Maya Angelou's Michael Jackson Poem

During the televised Michael Jackson memorial service at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, actress/rapper Queen Latifah spoke. Queen Latifah read a moving poem written by literary legend Maya Angelou entitled "We Had Him". Latifah said she was there to represent millions of fans around the world who admired Michael from a distance. Latifah also reminisced about how she and her brother listened to "Dancin' Machine" way back when and tried to do the Robot, but ultimately noted how Michael Jackson opened doors for her and others, and introduced a world beyond the one she knew. Below is the video footage of Queen Latifah reading the Maya Angelou Michael Jackson poem, with the words underneath.

"We Had Him"
by Dr. Maya Angelou

Beloveds, now we know that we know nothing
Now that our bright and shining star can slip away from our fingertips
Like a puff of summer wind,
Without notice our dear love can escape our doting embrace,
Sing our songs among the stars,
And walk our dances across the face of the moon
In the interest that we learn that Michael is gone we know nothing,
No clocks can tell our time,
No oceans can rush our tides,
With the abrupt absence of our treasure
Though we are many each of us is achingly alone, piercingly alone,
Only when we confess our confusion,
Can we remember that he was a gift to us,
And we did have him,
He came to us from the creator,
Trailing creativity and abundance,
Despite the anguish of life he was sheathed in mother love,
And family love,
And survived,
And did more than that he thrived,
With passion and compassion,
Humor and style,
We had him,
Whether we knew who he was or did not know
He was ours and we were his
We had him,
beautiful, delighting our eyes
he raked his hat, slant over his brow
And took a pose on his toes for all of us
And we laughed and stomped our feet, for him
We were enchanted by his passion
Because he held nothing
He gave us all he had been given
Today in Tokyo, beneath the Eiffel Tower
In Ghana's Black star Square
In Johannesburg and Pittsburgh
in Birmingham, Alabama and Birmingham, England
We are missing Michael Jackson
But we do know we had him,
And we are the world...