Travelers
Like the leaves paired with their shadows
like the leaves and their falling shadows
they walk on the road.
We see them in the evening
walking together
walking with lowered eyes.
We don't know what they look for
only that they are hungry
only that in the hills
the trees have fallen
where once there was a house.
They talk under the trees,
between the shadows of birches.
Sometimes, we see their fires-
In the night,
Who holds the guitar?
Whose feet are wrapped in cloth?
Who has walked the longest,
how many steps, vying with the darkness,
the tunnel of the road?
Who has bathed his hands in the running stream?
And tell us, whose is the voice?
-Laura Marris
“Alex Weiser, a New Yorker who studied at Yale University, was drawn to “Travelers,” an enigmatic poem by a friend, Laura Marris, for an a cappella work of the same title, first performed at Yale in 2011. Mr. Weiser captured both the specific and elusive qualities of the poetic imagery in his compelling music, which sometimes breaks down a phrase and repeats the words, as if to get at the meaning. The urgent performance was led by Max Blum, the chorus’s excellent assistant conductor.”
