The last aria

At the end of our opera "The Autumn Orchard", Josefina is left alone with her newborn son. Miguel has died in prison and Josefina's life is bleak with poverty in the midst of a war torn country.

Here is a bit of raw poetry from her final aria (libretto by J Michael Martinez):

Oh Miguel,
Leaves fall to earth
where our lambs grazed
in our meadows.

And now the lambs
are sheared and slaughtered
wool bloody on dead leaves

Miguel,
Our sun turns
over reaped fields of wheat

Now the stalks
point to the moon
like dead fingers.

Miguel,
the water has dried
where we were once rivers
swelled by Spring rain

There is only this
whisper of the black night
folding light into black
arms, black words.