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PROLOGUE
All.
Yoodle—ooh, yoodle-ooh-hoo, so sings a lone cowboy,
Who with the wild roses wants you to be free.
Cattle, Horses, Sky, and Grass
Cattle, horses, sky and grass
ese are the things that sway and pass
Before our eyes and through our dreams
rough shiny, sparkly, golden gleams
Within our psyche that nd and know
e value of this special glow
at only gleams for those who bleed
eir soul and heart and utter need
Into the mighty, throbbing Earth
From which springs life and death and birth.
I’m alive! I’m alive, I’m alive, golden. I’m alive, I’m alive, I’m alive …
ese cattle, horses, grass, and sky
Dance and dance and never die
ey circle through the realms of air
And ground and empty spaces where
A human being can join the song
Can circle, too, and not go wrong
Amidst the natural, pulsing forces
Of sky and grass and cows and horses.
I’m alive, I’m alive, I’m alive …
is chant of life cannot be heard
It must be felt, there is no word
To sing that could express the true
Signi cance of how we wind
rough all these hoops of Earth and mind
rough horses, cattle, sky and grass
And all these things that sway and pass.
Ordinary Boy
Let’s talk about Matt—
Ordinary boy, ordinary boy, ordinary boy …
Born in December in Casper, Wyoming
Ordinary boy
to a father, Dennis
and a mother, Judy
Ordinary boy, ordinary boy
en came a younger brother, Logan
Ordinary boy
His name was Matthew Wayne Shepard. And one day his name came to
be known around the world. But as his mother said:
Judy Shepard: You knew him as Matthew. To us he was Matt.
He went camping, he went shing, even hunting for a moose
He read plays and he read stories and especially
Dr. Seuss
He wrote poems with illustrations for the neighbors on the street
And he le them in each mailbox till he learned it was illegal
He made friends and he wore braces and his frame was rather small
He sang songs his father taught him
Frere Jacques …
Row Row Row Your Boat …
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star …
Judy: He was my son, my rst-born, and more. He was my friend, my
con dant, my constant reminder of how good life can be—and … how
hurtful. ^
How good life can be, how good life can be
Judy:
Matt’s laugh, his wonderful hugs, his stories …
Matt writes about himself in a notebook:
I am funny, sometimes forgetful and messy and lazy. I am not a lazy person
though. I am giving and understanding. And formal and polite. I am
sensitive. I am honest. I am sincere. And I am not a pest.
I am not a pest, I am not a pest …
I am my own person. I am warm.
I want my life to be happy and I want to be clearer about things. I want to
feel good.
I love Wyoming …
I love Wyoming very much …
I love theatre
I love good friends
I love succeeding
I love pasta
I love jogging
I love walking and feeling good
I love Europe and driving and music and helping and smiling and Charlie
and Jeopardy
I love movies and eating and positive people and pasta and driving and
walking and jogging and kissing and learning and airports and music and
smiling and hugging and being myself
I love theatre! I love theatre!
And I love to be on stage! +
Such an ordinary boy living ordinary days
In an ordinary life so worth living
He felt ordinary yearning and ordinary fears
With an ordinary hope for belonging
He felt ordinary yearning and ordinary fears
With an ordinary hope for belonging
(Born to live this ordinary life)
Just an ordinary boy living ordinary days with extraordinary kindness
extraordinary laughter extraordinary shining
extraordinary light and joy
Joy and light.
I love, I love, I love …
Ordinary boy, ordinary boy
We Tell Each Other Stories
We tell each other stories so that we will remember
Try and nd the meaning in the living of our days
Always telling stories, wanting to remember
Where and whom we came from
Who we are
Sometimes there’s a story that’s painful to remember
One that breaks the heart of us all
Still we tell the story
We’re listening and confessing
What we have forgotten
In the story of us all
We tell each other stories so that we will remember
Trying to nd the meaning …
I am open to hear this story about a boy, an ordinary boy
Who never had expected his life would be this story,
(could be any boy)
I am open to hear a story
Open, listen.
All
.
•••••
PASSION
Recitation I
Laramie, southeastern Wyoming, between the Snowy Range and the Laramie
Range. Tuesday, October ,
.
The Fence (before)
Out and alone
on the endless empty prairie
the moon bathes me
the stars bless me
RAVINIA MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 10 – SEPTEMBER 16, 2018
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