Truth

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by Andrea Ramsey

Bella Voce
The College of St. Scholastica
Dr. Bret Amundson, director
Taylor Neil, djembe

Performed at the 2020 Central/North Central American Choral Directors Association Regional Conference in Milwaukee, WI
March 6, 2020

Program cover art by Sarah M. Brokke

My roots are earth,
Muddy river and honeysuckle
Sturdy and rigid,
like farmhouse planks.
I shared a sisterhood with the amber grasses
My dreams climbed endlessly like the kudzu in July.
I shared a sisterhood with the amber grasses
My dreams climbed endlessly, no fear in sight.
In nature, in naïve youth,
All the forest was possible
All the pasture was my own,
My mother told me I was beautiful,
And I believed her then.
Why shouldn't I?
There is no doubt in a pond,
Insecurity does not grow in a meadow,
It will not sprout beneath the Southern pines.
It is planted by the boys on the school bus
Tended by the words of small minds,
And words may wound you,
But are they true?
You are beautiful,
You are enough,
You must believe in that, believe the truth.
My roots are earth,
Muddy river and honeysuckle
My roots are beautiful,
my roots are strong.
--Gardenia Bruce