About the work
Love Poetry was written for my brother James as a gift for his fiancée, Hannah. When he first called me about writing a piece, he asked for something that sounded like a mix of Sunday morning coffee and the feeling he gets whenever she smiles at him. I knew exactly what he meant. I pulled up a poem Jon had written during the pandemic and immediately improvised into the phone. He began to tear up.
To me, Jon’s poem is the perfect snapshot of life with the one you love, and that occasional moment in between moments. And that constant pulsing E—never moving—is your love by your side. Always.
Commissioned by James Hazzard in loving dedication to Hannah Candler.
Written for the California State University Long Beach University Choir, Jonathan Talberg, conductor.
Text
One (opening the blinds for you):
I want to write love poetry about the way you sleep
shrouded in white sheets, light streaming from the window,
hint of snore,
touch of twitch,
but, instead
I stand here and watch your breath,
knowing only that I love you more than I did when we met,
more than I did when we first kissed,
more,
more than I ever thought I could.
Text from Polaroids from the Pandemic by Jonathan Talberg.
