The first great poet I really knew was my maternal grandfather.  While his passion was caring for his congregation as a minister, poetry was his greatest gift.  His poems were beautifully written, moving and spilled straight out of his heart to be shared with others.

One of my most treasured possessions is a small book of poetry with just a fraction of his work.  In that book, there are poems written for friends going through dark times after the loss of a child, joyous verses written for his 50th wedding anniversary, and works revealing how much he was moved by daily life and his extensive travel to places near and far.

This composition is written not only for my grandfather, but for poets past and present, who share their hearts with us all.

The Poet

"And Spring arose on the garden fair,
 Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere..."
 - Percy Bysshe Shelley

"Spring is when life’s alive in everything."
 - Christina Rossetti

Spring Sonnet

When the railway runs along the coast, right beside the sea, there are many tunnels. Sometimes they’re so narrow that two tracks must draw near to one another to pass through. That’s how a strange love story begins between them.
This is a song I wrote around the year 2000, one of my last. I think it has a good mood. I’ve remixed and partially rearranged it.
You can still hear the warm tone of the Washburn, along with the old Yamaha’s sounds (including the flute). The sax — reworked by me  — is kindly provided by Dropgun Samples.
Still, as always, everything is very handcrafted.

Below is the English translation of the lyrics.

They converged at the tunnel’s mouth,
suddenly parallel —
twins of the railway.
They looked at each other, studied each other,
just enough
to not quite grasp
how much the one beside you knows of you.
They hesitated, thinking of the road behind:
companions in adventure,
but now unsure why.
And then they stared at the night gaping inside the tunnel:
a magnificent promise
to be traveled on the thread of fantasy.

“Inside this darkness, maybe we will never part,
under this shadow, maybe you’ll finally know me,
after this night, who knows where you’ll fall asleep —
perhaps closer to the sea…”

They parted at the tunnel’s edge,
but a narrow wall concealed a silence
charged with jealousy,
shaped like fear — fear of that strange kind of courtesy,
fear of the light,
fear of the end of the tunnel.
“Parallel track,
mirror born of the railway,
traitorous twin,
lover made of parody.
Don’t tell me that
after this darkness we’ll never part,
that under this shadow you’ll finally touch me,
that after this night, who knows where you’ll take me —
perhaps down by the sea…”

And at the end of that masterpiece of engineering,
only one of them
came rushing out of the tunnel;
on instinct, he turned and saw
that the sea was beside him,
and under the sea, the sky,
and beneath the sky — who knows what lies...

“After this darkness, surely we will never part,
inside this shadow, surely you’ll let go,
after this night, I cannot say where you’ll fall asleep —
perhaps closer to the sea…”

----

Confluirono all'ingresso della galleria
improvvisamente paralleli 
gemelli della ferrovia.
Si guardarono, si studiarono quel tanto che
non basta a misurare sino in fondo
quello che hai di fianco cosa sa di te.
Indugiarono, pensarono alla strada dietro di sé:
compagni di avventura,
ma ora non capivano perché.
E poi guardarono la notte spalancata nella galleria:
magnifica promessa
da viaggiare sul filo della fantasia

"dentro questo buio forse noi non ci separeremo mai,
sotto questo scuro tu finalmente mi conoscerai,
dopo questa notte poi non so dire dove ti addormenterai,
forse più vicino al mare ..."

Si congedarono sulla bocca della galleria,
ma parete stretta nasconde silenzio
fatto a carica di gelosia,
fatto a forma di paura di quella stranissima cortesia,
paura della luce
paura della fine della galleria.
"Binario parallelo,
specchio generato dalla ferrovia,
gemello traditore,
amante da parodia.
Non dirmi che 
dopo questo buio noi non ci separaremo mai,
che sotto questo scuro tu finalmente mi toccherai,
che dopo questa notte poi chissà dove mi accompagnerai,
forse giù vicino al mare ..."

E alla fine di quel capolavoro di ingegneria,
di loro uno solo
usciva di corsa dalla galleria;
d'istinto si voltò e vide che
c'era il mare di fianco a sé,
e sotto il mare il cielo,
e sotto il cielo chissa cosa c'è ...

