For Jerry

Death shatters illusion like splintered glass
into a thousand endings, and a thousand beginnings.
Where do we go from here
Our tears glisten on the web of life like mourning dew
caught in the last rays of an era.
Hail to the setting sun
The dance is not over
its only just begun. For as the phoenix dances on his pyre
his flesh consumed in the unbearable heat of transformation
sparks fly filling the darknesss with a bright shower of stars
mocking the emptiness.
Each of us who has been touched
is gifted with the seed of the next generation of beauty and joy,
the legacy of our beloved Jerry.
It’s up to me
and it’s up to you

From held breath and silent screams
From torn hearts and broken dreams
As the flying sparks of fire
consume the phoenix dancing on his pyre
The seeds of love and boundless joy
find root within and start to grow For we are left to carry on
as piece by piece the dream is recreated new
It’s up to us, my friends, to me and you.
We will survive, and we will continue to carry the torch,
We will shine a light in the darkness. And in the cooling flow of time
the searing heat of grief will lose its sting.
He will reach out to us in birdsong
in the laughter of children
the fragrance of flowers
and in the abundant and exquisite influence of his music
Hail to the phoenix dancing on his pyre
spinning, turning, he becomes the fire
that lights the torch we carry as we carry on the joke
Like prayers within the pipe he has become the sacred smoke
Thank you Jerry, for the best joy ride ever in eternity.

—Nicki Scully, August 14, 1995