Witness (Lissa Kiernan)

A confession.
I love the new issue on Qarrtsiluni; Animals in the City.
The variety is great (credit to the editors) and the quality (as always on Qarrtsiluni) really good.
So for the 11th time I picked out a poem (and podcast) to play around with.


Witness

I step out to buy toilet paper and through the chorus of cars,
I think I hear the delicate, steady clip-clop of horse hooves.
The sound grows insistent, and through the leaves of the trees,
I sight the tips of white feathers—plumes of white feathers

like river reeds swaying in tandem with the breeze. One by one,
two white horse heads materialize, nostrils flaring with indignity

at their frou-frou headdresses, at being roped to this surrey
in, of all places, Brooklyn. An old black man taps

a steadying hand to his lopsided top hat—it, too, a monstrosity—
as he begrudgingly flicks the reins. White limousines follow.

Surely this is a movie set or an Irish funeral. Then I spot them
in the back of the cart: a couple, just married from the looks

of her dress, a bit dazed and—could it be? Yes. Embarrassed,
Wondering just when this seemed like a good idea.

The woman—the new wife—sees me and waves, as if wanting
to make this the moment she’s dreamed, wanting the world to see

she is loved by someone who appears to be a nice-enough man.
He doesn’t wave, but he smiles, and tries to look less sheepish.

After all, it’s early November, late afternoon—
and there is yet some sun and someone to have seen them.

It's a poem written and read by Lissa Kiernan.

The track I wanted to lay this podcast in had to be a bit dreamy but also suspenseful and foreboding (with a small hint of mysteriousness)





something like the intro of this one:


The images had to be lush, but with a hint of decay. I had a vase with tulips, way past their ideal point of freshness. The petals falling gave me the idea for this video...

I re-edited the intro of the track to fit the podcast and made the
imagery glide over the track.
Anyway, have a look and listen;


Words & Voice: Lissa Kiernan
Concept, camera, editing & music: Swoon
Thanks: Qarrtsiluni (podcast 30/4/2013)