CANTUS: grip by Scott Senko

Recorded live at Westminster Hall in Minneapolis on October 13, 2023.
Music by Scott Senko (b. 1992)
Text by Levi Todd
“grip (v.)”
Old English grippan “to grip, seize, obtain “ (class I strong verb; past tense grap, past participle gripen), from West Germanic *greipanan (source also of Old High German gripfen “to rob,” Old English gripan “to seize;” see gripe (v.)).
knowing that this is likely the one time ever
that me and a new strange man who I do not wish to befriend or belove will touch
I feel a certain guilt
when the inevitable failure happens
the potential intimacy dropped
and floundering on the floor
like a gilled thing
i rack my brain for the index of handshakes tattered and fading
my fingers slipping through holes
this unspoken treaty requires
we both read each other
estimate what kind of men we are
if at all
whether to extend hands and tersely shake
distance kept or rather to clasp palms
wound against the thumbs
and slip into fingertips or perhaps
just clap and bump knuckles
i’m telling you
they want to know whether i am one of them
and what kind
which ranks i march with
whose allegiance i pledge
and i have no answer
the proof is in the fumble
still i would like to give this moment
the chance it deserves
we could make it work i think
i think we could
but there are so many options
and knowing which one to pick
like the rosiest apple from the bushel
would require me to get to know them
enough to do this a second time
----
linktr.ee/cantussings

[@heidikupke1034]

Nice! (wish I could tell what it's about, though. The auto-generated "transcript" is pretty much useless!)

[@cantussings]

Thank you! We’ve updated the description-