The Life Sentence of Gabrielle Bouliane
I fasted till sundown today and cried alot. I thought about all of our adventures together. I can’t write them down write now. I guess I’m not ready for that yet. I’m going to try my best to celebrate life tonight. It’s my great friend Angela’s birthday fiesta! My sundown fasting for Gabby is technically over. And Because I cant write details about us yet–i went on Gabby FB page for solace and found some lovely moments to bend me back to a version of balance i need to get out of my bed and eat something.
So here my friend Ekabumi put it quite nicely—i decided to cut and paste it here so all my good friends who might not know her too well can have a glimpse at least:
Charles Ekabhumi Ellik writes:
It was a very auspicious time to depart, under a full moon, the brightest moon of the year, and while the moon was Swa in the 1st house of virtue, dignity and fame. Well done, old friend!
Last night I went to a puja and prayed for Gabrielle at the feet of the Goddess. I imagined her bright and glowing, with a brilliant smile, dancing off with the enlightened Dakinis to her next adventure. I have no doubt she is in a joyful place.
Gabrielle was a great friend to many, many people. I and dozens other poets crashed at her spot while on tour. Her apartment in Seattle was tiny, but cozy. Folks liked her so much we stayed at her place even when bigger spots were offered. I and the entire San Francisco slam team once hijacked her place for almost a week! I slept on the floor with her cats. She love the poetry community, and proudly dedicated an entire wall of her living room dedicated to poetry slam memorabilia, posters, and staff badges. There was a story for every artifact. She filmed, edited, and publicized hundreds of poets for little or no pay. She was the hostest with the mostest at the annual Erotic Open Mic, where signature ensemble was a sequined dress that showed off her curves, and a pair of bunny ears. This is why so many of her poet friends have bunnies, or bunny ears on their Faceboook profile icons. She was one of those folks you could always count on to volunteer and exceed expectations. She was fun!
Her dying was and is a great gift to our community, in that she was so graceful in her departure, so generous in sharing the experience with so many, so compassionate in asking her friends to look deeply at their own feelings about this important moment when we part from the physical body.
May we all serve our fellow beings with such generosity. May we all shine so brightly! May we all go with such elegance! Thank you for the inspiration, Gabrielle!
