Emptiness: 2160 E. Tremont Ave, The Bronx

Program Note: This song explores the hustle and bustle of an apartment building in the Bronx. How do simply images evoke complex memories, and how can the singer convey those messages without any context?

Connecticut Poet Laureate Patricia Horn O’Brien wrote this poem about and in the shape of her childhood apartment building. In my discussions with her, O’Brien speaks of the joy and relief a person can feel when they come to understand that everything in the material world is transitory. Therefore, the phrase “emptiness” is one of epiphany.