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February Rain: Lyrics of a Lonely Traveler

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Eric Overby

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“Song and the lyric poem came first. Prose was invented centuries later. In Israel, Greece, and China came the primal, model lyrics for two and a half millennia. Read the biblical Song of Songs in Hebrew, Sappho in Greek, and Wang Wei in Chinese and be deeply civilized. You will know the passions, tragedy, spirit, politic, philosophy, and beauty that have commanded our solitary rooms and public spaces. I emphasize solitary, because the lyric, unlike theater and sport, is an intimate dialogue between maker and reader. From the Jews we have their two bibles of wisdom poetry, from the Chinese we have thousands of ancient nightingales whose song is calm ecstasy, and from the Greeks we have major and minor names and wondrous poems. However, because of bigotry, most of Greek poetry, especially Sappho, was by religious decree destroyed from the Fall of the Roman Empire to the Renaissance. So apart from one complete ode, we read Sappho in fragments. Yet there survive fragrant hills for lovers and dark and luminous mountains for metaphysicians. Most of ancient Greek lyric poetry is contained in this volume. Do not despair about loss. You are lucky if you can spend your life reading and rereading the individual poets. They shine. If technology or return to legal digs in Egypt and Syria are to reveal a library of buried papyri of Greek lyrics equivalent to the Dead Sea Scrolls or the Gnostic Nag Hammadi Library, we should be able to keep singing and dancing for ten moons straight. For now, we have the song, human comedy, political outrage, and personal cry for centuries of good reading.”

SapphoSong Of SongsPierre GrangeWang Wei
Author:Pierre Grange
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“Hey, guard!” Ian hollered out loud. “Do you think we could get a bathroom break?” The guard seemed to snicker as he pointed to the grass outside the cell. Eena smirked at how dead-on her thoughts had been after all. “Come on,” Ian complained. “She can’t do that, she’s a girl.” The soldier smiled wryly, a shrug communicating his indifference. Eena laughed in her mind. (I don’t know what you think’s so funny. You’re the one who’s gotta pee.) Oddly enough, that fact just made her laugh even more.”

Richelle GoodrichRichelleIanEenaThe Harrowbethian SagaThe Curse Of Wanyaka Cave
Book:Eena, The Curse of Wanyaka Cave
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“That was the coolest thing ever.” Eena smiled at the fact that she’d been lucky enough to touch the wings of a real crioness. “That was highly unusual. I can’t believe they came right up to us—to you.” “They were hungry, I’m sure.” “Still, crioness are cautious. They always avoid people. To let you touch him like it did…..” She grinned with pure satisfaction. “Wild huh? Derian’s not going to believe me when I tell him.” Eena cocked her head when Ian laughed out loud. “What?” she asked, a note of offense in her voice. “Of course Derian will believe you. When does anything ever happen to you that isn’t unreal?” Knowing he was right, she shoved him off the log anyway.”

Richelle GoodrichRichelleIanEenaThe Harrowbethian SagaDerianCrioness
Book:Eena, The Curse of Wanyaka Cave
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“The watchful Mishmorat commented while waiting, contemplating Eena’s bare back. “Your people are so plain and pale.” “Oh?” Eena kinked her neck to look at Niki, zeroing in on her long spotted arms. Her bronze skin was arguably more striking—speckled in beautiful patterns. “I’m sorry,” the Mishmorat quickly apologized. “I didn’t mean to be rude. It’s just that I’ve never seen such bare skin before. There’s nothing to look at.” Eena quickly pulled the new t-shirt down over her back. She chuckled at Niki’s comment. “I’ll admit your people are very attractive. But I’m okay with my ‘plainness.’” She glanced over her pale legs before pulling on a clean pair of pants. “You’re kinda like a clear, cloudless sky,” Niki said, cocking her head wonderingly. “And you’re like a…..a sky dotted with shapely clouds.” “Only dark clouds.” “Storm clouds.” “Yeah,” Niki grinned devilishly, “That’s me—a sky full of storm clouds.”

Richelle GoodrichRichelleEenaThe Harrowbethian SagaNikiMishmorat
Book:Eena, The Curse of Wanyaka Cave
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