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Katerina Gimon
Katerina Gimon
she was wilderness
A setting of powerful and timely poem about deforestation by Saudi-Arabian poet Waad Tariq.
SSAATTBB a cappella
she was wilderness is a setting of a powerful and timely poem about the climate crisis written by young Saudi-Arabian poet Waad Tariq. The text serves as a poignant reminder of human impacts on the climate through activities such as deforestation, and what’s at stake without collective action. This work depicts the remarkable beauty of our natural world as well as the immense grief and tragedy in her decline — from a lush, beautiful forest of “evergreen” to a “single tree”.
This piece was commissioned by the Vancouver Chamber Choir and premiered at their 50th anniversary concert on November 19, 2021, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Composer’s Notes
Note from the composer
“she was wilderness” is a setting of a powerful and timely poem by young Saudi-Arabian poet Waad Tariq. Her words serve as a poignant reminder of human impacts on the climate through activities such as deforestation, and what’s at stake without collective action. In my musical setting, I aimed to depict the remarkable beauty of our natural world as well as the immense grief and tragedy in her decline — from a lush, beautiful forest of “evergreen” to a “single tree”.
— Katerina Gimon
Note from the poet
As a child, I’ve always thought there were constants. The sun rises every morning and sets every evening, the moon can always be seen at night, and I will always find shade in my favourite banana tree. I have learned since then that the midnight sun exists, the moon can get eclipsed, and trees die, at an alarming rate. The poem was inspired by the greenery around us, or lack thereof, and it came forth from the figurative and literal meaning behind the line ‘when the bough breaks’ from the nursery rhyme ‘rock-a-bye baby’. Without action against climate change, there will be no natural green shades, no boughs for cradles to fall from, and nature, with all of her intense and loud beauty, will diminuendo into silence. No longer a constant. The world is shedding, and what will be left afterwards remains to be seen.
— Waad Tariq
Text
she was wilderness
made of wood, vines, trees
her skin, a world of evergreens
and once, her beauty was timeless
but where once she was an evergreen
now she is deciduous
and tomorrow, perhaps nonexistent
if the weather climbs and higher
and where once she was a sea
now she is ponds and puddles
and tomorrow, perhaps just a legend
if people continue to pillage her lands, ungrateful
and soon she becomes a single tree
where she was once an earth
and only when the last bough breaks
will the people learn
— waad tariq
Waad Tariq is a poet from Saudi Arabia. In her poems, she writes about the human experience, dreams, mythology, the natural world, and everything in-between. You can find out more and read her poems at waadtariq.tumblr.com
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