Rest in Power, Gordon James MacKenzie

by writeyeranezine

04/05/82-22/08/22

May the force ever be with you, brother.

May the fourth be with you means different things to different people, a deeply important day for many reasons. For those of us who were privileged to know, live, grow and love Gordon, it shall now forever be both a beautiful and sad day, as it represents the day he arrived on this earth in his physical form.

I had the deep pleasure of first meeting Gordon in primary two; me a gobby five year old with too many thoughts and a frustrating speech impediment, he a taller, quiet, clearly smart six year old. Miss Littlejohn sat Gordon beside me; “Derrick’s a nice boy, hold his hand and he’ll show you around”, or some words to that effect. Little did she know that Gordon, both literally and figuratively, would be holding my hand for much of the next thirty-five years.

May the force ever be with you, brother.

Gordon’s love is not something that can be described, something that can only be experienced. His greatest love, greatest achievement and greatest source of joy was the love he poured into his children, family and forever loves. Gordon always the best of us. A loyal, ferocious fearless lily of the valley; a protector, sincere, honest, brutal, discrete, stubborn, strong, beautiful; the closest I’ve ever known a person to come to purity, something he’d belly laugh at. Those who know his love know this love will never end.

“Love is a dog from hell” (Chuck Bukowski)

Gordon was an artist, a watcher, a photographer, an observer, a commentator, a critic, an inspiration and a muse. Two weird kids met in ‘88 as caterpillars. One evolved into the most beautiful, engaging, enraging, consistent, persistent, compassionate sage-like butterfly who listened to too much radio. Maybe he was a moth. I’m glad he saw the world how he did, in the infinite shades of grey; a vision all his own. The other writes these platitudes today, attempting to keep a promise to my first co-conspirator.

Over ten years ago now, Gordon helped clear my father’s house after he died. My dad’s departure date was April 27th 2012, same day Boab sent me the final masters of the Uniforms EP. As Gordon told me then; “love never dies and neither do spirits. Dae the ‘hings, whatever the ‘hings may be”. The EP came out on May 4th 2012, the caterpillar’s thirtieth birthday. The gig doubled as my dad’s wake.

May the fourth ever be with you, brother.

Gordon lived. Gordon loved. Gordon will never truly die. He’ll be with us all until end of time as he knew that energy cannot die, it just transforms. Love is alive in story, song, poetry, art, blood, verse, heart, soul, thought, our bodies, our bones and everywhere at all times. That can only grow with time, Gordon the watcher ever watcheth over.

Gordon knew that “all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration, that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, there is no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves” (Bill Hicks).

Thank you for lighting the way for us all. We will love you until the earth falls into the sun. May the force ever be with you, until we see you again.

Your forever pal, derrick.