Maurice Sendak,
What will we do without you?
You told us it was okay to be angry,
that our dinner would still be warm
after we got the rumpus out of our systems.
You gave us permission
to storm the night kitchen
Naked.
With Ruth Krauss, you showed us a hole is to dig
and rugs are so dogs have napkins
and mud is to jump in and slide in and
Yell Doodleedoodleedoo.
And sometimes there is more to life
Than a round pillow upstairs
And a square pillow downstairs.
You loved Mozart and Melville
And Blake and Dickinson.
You didn't write for children.
You wrote, and someone said,
"That's for children."
You used FAO Schwarz's windows as bait
And caught Ursula Nordstrom.
You were generous to those you respected
And wasted no time with those you did not.
You were true to your vision
And you encouraged others to have theirs.
You had great mentors: Ursula and
Michael di Capua, Ruth Krauss
and Dave "Crockett" Johnson.
You loved what they taught you
And you loved teaching others.
The truth is you taught us all.
We are all changed by your vision.
And we will not do without you
Because you are within us.
We have only to look.
"This country has a horror
of anything below the surface," you said.
"To be an artist now
you have to question your motives.
What are you doing and
who is it for?"
You quoted Herman Melville:
"Artists have to take a dive.
And either you hit your head on a rock
and split your skull and die,
or that blow to the head is so inspiring
that you come back up
and do the best work you've ever done.
But you have to take the dive.
And you do not know what the results will be."
Thank you for taking the dive.
Over and over again.
"I have nothing now but praise
for my life,"
you said last fall on NPR.
"I'm not unhappy.
I cry a lot because I miss people.
They die and I can't stop them.
They leave me and I love them more."
May you be with those you love.
We have nothing now but praise
for your life.
And we miss you already.
--Jennifer M. Brown