"dopo questo buio certo noi non ci separeremo mai,
dentro questo scuro tu sicuramente ti abbandonerai,
dopo questa notte poi non so dire dove ti addormenterai,
forse più vicino al mare ..."

----

Composed by Michele Ansani (1999)
Posted on SoundCloud: 2025, May 16

Down by the sea [Viaggio di nozze] *

Composed by Michele Ansani (2025).
Saxophone and female vocals (reworked) are courtesy by Daze of Nostalgia and Cinematic Vocals.
Cover picture: René Magritte, The Art of Conversation (1963).

Posted on SoundCloud:  2025 June 1.

Talking about our lifetime

Over the weekend, a tiny creature showed up at our home, in need of a little help.  After a day of some care, it scurried away to continue on with life, no worse for the wear.  The experience brought to mind a hymn I used to sing as a child, “All Things Bright & Beautiful." The refrain is probably the most well-known part of the hymn:

“All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful, the Lord God made them all.”

The hymn speaks of the wonder of creation as well as the inherent value of life and served as the inspiration for this piano improvisation. The words (but not the original melody) from the refrain are integrated into the composition beginning at the section from :58 – 1:17 and repeating several times thereafter.

Bright and Beautiful

In the previous version (https://soundcloud.com/michele-ansani/gamma-o) there was excessive sound saturation. I kept only the vocal part (remixed) and redid the piano backing, aiming for a more minimalist result.

Gamma Ø: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma_Island_(Greenland)

I think a good English translation of the original lyrics isn’t easy, but I’ll give it a try.

Lyrics [ENG / ITA]

And so we go on
along these parallel routes,
we’ll go farther
without ever moving forward,
for how much longer 
will you walk with me?

And so we sink
into this whirl of sensations,
and over us, you’ll see, 
the water will close again,
for as long as
it will still be enough for us?

And we stay like this
we’ll be fine together,
we’re already far away 
without ever having left

["Willkommen in Düsseldorf, meine Damen und Herren. 
Nach 11 Stunden und 59 Minuten sicher gelandet"].

-----

E proseguiamo così
su queste rotte parallele
andremo più lontano
senza avanzare mai
per quanto ancora
mi accompagnerai?

ed affondiamo così
in questo vortice di sensazioni
e su di noi vedrai l'acqua si richiuderà
per quanto ancora ci basterà

e rimaniamo così
staremo bene insieme
noi siamo già lontani
senza essere partiti mai

["Willkommen in Düsseldorf, meine Damen und Herren. 
Nach 11 Stunden und 59 Minuten sicher gelandet"].

------

Lyrics and music by Michele Ansani (1982). Recorded in 2018 and 2025
Posted on SoundCloud on 2025, July 3.

Gamma Ø *

The Earth Love II

Wonderful Meadow View

In collaboration with Francess Harris. She played the piano composition and I did the composition of the orchestral arrangement. Thank you for listening and enjoy. Any comment is appreciated always.

Collaboration Timothy McGuire / Francess Harris

An Enduring Dream

An Enduring Dream (feat. Fr. Harris)

Many inmates who are basically good people make impulsive decisions that land them in prison for a long time.  This song looks at the two sides of the crime - the moment a bad decision is made and the years a person has to gain perspective about everything that led up to that moment.

Inside

دينا الوديدي - أدين بدين الجدعنة



كلمات : ميدو زهير
لحن : دينا الوديدي

تدوّر وترجع وجع واعتكاف
وتطبع عليك السنين العجاف
وأول ما حُبك يقابلك يسيبك !
وأول ما حُبك يسيبك تخاف

صنعت سجنك م الهوا ودخلته بإرادتك
وإديت حبيبك نفسك، ما سألت فين حطك
وإكمن كله أذاك قررت تعشق ملاك !
يا اللي عشقت الملاك حتى الملاك صدّك


دينا الوديدي - تدوّر و ترجع

I am a songwriter and musician from Southern California.  After finishing a 42-year career as a forensic psychologist I am devoting myself to songwriting.  This site contains professional studio recordings of completed songs as well as home studio versions of songs I am working on.  I appreciate comments and getting feedback.  I’m on Instagram at Clark Clipson Music.  If you are interested in performing or recording any of my material, please contact me through my website (see below).

Inside

Clark Clipson

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