Chronos in the Hall

Ojibway Text: Andrew Balfour

Nibi
Ningaabii’anong
Giiwedinong
Waabanong
Zhawanong
Aki
Omaa biindig

Water
West
North
East
South
Earth
Here inside

Text: Psalm 150, paraphrased in Latin elegiac verse

Laudibus in sanctis Dominum celebrate supremum:
Firmamenta sonent inclita facta Dei.
Inclita facta Dei cantate, sacraque potentis
Voce potestatem saepe sonate manus.

Magnificum Domini cantet tuba martia nomen:
Pieria Domino concelebrate lira.
Laude Dei resonent resonantia tympana summi:
Alta sacri resonent organa laude Dei.

Hunc arguta canant tenui psalteria corda,
Hunc agili laudet laeta chorea pede.
Concava divinas effundant cymbala laudes,
Cymbala dulcisona laude repleta Dei.

Omne quod aethereis in mundo vescitur auris
Alleluia canat tempus in omne Deo.

Celebrate the Lord most high in holy praises:
Let the firmament echo the glorious deeds of God.
Sing ye the glorious deeds of God, and with holy voice
Sound forth oft the power of his mighty hand.:

Let the warlike trumpet sing the great name of the Lord:
Celebrate the Lord with Pierian lyre.
Let resounding timbrels ring to the praise of the most-high God,
Lofty organs peal to the praise of the holy God.:

Him let melodious psalteries sing with fine string,
Him let joyful dance praise with nimble foot.
Let hollow cymbals pour forth divine praises,
Cymbals filled with the sweet-sounding praise of God.

Let everything in the world that feeds upon the air of heaven
Sing Hallelujah to God for evermore.

Chantez au Seigneur un chant nouveau
Car il a fait des merveilles.
Sa droite, son bras très saint
l’ont rendu vainqueur.
Le Seigneur a fait connaître sa victoire
aux yeux des nations,
Il a révélé sa justice, il s’est rappeleé
sa fidelité, sa loyauté,
en faveur de la maison d’Israël.

Sing a new song to the Lord!
He has worked miracles,
and with his own powerful arm,
he has won the victory.
The Lord has shown the nations
that he has the power to save
and to bring justice.
God has been faithful
in his love for Israel.

Texts: readings from the Prussian liturgy

Am Neujahrstage
Herr Gott, du bist unsere Zuflucht für und für.
Ehe denn die Berge worden und die Erde und die Welt geschaffen worden,
bist du, Gott, von Ewigkeit zu Ewigkeit.
Halleluja!

On New Year’s Day
Lord God, you are our refuge forevermore.
From before the mountains were made, and the lands and the world were created,
You are our God from age to age.
Hallelujah!

Am Himmelfahrtstage
Erhaben, o Herr, über alles Lob, über alle
Herrlichkeit, herrschest du von Ewigkeit.
Halleluja!

On Ascension Day
Exalted, O Lord, above all praise, above all
glory, Thou reignest forever and ever.
Hallelujah!

Text: Samih Choukeir (b. 1957)

َل ْو َ رَح ُل ص ْو ْ تي ما بِت ْرَح َل ح ِ ناجْركم
ْعُي ُ وني على بكرا وقلبي معكم
َل ْو ِ راح ُ الم َغّن ِي بْت َضّل األغاني
ِ ْج َمعِ ْق ِ لوب َ الم ِ كسورة و ِ البْتعاني

If my voice departs, your throats (voices) will not
I look unto tomorrow and my heart is with you
If the singer goes (dies), the songs will remain
Bringing together the broken and suffering hearts

Texts: Hindu and Indic Ismaili Muslim Traditional; Psalm 130

Surya
Nayno(n) se nayn milavo,
mere Saheb

De profundis
clamavi ad te Domine:
Domine exaudi vocem meam

Sun, Supreme Light.
Let my eye meet with yours,
my Lord/Master/Beloved

Out of the depths
have I cried unto Thee, O Lord:
Lord, hear my voice.

Text: e.e. cummings (1894–1962) (excerpt)

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it
here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart
i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

Text: John Barton (b. 1957)

We were close. My iPhone scrolling us through

Photos I took to show you, a last glimpse
In your final days, though we had no clue
Or would not see or must have look askance.

I did, at least. In your hospital room
Chair drawn up to your bed. Oxygen tank
Hung overhead, not unlike a vacuum

Cleaner canister, you breathing in banks
Of purifying air; cheerful, loving
While affirming the flora you knew well

Camas, grape hyacinth, dogwood, quince—spring
Weeks old, as if its efflorescent spell
When stemmed, could carry forward still; grateful

For your poised life with us; as I’m grateful.

Text: Jocelyn Morlock

One black iron spike
One mile east of Fort Fraser
Three thousand miles of track, standard gauge
Three thousand days of immigrant labour
One resource economy
One black spike.

Text: Canadian folk song

I am the flunky of the house,
they call me Flunky Jim;
You’ll find me knocking around the yard in a hat without a brim.
My overalls are shabby
and I have no shirt at all,
but I’m going to get a new outfit with my gopher tails next fall.

Knocking around the yard, boys,
knocking around the yard,
it isn’t any easy job,
don’t fool yourself, my pard.
My overalls are shabby
and I have no shirt at all,
but I’m going to get a new outfit with my gopher tails next fall.

At night when Pa comes from the fields,
he calls for Flunky Jim.
He pats me on my curly head
and my hat without a brim.
He’s apt to say, “Oh, Flunky Jim,
your clothes in spots are small.”
But I’m going to get a new outfit with my gopher tails next fall.

I counted all my gopher tails,
I almost have enough
to buy a hat, a fancy shirt,
and pants that have a cuff.
And then I’ll hand my old ones down – they really are too small.
Oh, I’ll be swell when once I sell my gopher tails next fall.

Text: Shannon Bramer (b. 1973), from “Climbing Shadows: Poems for Children”

I have a kitten
in my night bedroom

See her tiny paws, ginger fur
tumbling along

bubbles of light
in the dark house I sleep in?

It’s not ghosts –

it’s only cars going by outside
making ribbons
on my walls

and my kitten is climbing shadows

Text: quotes from Albert Einstein (1879–1955)

one
There are only two ways to live your life.
One is as though nothing is a miracle.
The other is as though everything
is a miracle.

two
When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second.
When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an hour.
That’s relativity.

three
That deep emotional conviction of the
presence of a superior power,
which is revealed in the incomprehensible
universe,
forms my idea of God.

five
Everything that can be counted
does not necessarily count;
everything that counts
Cannot necessarily be counted.

Dolly Parton (b. 1946)

It’s been a long dark night,
and I’ve been waiting for the morning.
It’s been a long hard fight,
but I see a brand new day a-dawning.
I’ve been looking for the sunshine
‘cause I ain’t seen it in so long.
Everything’s gonna work out fine.
Everything’s gonna be alright,
it’s gonna be okay.

I can see the light of a clear blue morning.
I can see the light of a brand new day.
I can see the light of a clear blue morning.
Everything’s gonna be alright,
it’s gonna be okay.