I never said I was a poet

- Anna Porter

My darling son asked me a few months ago if I would consider singing a song on his upcoming electronic music album.  I felt honored and flattered…until I found out that I had to write the song!  I mean lyrics and melody line!  Eek!  I am not a poet.  Lyrics are basically poetry.  I can–sort of–sing but writing the words?  That’s not my line.  But now I was committed; how could I turn him down?

Okay, think logically:  first, what was his inspiration for the piece, the working title of which was “god particle”?  That seems like a good place to start–until he began rattling off the following: “…the god particle aka Higgs boson as well as science, dark energy/matter, voyager 1 and 2, origins, humanity, progress…basically recent innovations and discoveries of science/technology coupled with humanity evolving…Also creation, mother/god=goddess/giver of life, what make us human, where we come from”

Phew!  What?!  Okay, that plan didn’t help much.  Now I was stumped and confused.  What the heck is “Higgs boson”?  I didn’t know I was going to have to study for this.  So I started doing research online, beginning with “Higgs boson” which led me to the book, “The God Particle,” by Leon Lederman which led me to studying writings of Anaximander and Democritus which led me to Gregorian chants and the Taize community which ultimately led to this (with my thanks to all of them):

god-particle

Sine tuo numine
Nihil est in homine
Nihil est innoxium

 Without your spirit
Nothing is in man
Nothing that is harmless

Giver of life...who are you?
      What are you?   Where are you?
Giver of life…
      You are so close, everywhere and yet so hard to find.

Sine tuo numine
Nihil est in homine
Nihil est innoxium

Without your spirit
Nothing is in man
Nothing that is harmless

Are you particle or God?
Substance or spirit?
      The earth was a formless void
       And darkness covered the face of the deep
      While a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.
Here we stand at the edge of a precipice
Looking down into eternity.
Are we indeed looking at the face of God?
Or is that our face staring back at us?

Immortal and indestructible
Surrounds all and directs all
Immortal and indestructible
Surrounds all and directs all

There is some comfort in this, some peace
God or particle, substance or spirit
There is some comfort in this, some peace
God or particle, substance or spirit

Dona nobis pacem
Grant us peace