Myth of Water book cover

Words & Music

The Myth of Water: Go Into Your Life

Poems by Jeanie Thompson & Music by Larry Mitchell

Eight poems recast into songs that tell the story of renown author and activist Helen Keller’s life within the Alabama landscape. Love, loss and longing are Helen’s themes.

“These poems will break your heart, then mend it and return it to you enlarged.” – Sena Jeter Naslund, New York Times best-selling novelist

The Myth of Water: Go Into Your Life, received two 2026 Bronze Global Music Awards: Words & Music and Lyrics/Songwriter.

About Larry Mitchell

Grammy-winning producer/engineer and composer

His original compositions on guitar, bass, drums, keys, and various instruments reflect the poet’s sense of pain and loss in a familiar landscape. Mitchell has produced and performed with Native American musicians and three-time US Poet Laureate Joy Harjo, and has toured with Tracy Chapman, Billy Squire and Ric Ocasek of the Cars.

July 22, 2026:
The Myth of Water: Go Into Your Life, my words-and-music collaboration with Grammy Award-winning composer, producer, engineer, and musician Larry Mitchell, has received two 2026 Bronze Global Music Awards:
Words & Music and Lyrics/Songwriter.

Poetry has been my life’s work, and hearing these poems take on a new life through Larry’s extraordinary music has been one of the greatest joys of my creative journey. My heartfelt thanks to Larry for his remarkable artistry, to the Global Music Awards for this wonderful honor, and to everyone who has listened, attended a performance, and supported this project. –Jeanie

Words & Music CD Launch Event Video

Radio Interviews

The Myth of Water – TPR’s In Focus – July 31, 2025

From Troy Public Radio: In Focus brings news of an artistic collaboration between poet Jeanie Thompson and producer/composer Larry Mitchell with their debut album about Helen Keller.

Poems on the Life of Helen Keller – In Focus – July 30, 2025

From Troy Public Radio: In Focus features a conversation with poet Jeanie Thompson, discussing her new digital album with Larry Mitchell about the life of Helen Keller.

The Myth of Water: Go Into Your Life

Poems by Jeanie Thompson & Music by Larry Mitchell

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Album Tracks

1. Dark Dancer
2:15
2. The Lyrical Trees
2:01
3. The Little Boy Next Door
2:56
4. River, Bridge, and Sky
2:57
5. Wave Memory
2:46
6. How to Enter the River
2:12
7. Snap Shot in the Red Fields
2:56
8. The Myth of Water
2:28

“Words and music for our minds to dance and contemplate the vastness of the heart.”

- Larry Mitchell

“A pairing of poetry and song to stir the spirit and give movement to memory.”

– Rachel Nix, editor, Screen Door Review

“Individually they are masters; together these artists create a new language of the human heart.”

– Jay Lamar, co-editor, Old Enough, Southern Women Writers and Artists on Creativity and Aging

“These poems will break your heart, then mend it and return it to you enlarged.”

—Sena Jeter Naslund, New York Times best selling novelist