Enchantments: Framed Moments that Move Us
A Duet by Paul Finley and Patricia Smith
Paul Finley & Patricia Smith
Photo Courtesy Paul Joseph Brown
A Duet for Prose and Piano
These duets include three vignettes that echo and celebrate the enchantments in ordinary life. The stories share encounters with the natural world—water, physics—the medical world, and family, all told in a unique weave of words and original music.
Words by Patricia Smith
Original music by Paul Finley
A PORTRAIT OF MY MOTHER
Excerpt from the memoir, Barby Was A Rocket Girl
In impressionistic snippets, the narrative offers a picture of the author’s mother, Barby. Barby’s story is told in another way through the composer’s evocative score.
EVERYTHING NOT FORBIDDEN IS COMPULSORY
Published in Star 82, vol 12.1
An account of the author’s trip to the Pacific ocean with her younger brother, a physicist lately affected by Parkinson’s, as the musical score rings out life, and death—and magically conveys water.
IT’S OUT OF YOUR HANDS
Published in Calyx Journal, volume 35:1
A recounting of the author’s unexpected summons to the emergency room following a troubling reading from her heart monitor—which she didn’t feel. This story, suffused with the Russian music she’s learning, describes her skepticism about that possibly false report, and her musings about her heart. The musical score echoes and deepens the experience of the hospital as things speed up. It also includes several musical quotes from Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Vespers.