STEPHANIE

Stephanie is loved more than she knows.
There is in her a wildness hard to tame.
Even as her lover calls her name,
Passion dictates when she comes and goes.
However, there's a sweetness in her heart,
A tenderness that's loathe to sponsor pain.
No lover will be long left in the rain;
Indeed, when lost, she can't be long apart.
Each turn is made for love and not for gain.

Stephanie finds her wreath in pain:
To her, the greatest happiness is giving.
Each moment that her love flows like a wound
Places all creation in her heart.
How can she crave the sun while in the rain
A silent, suffering soul lies barely living?
Nor can her thoughts with nature be attuned
In a world where children's brains are blown apart.
Even so, her words are sweet and sane.

By Dimitri Shostakovich. Sequenced by J. Marques.