Two Songs

Description

This work was commissioned by the In Medio Chamber Choir directed by John Eisenmann (Portland, Oregon) and had its premiere performance in June 2026.

Notes from the Poet

This poem comes at the end of a series about raising my son with an abusive former partner, and about the ways fear and love existed side by side throughout those years.

However, the tension between fear and love belongs to every parent. We bring children into the world–parts of ourselves that exist beyond our bodies, whose futures we cannot control and whom we cannot always protect. Then, little by little, we must entrust them to a world that may hurt them or hold them. We never know which.

Eventually, our children grow up and leave us. We can only hope that whatever prayer we have offered for them–born of fear, hope, or both–will carry them toward lives that are long, beautiful, and full. In the end, we hope we have done enough.

Two Songs

When I was a young
mother I had
two songs:
one of terror,
one of love.

I hope I sang
one louder.
I hope I sang it
like a prayer.

Poetry by Sara Quin Rivara