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  • Finally fixing _Stole of the Seal_

    From Joe Kesselman@21:1/5 to All on Sat Mar 20 19:44:18 2021
    I wrote this in 1995, as my entry in FKO's "Islands" contest, though it
    had been hanging fire for a year or two before that. However, I was
    never really happy with the second line of the introductory chorus ("Not artificial fiber; I am real"); it was left over from early drafts when I thought the song was going to be less serious than it turned out.

    Last year I finally found a fix: Move the corresponding line from the
    second verse up to the first, and find a replacement that doesn't break
    the mood.

    So here it is as it now stands. The two lines that have been
    moved/changed are marked with [*]


    (FWIW, both "karma" and "kharma" appear to be considered acceptable transliterations, with the former being more common on the web. I don't
    have any real reason for having selected the latter, beyond it looking
    less likely to run over my dogma.)

    Lee, if you want to publish a footnote about the change in Xeno, you're
    welcome to.



    Stole of the Seal
    Words: Joe Kesselman, Copyright 1995, 2020
    Music: B.J. Willinger, "Soul of the Steel"


    I am the Stole of the Seal
    I warn you, heed this tale I now reveal [*]
    Though I was once alive and was happy in the sea
    The hand of Man has murdered mine and me

    Last spring my pod and I
    Came a-swimming down the miles
    Just as we always had in days of yore
    To rest and bear our young
    In the shelter of the isles
    But hunters had discovered our shore
    They harvested my kin and me
    As they would reap a field
    Until the birthing beach was red with blood
    Men took my people's skins
    Left our corpses for the gulls
    Our bones were washed away by spring tide's flood

    I bear the soul of the seal
    Despite this turn of kharma's mighty wheel [*]
    You call me now a stole, and the reason's plain to see
    You wrap yourself in fur you stole from me

    And so you wear me now
    To your galleries and shows
    Amidst Manhattan's steel and glass and stone
    To emphasize your grace
    For mankind shares our taste
    For silky fur, though you can't grow your own
    (Ah,) But I will wait until the day
    I feel the ocean's spray
    And hear salt water churning into foam
    For then I'll claim your flesh
    To fill my empty skin
    And as a selkie you will take me home

    Yes, you'll play the role of the seal
    And learn the joys and terrors that we feel
    Both pinneped and man lie beneath the Gods' command
    And I have sworn I'll once again be whole

    Who wears my skin will someday share my soul

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Lee Gold XP@21:1/5 to Joe Kesselman on Sun Mar 21 05:48:00 2021
    On 3/20/2021 4:44 PM, Joe Kesselman wrote:
    Lee, if you want to publish a footnote about the change in Xeno, you're welcome to.

    Thanks.

    I'd like to publish the song with footnote.
    It never appeared in Xeno before.

    --Lee

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Joe Kesselman@21:1/5 to Lee Gold XP on Sun Mar 21 23:45:24 2021
    On 3/21/2021 8:48 AM, Lee Gold XP wrote:
    I'd like to publish the song with footnote.
    It never appeared in Xeno before.

    Really? Permission certainly granted. I've always considered it one of
    my better efforts, and I haven't had all that many of those.

    Now you've got me wondering whether there's anything else worth sharing
    that I haven't sent you.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Lee Gold XP@21:1/5 to Joe Kesselman on Sun Mar 21 21:54:41 2021
    On 3/21/2021 8:45 PM, Joe Kesselman wrote:
    On 3/21/2021 8:48 AM, Lee Gold XP wrote:
    I'd like to publish the song with footnote.
    It never appeared in Xeno before.

    Really? Permission certainly granted. I've always considered it one of
    my better efforts, and I haven't had all that many of those.

    Now you've got me wondering whether there's anything else worth sharing
    that I haven't sent you.


    https://conchord.org/xeno/ix.auth.html

    Kesselman Adieu, Sweet Nancy: Space Chanty 51 - 1030
    Kesselman Bounce! 152 - 3048
    Kesselman Ghost Came Back (Coda), The 115 - 2300
    Kesselman Golda's Soliloquy 71 - 1408
    Kesselman Little Teeny Eyes: new verse 128 - 2566
    Kesselman Moggy Strikes Back, The 50 - 1005
    Kesselman & Tansky Reindeer Got Run Over by My Grandma 104 - 2076
    Kesselman & Malme Simple GIFs 149 - 2991

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)