One of the poems we received in response to our newsletter request for items was a short poem called ‘The Scissored Ground’ written by Rachel Schroeder who lives in Hendersonville, Tennessee.
At the time the poem arrived, in February 2008, I was reading a book called “Storm Warning” by Nancy Mathis about the tornados that hit Oklahoma on May 3rd 1999, one of which was a mile wide with winds of over 300mph, the fastest ever recorded. Although the poem came with no explanation of what it was about or what inspired it, I, no doubt heavily influenced by what I had just been reading, imagined it as being written from the perspective of a child feeling relatively safe in a storm-shelter while a tornado wreaks havoc outside. The words have a beautiful simplicity and a dream-like quality.
Rachel confirms that she has witnessed a tornado. Although Tennessee is relatively low on the list of states at risk having on average just 12 annually, the Hendersonville area was hit by an F3 tornado on 7th April 2006.
“… the tornado continued into Sumner County just north of Hendersonville. It damaged numerous houses in that area before entering and devastating Gallatin with F3 damage at about 2:30 pm CDT. Several entire subdivisions, primarily along the north shore of Old Hickory Lake were destroyed or flattened, killing nine people and injuring 121. Over 700 houses were damaged or destroyed, including about 80 in Hendersonville.” (Wikipedia)
The music for The Scissored Ground was written on the 25th February 2008. It uses an EADGAD tuning.
lyrics
We could be safe
In what we've found
A clean cut hole
In the scissored ground
Where shards of grass
And pulled weeds grow
Between the cracks
And far below.
And see I know this cave is a long way down
We've crawled and crawled and we've lost and found
There's nothing more that can be missed
Til the sky is covered and this hole is fixed
supported by 6 fans who also own “The Scissored Ground”
This is comprised of former Frequency Drift’s Andreas Hack and guest Nerissa Schwarz, with Spires’ Paul Sadler and Wolfgang Osterman. Guitars, keys, drums and electric harp are the instruments in this otherworldly sounding outfit. There is a dark sound here, at once introspective and plaintive, bound together with soaring, evocative vocals. Superb progressive, cinematic rock with stellar players. Nickie Harte Kelly
supported by 6 fans who also own “The Scissored Ground”
Beautiful album that has both incredible musicality and technical ability. Marjana and Gleb are easily my favourite prog duo who never fail to deliver masterpiece after another. And Lighthouse is no exception. The collabs on this album are just absolute class, too. Check them out! jazzbedamned
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