The Forest Dictation

from EE003: Failed Celestial Creatures by David Grubbs & Taku Unami

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lyrics

THE FOREST DICTATION

There was a skirmish in the forest
something lunging at our feet, coming at us
unseeable at this time of night

We had been warned

Even on our guard, walking single-file
walking in near-silence, eyes trained
for shapes, predatory intent

We had been rightly warned

There was an attack and then the attacker
withdrew; none were hurt, just frightened
and uncertain why we were spared

A voice addressed us through the leaves

The voice from the forest said its
time would be short, that possession soon regains
force, obliterates the power to speak

Obliterates the will to withdraw

The voice beyond the branches
beseeched us to take down its words just as spoken
writing from when the voice had a name

This voice from the forest desired
that we communicate to posterity its poems
in view of waxing phases of transformation

I recognized the voice from long before and
it recognized mine; to encounter it thus—
extraordinary fortune

We readied ourselves for its words

The irreversibly combined voices of human and tiger
recited thirty poems, some long, some short
As to their quality, I would not presume to judge

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from EE003: Failed Celestial Creatures, released May 11, 2018

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Empty Editions Hong Kong

Empty Editions is a Berlin-based publishing platform initiated by Empty Gallery, Hong Kong.
Empty Editions releases vinyl records, artist books, multiples, and other ephemera with a special focus on the intersection between visual and sonic arts. We are restless explorers of the fertile territory where the vernacular meets the avant-garde. ... more

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