The Wife of Lot (a pagan mass)

music by Clint Borzoni; commissioned by Steven J Schimmel 

Prologue

We cannot ascend unto the world of the gods
without first having completed being human …

1. A Child of Horns (Kyrie)

I chanced upon a child of horns
within a dewy copse of thorns,
a naked babe of no great years
with flaring nose and trembling ears;
tiny hoofs which caked with mud
curled tight against the mossen soil,
furry legs which tipped with blood
did spread to let his thrust uncoil.
And there he took me in the weeds
my hair a web of teeth and leaves,
he plowed me as if Spring had come
and blossoms burst to peach and plum;
an hour’s storm of fire and wind
within this dark and sodden day,
he left my heart in brambles pinned
as with my soul he chased away.

2. The Passion of Pleasure (Gloria)

A treasure is this fair young thing,
a gem upon the mortal ring,
with eyes as wise as thrice his age
and lips as sure as any sage.
What pleasure is this hand to hold,
an ember in my fingers cold;
his jaw is taut to naught I say,
his ears too pink to scold.
What measure is the joy of youth,
this stunning naked god of truth!
What blessing to caress, redress
the passions that I once confessed.

I want to be lost with those who sin
for all of time since time begins,
through all the ages now and to come,
I want to dance with every one
in flames of passion, grief and lust
and reminisce our days of dust!
O Lord, the god of all great saints,
I’ll tell you now I’ve been a whore
a murderer a thief and drunk; I’ve
wallowed through Pandora’s trunk and
cannot say that I’d amend (for sure
I’d do it all again).
So let me dance and let me burn
as all this universe doth churn,
and when eternity is done
at last at least I had my fun!

3. Revelation (Credo)

I have come for the Rapture! raise me up!
I have come for the Resurrection! get it up!
I have come to be counted! count me in!
I am one of the Chosen! let me in!
I am one with the Mother! eat my sin!
I am one with the Father! stick it in!
I have come to be pardoned! forgive your Son!
I have come for the Judgement! my Will be done!
I have come for the Future! here and now!
I have come for the Kingdom! Holy Cow!
I am one with the Ocean! Sacred Shore!
I have swallowed this Earth! give me more!
I am holy and blessèd! for I have sinned!
I am dirty and wretchèd! boned and skinned!
I have come from the Mountain! I can see!
I have parted the River! of Shiva’s Pee!
I have watered the Desert! drunk the Sea!
I have captured Golgotha! and set her free!
I am all that I dream! I am all that I Be!
I am all that I’ve lived! this is all that is Me!
I am all I deserve! poor dumb and blind!
I am He Who has served! I am ripe on the Vine!
I am Alpha Omega! the First and the Last!
I am Moloch and Manson! a Man with a past!
I’m a Sinner a Saint! a Martyr a Prophet!
I have died on this Cross! now it’s time that I stop it!
I have come for my Profit! I have come for the Gold!
I have died to be born! I am very very old!
I have come from Atlantis! Egypt and Mu!
I have come from Atlanta! from Timbuktu!
I am all of the Daughters! born too soon!
I am Sons of the Daughters! who drank the Moon!
I am dying! I am pleading! open Heaven’s Arms!
I am laughing! I am weeping! in Factories and Farms!
I have come for the Money! come for my Share!
I have come for my Castle! of Rarified Air!
I have come for the Rapture! Lord open the Gate!
I am sorry my Child! you have come too late!

4. The Wife of Lot (Sanctus)

Were God to take me by the hand
to my bed reserved, the Promised Land,
would he find me, wistful, gazing back,
toward smoking hills and ocean black,
mournful of this world gone sour,
longing in that sacred hour
for one last breath of clover sweet,
a deft embrace, a swollen teat,
the eyes of lovers, insecure,
the voice of sorrow, wrath, allure,
temptation like a treasured wine
which seeps from grapes yet on the vine;
I think, all things considered be,
the Lord might have to pardon me,
that whilst that final second tolls
and angels harvest all good souls,
that I, as hearts are laid to waste,
may linger for one final taste.

I do not know how to live.
In living I fear death daily, and yet it seems as though
only in death is there peace.
In death shall I then dread the prospect of life?
I do not know how to die.
God and Devil are the same, they create and destroy my
soul.
Life and Death play the same game, in each do we fear and
desire the other.
I do not know how to be.
My hand holds the pencil to write life and death,
but it is the pencil which moves my hand.
And all that is written is:
I Am That I Am

5. Postcards from Armageddon (Agnus Dei)

O Goddess my Goddess! Why hast thou awakened me?
Lead me not out of temptation, but deliver me
time and time again into the Womb of Love!
Deliver me not from Evil, but grant me the
alchemy to transform devils into angels, and
angels into devils as Divine Whim may dictate!
Your Queendom has come and I am One, in hell
as I am in heaven. Give me this life my daily
strife, for mine is the Joy and the Power and the
Freedom to live and to remember my sins and my
successes alike, and know that this is all a
game, that we have already won, now and then and
forever and always, with all men, all women,
and the talking beasts of all the worlds. All
my Relations! Having a fabulous time, glad I
am here! A Man.

All my Relations!
Having a fabulous time!
Glad I am here!
A Man!