I saw her sitting, on the edge

Description

Duration

5 1/2 min.

Program Notes

I wrote this work after the first Covid19 lockdown period, while we were still in the middle of a global pandemic. I had lost a friend to suicide at the beginning of lockdown, in March. Then a few months later, I was walking along the River Clyde in Glasgow when I saw a group of people standing beside the railing. As I got closer, I could see a woman sitting on the other side of the railing, on a ledge quite high above the water, her legs dangling over the edge. I heard someone on the phone to the emergency services, and saw another man standing further back with a lifebelt and rope at the ready. I still think about her now, months later, and hope she got the help she needed. This work is my response to what I saw that day.

– Glasgow, October 2020

Kindly commissioned by Derek Flynn