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Pass On

When searching for the lost remember 8 things.

1.
We are vessels. We are circuit boards
swallowing the electricity of life upon birth.
It wheels through us creating every moment,
the pulse of a story, the soft hums of labor and love.
In our last moment it will come rushing
from our chests and be given back to the wind.
When we die. We go everywhere.

2.
Newton said energy is neither created nor destroyed.
In the halls of my middle school I can still hear
my friend Stephen singing his favorite song.
In the gymnasium I can still hear
the way he dribbled that basketball like it was a mallet
and the earth was a xylophone.
With an ear to the Atlantic I can hear
the Titanic’s band playing her to sleep,
Music. Wind. Music. Wind.

3.
The day my grandfather passed away there was the strongest wind,
I could feel his gentle hands blowing away from me.
I knew then they were off to find someone
who needed them more than I did.
On average 1.8 people on earth die every second.
There is always a gust of wind somewhere.

4.
The day Stephen was murdered
everything that made us love him rushed from his knife wounds
as though his chest were an auditorium
his life an audience leaving single file.
Every ounce of him has been
wrapping around this world in a windstorm
I have been looking for him for 9 years.

5.
Our bodies are nothing more than hosts to a collection of brilliant things.
When someone dies I do not weep over polaroids or belongings,
I begin to look for the lightning that has left them,
I feel out the strongest breeze and take off running.

6.
After 9 years I found Stephen.
I passed a basketball court in Boston
the point guard dribbled like he had a stadium roaring in his palms
Wilt Chamberlain pumping in his feet,
his hands flashing like x-rays,
a cross-over, a wrap-around
rewinding, turn-tables cracking open,
camera-men turn flash bulbs to fireworks.
Seven games and he never missed a shot,
his hands were luminous.
Pulsing. Pulsing.
I asked him how long he’d been playing,
he said nine 9 years

7.
The theory of six degrees of separation
was never meant to show how many people we can find,
it was a set of directions for how to find the people we have lost.

I found your voice Stephen,
found it in a young boy in Michigan who was always singing,
his lungs flapping like sails
I found your smile in Australia,
a young girls teeth shining like the opera house in your neck,
I saw your one true love come to life on the asphalt of Boston.

8.
We are not created or destroyed,
we are constantly transferred, shifted and renewed.
Everything we are is given to us.
Death does not come when a body is too exhausted to live
Death comes, because the brilliance inside us can only be contained for so long.
We do not die. We pass on, pass on the lightning burning through our throats.
when you leave me I will not cry for you
I will run into the strongest wind I can find
and welcome you home.

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The first 'step' is one big metaphor:

"We are vessels. We are circuit boards
swallowing the electricity of life upon birth."

This is used to give the sense that we are all bigger than what we seem, literally speaking, it means that our bodies are just objects that carry our true selves and when we die, we are just released from one body into many others, meaning that we will forever exist, just in different forms.

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Throughout the poem, Lee takes scientific principles such as the Conservation of Energy theory, or the six degrees of separation, and then gives them a more spiritual meaning. This gives the effect that the poem is much more serious, but it also allows us to understand Lee's outlook, he looks at others' opinions in a different way, he sees what he wants to see because he strongly believes that Stephen is still out there.

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"In our last moment it will come rushing

from our chests and be given back to the wind.

When we die. We go everywhere."

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A photo of Wilt Chamberlain after scoring 100 points in a game against New York in 1962. Chamberlain is the player that is referred to in the poem.

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There are various examples of metaphors and similies in this poem, one is "I found your smile in Australia,
a young girls teeth shining like the opera house in your neck". Of course, this is not a literal similie, but rather, it explains how big of a part Stephen's smile was to Stephen. Lee obviously feels that Stephens smile and laughter was as big of a landmark of Stephen, as the Opera House is to Australia.

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The use of various scenes, cutting from the poem's performance on set, to the video scenes where Lee is seen "discovering" Stephen, is quite effective. The scenes cut back and forth and help to tell the story of Stephen.

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Another theme of this poem is that when someone passes away, we should remember the good things about them and remind ourselves of this person through every day objects/activities.

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Lee's only real movement in the performance is through his hands, using hand motions to not only help convey his emotions, but they also usually keep in time to the rhythm of the poem. An example is at the basketball court in Boston where Lee shows the point guard's moves with his own hands. Once again, this is used to build excitement as Lee build up to a highpoint. When you see Lee building up the excitement, the poem becomes more engaging as you want to hear what happens next.

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This poem is about one of Lee's old friends, Stephen, who passed away. This poem is an elegy where Lee explains that he will not mourn for his friend, he will believe that no one is ever truly lost and will strive to find the attributes that made Stephen his friend.

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In step six there is an example of repitition/alliteration: "Wilt, Wilt, Wilt Chamberlain"

This is used to build up tension and emotion as the poet reaches an exciting part in the poem.

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Build up of speed and emotion, especially in steps 5 and 6. This builds to a climax until the end of step 6 where Lee pauses, then continues in a normal tone.

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One of The themes of this poem is that we never truly die. Our spirit is passed on to others. "In our last moment it will come rushing
from our chests and be given back to the wind.
When we die. We go everywhere."