Jimi Hendrix

I do not apologize for making music my religion,
For being one with every note that
you found to be unorthodox
while I felt each one to be distinctly beautiful.

I do not apologize for making it all seem effortless
Because blues is easy to play but difficult to feel,
And I felt the music
Pulsing in every cell of my body.

I do not apologize for feeling as though craziness and
Heaven are the same place or for believing that
Knowledge speaks but wisdom listens or that
When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.

I do not apologize for living the way I desired
For sacrificing the things I loved for the love of music
Or for putting my faith in the world upon
Letting the music set us all free.

I do not apologize for when 6 became 9
When the wind cried Mary
When the foxy lady made me want to scream
Or when we all became bold as love.

Most of all, I do not apologize for dying,
I played, I lived, I loved, and I kissed the sky.
I urge you not to mourn, for I was not invincible,
And my castle was no more safe from the sea than anyone else’s.