While the tradition, it seems, was oral, some writings took the form of paintings on vases, books, or screen folds. Fewer than twenty of these "painted books" have survived from Meso America, and their exact reading remains a mystery. The central image, however, is that of a life lived with some hope of meaning. "Your heart is a book of paintings you have come to sing, to make your dreams resound. You are the singer!"

Commissioned by the Venice High School Concert Choir. For mixed choir (SATB) and piano.