Monday, January 11, 2016

A Good-Bye Day

Woke up to the news, as so many of us did, that David Bowie passed away last night.
One never knows how the death of a celebrity is going to affect us. For me, Bowie's death was a sharp punch in the gut. Perhaps because he never seemed exactly human to me, I had not ever considered that he would suffer a human death.
Silly. I know.

As Hank said on Facebook, Those eyes. How did he ever expect to pass as human? Poor Iman, left all alone on this planet.
And as Togi said, We just lost one of the only 2 "heterosexuals" cool enough to be "Queer." Prince, you better take care of yourself!

I remember the summer of 1983, listening over and over again to "Let's Dance." That one line in it, "Let's dance under the moonlight/The serious moonlight" haunted and delighted and filled me. It was the summer before I met Mr. Moon. It was a summer in which I danced a lot.
Sometimes under the serious moonlight.

Sigh.

What a time that was when roles were being busted by a few who had the courage to take their differences and make art and magic of them. None of us could help being affected, at least in some small way. Some of us in huge ways.

I am thinking of all of that on this most beautiful of cool, North Florida days. It took me a long time to force myself out of the house, ice on the birdbath, frost on the vine. But oh, how glad I am that I went.


The dry swamp. One of my favorite places.


 I actually took this one by accident.


The man-woman tree.


Sun shining through the resurrection fern. 

Not even one contrail to interrupt the blue of the sky. 

I wonder what color the sky is on the starplanet upon which David Bowie alit last night. 
I hope there's a moon there which casts serious moonlight. 
I feel certain there must be. 

May we all dance and make magic of that which we have to make magic of. We are only here on this planet for such a short while. Oh! To live in such a way that when we die, our energy explodes into such light as I see around me today. 

Love...Ms. Moon


13 comments:

  1. His death is a real blow to so many of us that loved him and his work. RIP, Major Tom.

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  2. Devastating news. But, of the 4.5 billion years that this planet has been around, you and I were so fortunate to be on it at the same time that he was.

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  3. I didn't know his death would hit me as hard as it did. He and Iman gave me hope for the world. I love what Togi said.

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  4. I don't know if you know this or not, but David did not have different colored eyes. When he was 16, he and a friend had a fight over a girl. His eyeball was scratched and nerve damage resulted in his left eye being permanently dilated. He was one of a kind and the groundbreaker with regards to sexuality and how we choose to see ourselves and others. And, the music....oh, the music!

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  5. One more of the great ones leaves us much too soon.

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  6. I was sad to hear te news of his death this morning, especially after just listening to some of his new album releases and having no clue he was even ill. One by one our cultural touchstones are leaving us - I don't like it one bit.

    What I do like is going with you virtually on your walks. :)

    Xo

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  7. Thank you for writing this beautiful tribute to David, Mary. My heart is filled with sadness. In 1973 Ziggy Stardust changed my life, as it did for so many others. Complete and utter genius. I'm so thankful for his existence and all that he gave us. Without doubt, Planet Earth is blue. And there's nothing I can do. May his soul rest in peace.

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  8. Yes, he surprised me too, leaving like that. Such a guy. I too felt deeply the thrill of his music...My friend and I belted out his songs every time they came on the radio. Let's Dance came on a lot. We painted each other's bodies with watercolors, make-up and Halloween face paints. I remember one night coming in from some party, my mom caught me by surprise in the bathroom where she was taking a candle lit bath... we talked about drinking and drugs and I was telling her about David Bowie and how much I liked his music. She was asking did I know what he meant by "little green men are following me." That was a rough year actually, but the good memories come to me first...

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  9. The news was a punch in the gut to me too. Such a surprise. As you said, he never seemed entirely human and thus such a human end was a bit of a shock. I love that last line you wrote, about the light exploding.

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  10. I too have a hard time thinking of him as dead. But he is real stardust now. At least, that is as close to heaven as I know. When Bob Dylan and Keef die, I will also. Just sayin'.

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  11. I remember sitting on my bedroom floor in high school, listening to Starman and having a sexual awakening...several years after discovering how much I liked androgynous men while watching Labyrinth as a kid. He was magnetic, made of Stardust...I miss him already.
    As a bisexual woman he gave me someone to relate to. His openness about his multi-faceted sexuality and identity made it feel okay to trip all over the spectrum.

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