Verses

"We Had Him"

Written by Maya Angelou

Read by Queen Latifah

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 subtle 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 we learn that Michael is gone

We know nothing

No clocks can tell our 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 of life

He was sheathed in mother love, in family love

and survived

and did more than that

He thrived

With passion and compassion, humor and style

We had him

Whether we knew who he was

Or did not know

He was ours

and we were his

We had him

Beautiful

Delighting our eyes

He tipped 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 Toyko

Beneath the Eiffel Tower

In Ghana's Black Star Square

In Birmingham, Alabama and Birmingham, England

We are missing Michael Jackson

But we do know we had him

and we are the world