Michael, Michael , Michael, What have they done? What have they taken from us, for the price of headlines and falsehoods to satisfy the hawks of suspicion, blindness and stupidity?
How can we ever forgive them for taking away the brilliance of your light, your open heart and your gentle soul?
You were the first. The only one, to truly show the world what it meant to be a child. You captured in your heart and mind the dream of happiness so few of us can find :
You built it with the steel of your discipline, and wrapped it in the eternal rainbow of your electrifying talent; you adorned it with the splendour of your own creation - you danced upon the moon in spangled shoes, and put the stars to shame with a flick of your glittering hand.
You made the universe stand still, dazzled by your brilliance; you took our breath away with the power of your brilliance.
They could not know the price you paid, the cost that took you far beyond the realms of talent and ambition; you trained harder than a gladiator facing the ultimate arena; no fighter ever shaped and toned his body as you perfected yours; no one demanded more of the human frame, nor of the human spirit, than you commanded yours.
You built your dream with a will of iron and all that extraordinary fame requires ... a place beyond the reach of greed and envy, unhappiness and fear, of cruelty and pain, uncertainty and doubt. And when it was finished you opened its garlanded gates to the most precious of all your fans - children in need of wonderment, adventures in a world of innocence and joy.
You shared with them the childhood you had been denied, unashamed you laid bare the shimmering colours of your soul.
Those who could not see its splendor, who could not feel its warmth, you faced with simple courage and the calmness of your pride. Even then you were the master, shunning your accusers with words so softly spoken that they pretended not to hear. You showed the philosophy of dreams only you could conjure, to those who could not hope to see and would never understand.
Michael, Michael, Michael, our beloved Peter Pan, our Minister of Magic, our Prince of Wonderland - if ever a soul should seek eternal peace, you will be there to take them in and show them around.
As they said of another artist far greater yet lonelier than most, one so filled with kindness only childish hearts could see:
' This world was never meant for one as beautiful as you.'
By Geoff Pike - Sydney Curator