Martina Almgren THIS SONG OF MINE
OYR013 Oh Yeah Records release 7 September 2018
Karin Burman vocals
Ahmad al Khatib oud
Owe Almgren acoustic bass guitar
Martina Almgren drums composition

Lyric from poems by Rabindranath Tagore

WAITING 

The song I came to sing 
remains unsung to this day
I´am waiting, I am waiting

I have spent my days in stringing 
and in unstringing my instrument 

The time has not come true, 
the words have not been rightly set, 
only there is the agony 
of wishing in my heart

I have not seen his face, 
nor have I listened to his voice,
only I have heard his gentle footsteps 
from the road before my house

But the lamp has not been lit 
I cannot ask him into my house, 
I live in the hope of meeting with him, 
but this meeting is not yet 

I THOUGHT (Closed Path) 
I thought, I thought
I thought that my voyage had come to its end 
at the last limit of my power,
that the path before me was closed

that provisions were exhausted 
and the time come to take shelter 
in a silent obscurity

But I find that thy will knows no end in me. 
And when old words(songs) die out on the tongue, 
new melodies break forth from the heart, 
and where the old tracks are lost, 
and where the old tracks are lost, 
new country is revealed with its wonders

I DREAMT
I dreamt that she sat by my head, 
tenderly ruffling my hair withher fingers, 
playing the melody of her touch

I looked at her faceand struggled with my tears, 
till the agony of unspoken words burst,
 my sleep like a bubble

I sat up and saw the glow of the Milky Way above my window,
like a world of silence on fire, 
and I wondered if at this moment
she had a dream that rhymed with mine

THE NIGHT IS BLACK (On the Nature of Love) 
The night is black and the forest has no end,
a million people thread it in a million ways

We have trysts to keep in the darkness, 
but where or with whom - of that we are unaware

But we have this faith - that a lifetime's bliss
will appear any minute, with a smile upon its lips

Scents, touches, sounds, snatches of songs
brush us, pass us, gives us delightful shocks

The night is black and the forest has no end,
a million people thread it in a million ways

Then peradventure there's a flash of lightning:
whomever I see that instant I fall in love with

I call that person and cry: `This life is blest!
for your sake such miles have I traversed!'
All those others who came close and moved off
in the darkness - 
I don't know if they exist or not

THIS SONG OF MINE (My Song) 
This song of mine will wind its music around you, my child, 
This song of mine, like the fond arms of love
This song of mine, will touch your forehead like a kiss, my child,
This song of mine, like a kiss  of blessing

My song will be like wings to your dreams,
it will sit by your side and whisper in your ear, 
My song will sit in the pupils of your eyes, 
and carry your sight into the heart of things

It will be like the faithful star 
when dark night is over your road
 
This song of mine will wind its music around you, my child, 
This song of mine, like the fond arms of love
This song of mine, will touch your forehead like a kiss, my child,
This song of mine, like a kiss of blessing

This song of mine, this song of mine

THE SUN OF THE FIRST DAY
The sun of the first day
Put the question
Who are you?

There was no answer.
Years, years passed by
On the shore of the western sea
In the hush of evening

The last sun of the last day
Uttered the question 
Who are you?
on the shore of the western sea
In the hush of evening
on the shore of the western sea

FLOWER
Pluck this little flower and take it, delay not! 
I fear lest it droop 
and drop into the dust

I may not find a place in thy garland, 
but honour it with a touch of 
pain from thy hand and pluck it

I fear lest the day will end before I am aware, 
and the time of offering go by 

Pluck this little flower and take it, delay not! 
I fear lest it droop 
and drop into the dust 

Though its colour be not deep and its smell be faint, 
so use this flower in thy service 
and pluck it while there is time
 
So use this flower in thy service 
and pluck it while -  there is time