We, who play at the same speeds as the ones fashioned before us,
Who walk through doors and become them,
Who sweep through halls assuming their same shadows,
And burst with the same magic from our fingertips ,
We, offer you the burden of our great sorrow
Humbly guarded here for generations 3
Or four, and by whose weight we have anchored our people
The compounded longings, melancholies, blights, and drooping crests,
Chiseled by years of enduring insupportable acts from every odd angle,
Hardened to one great callus
And expanded by the corresponding briny tears
Composes our moon, lighting the way for hand holders during the dark hours
The same sphere, during the day, is our sun,
For what are the moon and the sun but the same creature in a different light ?
That incandescent pink ball, the sorceress of our weather, perched in our sky, we call Misery
And she is the mother of us all
Without her we would surely whither and meet grim death.
She is now unwell, poised to become so grim within that the bonds grown centuries ago may break.
We are but new borns not yet weaned from the Misery’s tit and her milk grows stale
But to you we must seem giant beings, ancient in concept, and profound beyond belief
Why visit you with such grand ideas, notions, and perils ?
Why invest in one such as you the great power of Misery to aid in her restoration or at least maintenance ?
Why have we, as you put “chosen” you for this great honor ?
You must think you have some outstanding quality that makes you valuable to us ?
Something special that attracts our attention and need,
Some prophesied fate as our savior ?
Please, do not entertain such notions. We did not chose you, you were simply here.
You see, our situation is dire. We would beg assistance of any stranger and in fact, we do
You are neither first nor last of our solicitations
Most refuse, but most are unable to conceive of the maintenance of suffering as a worthy task
But such work does a princess make
So before you make hasty exit, which we tally as a negative response,
Please consider what grandeur you may be immersed in if you stay and help
Girl
Um that sounds great, but I’m too like obsessed with my own sadness to like take on anybody else’s. Plunging into other people’s sadness would not be good for me.
Princesses
All misery comes from the same moon.
Which is also a sun.
Add your gloom to ours and find strength in commiseration.
GIRL
Uhh.. I’m not really sure about this. If I spend too much time around people who are really sad, then I start to take on the sadness and then it makes me a worse person to be around. I’m just one of those people who like soaks up everybody else’s feelings and it gets really hard you know?
Princesses
That’s not a real type of person. You have to deal with all of it.
Girl
Um, okay. So, what do I have to do for this to be real ?
Princesses
Every princess is a journeyer of circadian character
They make pilgrimage each day to one of several Pools of Lugubriousness, despondent ponds
and weep until they have fulfilled the secular covenant between moon and mortal
Girl
How many tears does it take ?
Princesses
the stability of our harsh mistress’s orbit depends on quality more than quantity
and thus on time more than tears counted
all that’s asked of a princess is that they whimper salty odes for 400 minutes diurnally
Girl
That seems like a really long time to do literally anything
But this seems durational, or something.
Princesses
You are participating in the salvation of your species. Of course it is durational.
Girl
Oh, okay.
Princesses
You will need to commit to princess tears
You must cultivate adequate ducts for draining precious flowage
And keep strictly to a high sodium diet for tear potency
The more fully you give your grief to our collection, the more brightly our moon Misery can shine, and when she is our sun she may also shine, feeding and keeping alive our great planet and its inhabitants.
And so it has always been.
The well adjusted are too blinded by plumage to appreciate what keeps them alive
and for just how long this has been so
as long as we have known.
Girl
I don’t want to do this just because it’s like redemptive or something.
Princesses
You will not be redeemed in any way from this venture.
In fact, you may find yourself a more devout observer of the Great Wallow.
As your contemporaries might evaluate our proposal, we see no benefit to you
But you seem… interested.
Girl
It does seem like something I would do I though?
Princesses
The realist in us feels obliged to mention this commitment could easily derail any attempt at maintaining a healthy routine with respect to other obligations, necessities or desires
Do you understand that 400 minutes is roughly 7 hours?
Girl
Easy. I feel like I would excel in this position.
Princesses
Time passes. Our sun Misery hits the gnomen at later angles yet
You must begin post-haste or fear losing daylight
Girl
Where am I going
Princesses
Fortunately, we have many Pools of Lugubriousness conveniently located throughout your neighborhood. None travel far to fill up her jar, we say.
We are locating the closest pool now
It appears there is a location close by the way at the intersection of N Francisco Avenue and Thomas St, in Parking Lot 9 of what was once the Norwegian American Hospital
There you will find a puddle
Look closely for the right one, but once you have it, let flow your tears for 400 minutes so that they may add themselves to the pool.
Princesses
Oh, there is one more thing.
Girl
Um… okay what is it ?
Princesses
You must change… into your princess form.
From harpist Sarah Pagé comes an album that feels like a fairy tale, full of mystic beauty and gentle, fluttering melodies. Bandcamp New & Notable Jul 1, 2023
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supported by 5 fans who also own “all misery comes from the same moon”
This is the most interesting music I have found on Bandcamp. Yesterday I purchased Volumes 1 thru 5 with the intention of listening to all of the music in order. I have found myself stuck on Volume 2. I'm currently listening to it for the 5th time. I hope you are able to complete your Satie journey. THANKS Karloff