and we, each (2024) an opera in two acts

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The opera is an exploration of the treacherous territories of relationships - between individuals, within societies and, ultimately, the collapse of both. 
— composer Michael Hersch

"I have outgrown my youthful assumption that I have easy access to truths about human nature, but I have never stopped trying to say true things about people. Over the years, I have found that many of the things it seemed right to say, things that seemed true, have also been difficult to say, often touching upon subjects even I would rather not say anything about. I have not been able to avoid writing about race, and money, and power, though most days I would have been happy writing love poems ... I was obligating myself to look long and hard at people, and so obligating myself to write about the difficulties between them. This obligation has led me to write some poems that are hard for me to read, and I imagine they must be hard for others to read, though I have always tried to make my poems as beautiful as I could make them—when beauty was appropriate. But I was also obligating myself to love people despite the difficulties they make for each other, and as a consequence, even when I’m not writing love poems, I’m writing love poems." — poet Shane McCrae