As I woke up, too soon I might add, I had the idea that my monodrama Lament is a dream; and why not. The initial idea I had for this work was for it to be a monodrama using the Thomas poem. The setting would be a 52nd street jazz club in Manhattan. I was imagining the type of jazz of the 1950s to 1960. During this incredible decade (for both jazz and new music), personalities, styles, and ideas were changing rapidly and I wanted to be able to pick and choose influences unencumbered by history. My guiding light was the question, “What if…?” The music freely references the jazz experience one might have had in the clubs of that time. It is the non-historical part, however, that allows for the work to be a dream—it’s outside of time. That Lament takes place in a dream explains much of its expression.

The setting would be in a 52nd street jazz club in Manhattan.

One idea I have struggled with is I haven’t accepted Thomas’s title. I have always viewed the final stanza of the poem as not a bad, sad or regrettable place to be. Rather, it is a mature and spiritual acceptance of the life cycle. I get to see the time arc at a deeper level, one that Thomas could not have imagined. Yet the whole episode is a dream and allows for multiple interpretations. My interpretation doesn’t take anything away from the poem but it does make it self-accepting. Hopefully, the experience will feel authentic.