Listen to John
Artwork by Jay Kelly
Thirty-seven years on. That's where we are. At a point in the future that John never walked, but surely sees...doing our best on this day of days to commemorate who he was and is and will be.
At midnight, my sister had me open a package...a black shirt tied in a green ribbon (interestingly enough: black, the symbol of death and green, the symbol of new life). It was a T-shirt which said very simply:
Listen to John.
And so, 37 years after his passing, in the quiet of after-midnight, I am listening. And this is what I hear:
1. There's nothing you can do that can't be done.
2. I'm going into an unknown future, but I'm still here, and still where there's life, there's hope.
3. Reality leaves a lot to the imagination.
4. You're never dead until the last person who remembers you is gone.
5. We all shine on, like the moon and the stars and the sun. We all shine on, every one!
6. Any time at all, all you gotta do is call, and I'll be there.
Over in over, in myriad ways - in his songs, poetry, and interview quotes - John boldly affirmed that death wasn't dark and final. In fact, he stated, "I'm not afraid of death. To me, it's like getting out of one car and getting into another."
John never wanted to be a saint, and he wouldn't have wanted his death to transform him into one. He'd seen that happen to others, and he despised it, mocking such hollow sentimentality with, "Everybody loves you when you're six foot in the ground."
And yet, in the hundreds and hundreds of days that have slipped by since 8 December 1980, we still remember. We sing the songs he gave us to sing. We watch his films and fall back into joy. We chuckle when he Cheshire grins...or sneers and says, "Time wounds all heels." We thumb through his books and laugh. Or we read his life's story and once again believe that there is a way to hurdle tragedy, to transform life's anguish into beauty. These he taught us.
We still listen to John. Thirty-seven years on.
"Two years, ten years, and the passengers ask the conductor:
What place is this? Where are we now?"
We're traveling forward, but you're still with us. We can feel your presence, John. You're here.
Shine on.
