ANCHORS IN THE STREAM
for OC2-70
The Santa Fe reunion marked the first (and only) public performance of a song by our poet laureate John Gidmark, written and composed especially for the occasion and sung by half of our company quartet (Gidmark & Shipp).

Here are the lyrics to Anchors in the Stream.  Want to sing along?  You can view the melody here, and listen here. 

 
The Chattahoochee made the days of Summer
a fiction in their beauty by the war,
a myth of something we, too fresh to fathom,
drew sure to heart – what were we striving for?
The Summer drove our senses into numbness;
we fumbled under sky and into earth;
we bore ourselves as we could bear, designing
to understand our mettle and our worth.

The Chattahoochee made the days of Autumn
a clutter in the colors of the Fall,
a Fall into some other’s arms of glory,
a Fall into some other’s holy pall;
but Autumn made us men of certain purpose,
and Autumn made us men of perfect cheer,
and Autumn made us men of certain certainty and pride,
And Autumn made us men against our fear.

Refrain:
But there was something in the smell of Georgia Summer,
Something in the taste of Georgia Fall,
And there was something in the feel of Georgia Winter coming down
- Something in the terror of the call;
And now I hear that “something” as a river,
And now I see that “something” as a dream,
And now I know that “something” - let the world pour over me! -
As brotherhood, and anchors in the stream.

The Chattahoochee made the days of Winter
the days of dearer fate, of darker skies,
but there was something fuller in our voices,
and there was something brighter in our eyes:
we found an epic story in the striving,
the brother as a reason for the rhyme,
the brother as a purpose in the mission,
the brother as a mission into time.

Refrain

                             - John Gidmark, November 2005