ART DOCUMENTARIES

Memorare - A Lament for our Millennium

In the year 2000, I was privileged to participate in the International Music Festival in Izmir, Turkey, and to perform with my harp at Meryem Ana Evi – the House of Mary – on July 4, in 2000. At the end of our presentation, the archbishop of Izmir said that we had “honored the House of Mary” and that “those who sing have God in their hearts.” He also said that “the United States of America had a role to play for peace in the region.” When I heard these words, I instantly discounted myself as one more powerless person who could only hope that those who were politicians – not poets - could and would establish greater peace in the Holy Land. However, on October 2 of that year, a small Palestinian boy from Gaza was killed in a storm of bullets and it happened that I, too, was caught in that crossfire and struck by the presence of young Muhammed Al Durrah in my being. As the war in the Middle East continues to this day, MEMORARE is my response to that fateful afternoon at the House of Mary where an expression was given to the great yearning for peace. All that follows is my answer to the archbishop of Izmir. Newsprint from the NY Times is placed against the baby clothes of my own children. The photos of rose and morning glory by Steve de Laet serve as an offering to the memory of the children and their families. The female vocalists convey with a shattering beauty what to my mind is a lullaby for the children dead, and those who continue to suffer from a conflict that seeks resolution in a two-state solution. ~The poetry is from my unpublished collection of three volumes called “From the Diary of an Infidel: III. Magnificats & Lamentations.” In short, a lament for our millennium and a praise song for peace in our time.