A Curse on Geographers

"A Curse on Geographers" is the third song of Stefania de Kenessey's song cycle Autumn Elegy, composed in memory of the victims of the World Trade Center attack, September 11, 2001.
The song cycle sets three poems of Dana Gioia.

Date: 2002Composer: Stefania de KenesseyText: Dana GioiaSong Collection: Autumn Elegy

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Text

A Curse on Geographers
by Dana Gioia

We want an earth to walk upon,
Not reasons to remain at home.
Shall we make journeys only to see
The same stars circling in the night?
Eat the same fish in foreign harbors?
Breathe the same air? Sail across
These oceans only to discover
Our own island’s other shore?

Let the oceans spill their green from off
The edges of the earth, and let
The curving plain unbend itself
Behind the mountains. Put wind back
Into the cheeks of demons. Voice,
Pronounce your reasonable desire
And sing the round earth flat again!

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