In reading the local town newspaper during these months of sheltering in place, the one thing that has remained consistent are the obituaries and the announcements of those who have become engaged and married. Depending on the number of obituaries, the obituaries and announcements of engagements and marriage share the same page.

The poem and the music reflect this juxtaposition of death situated alongside new life in the town newspaper.

I used the musical form of the Berceuse, French for a lullaby or cradle song, for the deceased love laid down in the arms of Mother Earth to sleep that eternal sleep. I used the musical form of a joyful wedding Waltz to represent the new life of love a wedding couple embraces.