Sacred Threads

Sacred Threads of Crinoids text by Teresa Howard. Music by Laura Reid. Soprano Gwen Ann Rand, piano by Allyson Devenish. Teresa writes : "Emily Dickinson's poem inspired me to write about Crinoids, one of the most ancient forms of sea life from the Echinodermata family, it looks like a bunch of feathers floating gracefully in the deep. Its presence in the sea, having outlived extinctions of other creatures like the dinosaurs, makes it a symbol of survival and hope. The poem is a prayer in homage to the ancient line of the Crinoid." Image by Heidi Stellar. SACRED THREADS Phy-lum Echin-o-der-mata Phy-lum Sacrum Genitori, genitoque Ad Phylum Crinoidae Five hundred million years of life. Five hundred million years. We heard the dying moan of beast from ice and fire, and air and sea. You thought we were the lilies of ancient shallow waters, but animal adaptable we learned to move, evolve, survive. We have nothing that a human needs. We take nothing that a human wants. We were here before and will watch you leave, unless you hold the door, amid your blast and roar! Hear my secret scripture Hear me call beneath the wave Hope is floating feather lilies Hope learns to weather any change. Phy-lum Echin-o-der-mata Phy-lum Sacrum Genitori, genitoque Ad Phylum Crinoidae. Copyright Teresa Howard 2023 Translation: Phy-lum Echin-o-der-mata (Latin name for the genus they belong to, including starfish etc.) Phy-lum Sacrum (sacred thread) Genitori, genitoque (begotten and begotten) Ad Phylum Crinoidae (the thread of crinoids) copyright Teresa Howard 2023.