Ode to Passersby
was jointly commissioned by the Yale Glee Club, Yale Symphony Orchestra and Yale Bands as part of Project XIV: small ensembles of singers and instrumentalists from all three organizations spent September learning 14 newly commissioned and historic works by composers of color, performing them together in each of Yale's 14 residential college courtyards.
our bond is a fleeting treasure
we tumble like liquid
molecules, like kids
we scatter as quickly as we meet
your star glistens in my periphery
and echoes, a violin in a subway tunnel
illuminating the vacuum
we hold each other
in orbit, a pinky swear,
a held-open door
form & burst, tender little universe
propel me through our expanding constellation