In Memory of Donovan Barks

Donovan Shayne Barks
4/23/71 – 2/13/08

Although I did not have the pleasure of knowing Donovan, I’ve been fortunate to meet and spend a little time with his father Dana (Moonfire) and mother Kandy at one of the Native American solstice and bridge healing ceremonies that they’ve shared with many of the other survivors who have lost loved ones to the Golden Gate Bridge. 

The summer solstice and associated rituals is an important time for the Native American Indians.  It is celebrated with much merriment and shared feasts, as families gather together, dancing and enjoying the gifts of the land. It is a time to offer their thanks in prayers to the Great One who is believed to be watching the tribe and filling them with blessings.  Both adults and children look forward to summer as this is a season of much joy and a fulfillment of their hope for brighter things to come.  These ceremonies have been an important part of our healing and bringing together of many different families… all of us looking forward to brighter things to come.

I recently saw both Dana and Kandy the Marin Symphony’s Golden Gate Opus World Premiere of  Rob Kapilow’s Chrysopylae,- a symphony in which the composer acknowledges in the third movement, the history of suicides that have shadowed the bridge, this movement uses words directly drawn from suicide notes and the words of surviving family members, concluding with a blessing for the victims using the ancient Latin words from the Requiem Mass, “Requiem aeternam, dona eis domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis’ (Grant them eternal rest, Lord, and let ” perpetual light shine on them).  

Donovan’s father Dana said the following in a message to the composer, Rob Kapilow: “You successfully bridged the gap between the bridge we all love and the sad reality that it represents to some of us. I was blessed and honored to experience the Opus on Sunday. You do indeed create community and that is the most precious gift of all. Thank You so very much and my son thanks you also. Here he is saying his version of "This is where I go" taken just three minutes before he left this world” 

When I asked Dana if it would be alright for me to post the memory bracelet that I’d made in memory of Donovan, I was told, “yes, of course…. he is part of the universe now.  Talk to him while you are walking”.  I intend to do just that!

When you have come to the edge of all the light you know and are about to step off into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing one of two things will happen. There will be something solid to stand on or you will be taught to fly.
~~Donovan Barks