grandmother moon – Eleanor Daley

The final section of Eleanor Daley’s ‘grandmother moon’, recorded by the Phoenix Consort in rehearsal at Hild Bede College Chapel, Durham.

She looks into and beyond my soul,

Her round face of translucent beauty and light,

Quiet powers speak out in her name… We’lalin.

Grandmother moon is a setting of a mystical text by a Mi’kmaq poet, Mary Louise Martin, who lives on a small island in British Columbia. The text describes the beauty and tranquillity of a full moon on a clear night, finishing with the word “welcome”.