Beloveds, now we know that we know nothing
now that our bright and shining star can slip away from our fingertips
like a puff of summer wind

Without notice, our dear love can escape our doting embrace
Sing our songs among the stars and walk our dances across the face of the moon

In the instant that Michael is gone, we know nothing
No clocks can tell time and no oceans can rush our tides
With the abrupt absence of our treasure

Though we are many, each of us is achingly alone
Piercingly alone
Only when we confess our confusion can we remember that he was a gift to us
and we did have him

He came to us from the Creator, trailing creativity in abundance
Despite the anguish, his life was sheathed in mother love family love and survived
and did more than that

He thrived with passion and compassion, humor and style
We had him
Whether we know who he was or did not know, he was ours and we were his
We had him

Beautiful, delighting our eyes
He raked his hat slant over his brow and took a pose on his toes for all of us and we
laughed and stomped our feet for him

We were enchanted with his passion because he held nothing
He gave us all he had been given

Today in Tokyo, beneath the Eiffel Tower, in Ghana's Black Star Square, in
Johannesburg, in Pittsburgh, in Birmingham, Alabama, and Birmingham, England, we are missing Michael Jackson

But we do know we had him
And we are the world.