Ready Reckoner by Courtney Hartman

ready reckoner:
a table of questions. a walking into, and through.


hollow // opening prayer. to be hollowed out, emptied in order to allow a resonance, a sounding through, a sound returned.

january first // the planning stages. a setting out, admittance of a love

january third // recognition of a dissonance. an affair with the color green.

belfry ll my calling out. and then, for fear of speaking, a turning away. written in sight of a belfry, written with the words of the prophet/poet Amos in mind.
(known for writing against the disparity between the wealthy and the poor.)

too much ll near the end of the way, weary of doubt weighing in. every word is fact.
(i never wanted anyone to hear me sing it, yet it became a vessel to carry the most raw of me.)

won’t be satisfied ll a rallying to protect our home, a refusal of complacency or acceptance.

neglect ll once a song, a conversation between blue and green.
if i neglect to see, all of the blue and green, bind up my ears and feet.

koyaanisqatsi ll meaning: life out of balance. the dissonance between us and our home, our ground, our water.

finis terrae ll latin, meaning the end of the earth. arriving there, i burn my clothes, bathe in the sea, returning, a new woman.
a song for rising day after day, to follow our shadows through to the end. everyday begins again.

here’s to the ones ll my thank you song - to every eye, hand and heart who has taken me in. to those whose faces i have forgotten, to those whose names are burned into me. and to every person who gave of themselves before and throughout the making of this album. you are all like water to me.

courtneyhartman.com