Red Light Winter, by Adam Rapp
CHRISTINA closes her eyes. After a moment she opens her eyes, begins to sing. She sings beautifully. She is mesmerizing.
CHRISTINA (singing) In the time that it shall take to move your body In the time that it shall take to lure you home I’ll find a willow tree and sleep beneath its branches And in its bark I’ll carve my heart’s most private poem Thirty years shall I require to pick the lemons Thirty more to draw the flowers from the grove A drop of vodka from the soil of ancient Russia A pinch of sea salt from the shores of our lost cove It’s a long way to the bottom of the ocean The lonely mermaid braids a starfish through her hair Her sailor drowned twelve years ago near Zaragosa And counting oysters never soothed her slow despair It’s the pearl that I long for the pearl that I long for the pearl that I long to hold near It’s the pearl that I long for the pearl that I long for the pearl that I long for my dear
CHRISTINA remains suspended in the song for a moment, then comes out of it. An awkward silence.
