A June Memorial for New Orleans, Orlando and Colorado Springs - 2. Part 2: Orlando

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Part II: Orlando

The Pulse Nightclub Attack, 2016 ^[5]

 

(After the Soprano has gone back to their seat, the Cantor returns to the pulpit or podium, and recites the following.)

 

Recitation 3: Account of the Pulse Nightclub attack

 

CANTOR:

In the city of Orlando,

On the night of the twelfth of June,

Two thousand sixteen, with a heart

Full of self-loathing, someone

Plotted mass extermination

Of those he found too like himself.

This person passed through the front door

Of Pulse Community nightclub,

Pulled his handgun and murdered first

The valiant security guard

Who was then stationed on duty.

Valiant because, although injured,

He drew his gun and tried to save

The Queer folks dancing behind him.

Stepping over his man’s body,

The self-hater entered the club.

Unspeakable horror occurred next,

But we must remember it now;

Remember, too, some bravery

As several patrons tried to stop

The cold-blooded shot by rushing

At the criminal with hands out;

Remember partners shielding loves

With their own bodies atop them.

Many survivors ducked into

The restrooms and barricaded

The doors within to save their lives.

The one thing for sure on that day,

The man entered Pulse to murder

Gay, Lesbian, Trans, Intersex

And Gender Non-Conforming folks.

 

(The Cantor closes their book and returns to their seat while the Tenor stands and moves to the central part of the performing area. The musicians accompany the singer in the following Psalm.)

 

 

No. 4: Psalm 30, part II

 

TENOR:

 

Take pity on me, O my Lord –

My eye is consumed with sorrow;

My body, by unending stress;

My life wasted upon this grief

And my years given to sighing.

My strength has fled through affliction,

And my bones consigned to the flames.

 

To every adversary, I’m

An object of reproach;

A laughingstock to my neighbors,

And a bore to my friends.

 

I am like the dead uncounted

In unremembered graves;

I am like the dish that’s shattered,

And tossed out like refuse.

 

I hear the whispers of the crowd

Who affright from all sides,

For they plot to rob me of life,

Conspiring as one.

 

But, I trust in you, O my Lord,

Whispering “You’re my God,”

For it’s in your hand my fate rests;

In your grasp, I comfort.

 

Rescue me from my enemies,

Who, within their clutches,

I’m sure to be persecuted

As it is with my lot.

 

Let your face shine on your servant,

And save me through kindness.

Do not let me be put to shame

When I call upon you.

 

Let the wicked be but to shame;

Reduce them to utter silence

In the nether word’s deep shadows,

And struck mute while alive.

 

Let silence strike their lying lips

In their sheer insolence,

Speaking out against the righteous

Glowing in Pride and scorn.

 

Take pity on me, O my Lord –

My eye is consumed with sorrow;

My body, by unending stress;

My life wasted upon this grief

And my years given to sighing.

My strength has fled through affliction,

And my bones consigned to the flames.

 

(Once complete, the soloist remains in place. The Cantor returns to the pulpit or podium to recite the following.)

 

 

Recitation 4: Aftermath of the Pulse Nightclub attack

 

CANTOR:

Before blood had a chance to dry,

Gay-deniers, Gay-erasers,

Were on the airwaves pronouncing

Pulse wasn’t an attack on us –

Wasn’t done against Queer people;

Wasn’t a homophobic rage;

Didn’t represent ‘straight’ people’s

Sore attitudes of bigotry

For those of our Community,

But was just some random-style act

Executed without malice

And definitely not because

Pulse was a Gay bar where Queers went.

And now today, more than ever,

The internet throbs, awash with

‘The Real Reasons He Did It’ links,

Saying the forty-nine killed there –

Weren’t targeted for who they were.

 

(After a few silent moments, the Cantor closes their book and returns to their seat. Then, Reader 2 stands, goes to the pulpit or podium to deliver the following Skyscraper, which includes reading out the title)

 

 

READER 2:

 

An Orlando Skyscraper ^[6]

 

Left alone

in shadow’s reverie

how soon the human brain picks apart

the pixels of the matrix we think of as soul,

but what comforts lie beyond the void

viewed through a lack of love

un-absolved?

 

There are none,

and you see what I mean

before I have a chance to say it,

for every human connection must still bind us

if we are to proceed as a race

unafraid of progress

kept level.

 

Quantum thought

must rule our every move

within this chess game of existence,

and more so, it must be unconsciously given

to those frightened of humanity,

causing pause in their heart

when they hate.

 

So, left then

by shadow’s reverie,

the mind of Man blows itself apart

each time it examines what makes up our own soul,

but so it must be in a matrix

sought as a void to fill

with our love.

 

(Reader 2 closes their book and returns to their seat. The Choir prepares to accompany the soloist in the following lullaby.)

 

 

No. 5: “Cwsg, Cwsg, Cwsg” performed with these lyrics ^[7]

 

TENOR:

 

[Verse 1]

 

Rest, rest, rest –

Innocence sleeps well

Absolved.

 

Afloat upon your bliss,

Don’t think of our grief,

For nothing’s amiss

If we hold this belief.

 

Rest, rest, rest –

Innocence sleeps well

Absolved.

 

 

CHOIR:

 

[Verse 2]

 

Rest, rest, rest –

Innocence sleeps well

Absolved.

 

Look down upon we

With gentle forgiveness,

To lift misery

Away from us with this.

 

TENOR and CHOIR:

(Choir one syllable behind soloist)

 

Rest, rest, rest –

Innocence sleeps well

Absolved.

 

 

 

TENOR and CHOIR:

(Choir singing “Ah” in time with soloist)

 

[Verse 3]

 

Rest, rest, rest –

Innocence sleeps well

Absolved.

 

Descend like a leaf,

Or a forgiving kiss,

To shine your relief

And unarm prejudice.

 

Rest, rest, rest –

Innocence sleeps well

Absolved.

 

 

CHOIR:

(Choir singing in unison)

 

[Verse 4]

 

Rest, rest, rest –

Innocence sleeps well

Absolved.

 

CHOIR:

(Divided, recapping Verses 1 and 2 in polyphony)

 

Afloat upon your bliss,

Don’t think of our grief,

For nothing’s amiss

If we hold this belief.

 

Look down upon we

With gentle forgiveness,

To lift misery

Away from us with this.

 

 

TENOR:

 

Rest, rest, rest –

Innocence sleeps well

Absolved.

 

 

 

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Endnotes

 

[5] The Pulse Nightclub attack. For survivors’ accounts, see Olga Molina / George Jacinto’s January 2019 paper The Pulse Nightclub Mass Shooting, and Factors Affecting Community Resilience Following the Terrorist Attack posted on cectresourcelibrary.info

https://cectresourcelibrary.info/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/PULSEARTICLE.pdf

 

– For a summary of the aftermath of the attack, see Gloria Oladipo’s June 12th, 2022, article “Want real decisions”: Pulse shooting survivors mark grim anniversary posted on theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jun/11/pulse-shooting-orlando-2016-anniversary-gun-control-reform-uvalde-buffalo

 

[6] An Orlando Skyscraper. This poem originally appeared in The Easiest Thing in the World, and Other Poems: Marking the Third Anniversary of the Pulse Nightclub Attack (San Francisco 2020), ps. 25-27

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1734561033

 

[7] Traditional Welsh lullaby Cwsg, Cwsg, Cwsg. For an indication of the tempo and mood of the setting appropriate for this memorial service, see Bryn Terfel’s 2018 performance here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQhoNhyUmmc

 

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