ancient monks and mystics, to Celtic practice and tradition, to the sacred feminine, and to Earth and her creatures.

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