Katia on Mt. Unzen
for voice and piano
Amy Scurria
Text by Germaine Shames
Release me, death, from the fire I cannot quench
You, whom I have worshipped
Life pales beside your fury
Deep beneath the Earth are forces beyond reckoning
How dark and sweet they beckon
And so I go
Release me, fire, from this body that cannot hold me
You, whom I have courted
Inching toward oblivion
Deep beneath the Earth is beauty beyond reckoning
Blinding me, it beckons
And so I go.
My heaven is the rim of a belching red volcano
My heaven hangs suspended between one breath and the next
If longing does not kill me, take me deep inside your furnace
Melt me with your mercy
Melt me with your mercy
Melt with me your mercy then set me free
Release me, death, from the fire I cannot quench
You, whom I have worshipped
Conummate and holy
Deep beneath the Earth wait forces beyond reckoning
How dark and sweet they beckon
And so I go
Release me, death, from the fire I cannot quench
You, whom I have worshipped
Life pales beside your fury
Deep beneath the Earth are forces beyond reckoning
How dark and sweet they beckon
And so I go
Release me, fire, from this body that cannot hold me
You, whom I have courted
Inching toward oblivion
Deep beneath the Earth is beauty beyond reckoning
Blinding me, it beckons
And so I go.
My heaven is the rim of a belching red volcano
My heaven hangs suspended between one breath and the next
If longing does not kill me, take me deep inside your furnace
Melt me with your mercy
Melt me with your mercy
Melt with me your mercy then set me free
Release me, death, from the fire I cannot quench
You, whom I have worshipped
Conummate and holy
Deep beneath the Earth wait forces beyond reckoning
How dark and sweet they beckon
And so I go