A song in Tamar's voice, by Girls in Trouble/Alicia Jo Rabins

I was a desert until I learned
to make the sky rain down on me
And I was a barren field until
I planted myself with borrowed seed.

You, you’re a strong one
they say you ground lead into dust with your teeth
But even a strong one
gets lonely at night when he can’t sleep.

All night long I bit my tongue
to keep from calling out your name
Saying don’t you know the voice of the one
Who brought you tea in the early dawn

I’d watch you sleeping
like a lion at rest, so gentle your breath
But when you’d awaken
your shouting would startle the birds from their nest

You did not know
You did not see

1. In this song, the artist imagines Tamar’s thoughts behind her veil. What do you imagine Tamar was thinking during her seduction of Judah?
2. The artist imagines Tamar singing, “I was a desert until I learned / to make the sky rain down on me.” What do you think this means? Can you think of ways that you, or other people in real life or fiction, have “made the sky rain down” on them? Make a list of examples.