Introduction:
On May 26th 2011 at about 10:52p.m. I tweeted “When I pass, please do not mourn me. I hope I would have lived a life worthy of a celebration.” About 24hours later on the Night of May 27th 2011, we found out our poet and songwriter Gil Scott-Heron had passed. I employ all those familiar with the man’s work to celebrate his life rather than mourning his death. Eerie enough, later on the night of May 26th I though and wrote an extended version of the tweet. On the night of Gil Scott-Heron’s death I could not help but edit the piece a bit and add a few more lines. The short piece below is the culmination of those thoughts.
A Life Lived
When I pass, please do not mourn me, I hope I would have lived a life worthy of a celebration
When I pass, please do not pity me, I hope I would have lived a life worthy of glory
When I Pass..
Do not be saddened by my ever absence, be glad that eternity has found me favorable
Do not remiss that you were unable to have another word with me, be happy that in this great existence of design, our meeting was purposeful.
So, when I pass, please do not mourn my death, I ask that you celebrate my life and your place in It.
Celebrate the circumstances and design of our encounter
Celebrate the happenstance and nuances that made our friendship possible
Celebrate the fact that in the infinite possibilities of time and space, the Sun shun upon us equally
Celebrate the fact that we shared a time and or space in this great divide
Please do not mourning me…
Find me worthy of your most joyous smile Find me worthy of an increased heart rate and a rush of blood to your brain
Please do not mourn me…
Celebrate my life as I celebrate the year Mozart wrote his Jupiter Symphony
Celebrate my life as I celebrate Emerson’s dissertation on History
Celebrate my life as I celebrate the moment Kerouac discovered his pen Celebrate my life as I celebrate the vibrations in Scott-Heron’s voice
Do not mourn me…
Celebrate my life as I celebrate the hour Bach learned to fly
Celebrate my life as I celebrate the brain twitch leading to Einstein’s theory of relativity
Celebrate my life as I celebrate the birth of Buddha, the roads of Mecca, and Mariam of Nazareth
Celebrate my life as I celebrate the lost years of Mussa and the parting of the Sea.
Do Not Mourn Me
Celebrate my life as I celebrate the eerie feeling of finding kindred spirits in lives lived long before mine.
For, if you should find favor in the next life before I…I shall celebrate the memory if your existence
I will celebrate all that happened leading to You and Us
And I will celebrate all that you have touched
All that your existence has influenced and by definition that will be ALL.
Dedicated to the life Gil Scott-Heron
