Spiral of Gratitude
Spiral of Gratitude is a Shimon Attie/San Francisco Arts Commission/Bay Area Legal Assistance Fund public memorial to honor the survivors of police officers who were wounded or died in the line of duty. Margo Perin was commissioned to create the poem inscribed into the glass sculpture in the shape of a spiral moving upwards towards the heavens.
Spiral of Gratitude involves the suspension of a large glass cylinder 16’ 8” tall X 9’ diameter below an oculus skylight framing the sky above. The cylinder is inscribed with written expressions of gratitude and loss, gathered from surviving family members and crafted into a seamless, evocative poem. The piece is also framed by bas relief text inscribed in the rear wall "Look Up, Their Courage Shines". The aim was to create an ethereal play of language, light, glass, and sky, one that is both visually arresting and that invites contemplation. The poem reflects the sentiments of survivors based on information gathered in interviews by Margo Perin with the relatives, partners, and co-workers of police officers who were lost in the line of duty. Spiral of Gratitude is located in the foyer of the new Police Headquarters in San Francisco at 1245 3rd Street, San Francisco, CA 94158. The poem also appears on a plaque next to the Memorial in the Police Headquarters lobby.
Spiral of Gratitude was created in collaboration with Vale Bruck. The poem was written by Margo Perin, in collaboration with Shimon Attie and the Bay Area Legal Assistance Fund. The installation was commissioned by the San Francisco Arts Commission, and is in the Collection of the City and County of San Francisco.
Spiral of Gratitude
Let us turn together in this circle of remembrance as the light
shines through our words.
And we lift our gaze toward the sky to honor the men and women
who risk their lives in the line of duty.
See their courage gleaming through the glass,
spilling through the words of our love.
Band with us to celebrate the beloved behind every star.
Draw on their courage, their strength, their honesty.
Let us raise our heads together into this spiral of memory
to honor the sacrifice that ripples through time, through the generations.
Never do we have the gift of goodbye.
The only choice is to carry on, make our peace.
An object in motion keeps moving forward.
The voices of the fallen echo every day,
their reflection mirrored in the warmth of a smile,
the glint of an eye, the tilt of a head.
The time spent together was too short
and the missing long.
They are the fallen
and we must not fall.
We can move back or forward, upwards or down, but we cannot remain still.
We must rise to protect, as they did.
In their honor we must persist,
turn our pain into compassion,
never forget the man, woman, child they were,
and lift our heads as we ascend toward the light.
The voices of the fallen echo everyday.
See their courage gleaming through the glass,
spilling through the words of our love.
Celebrate the beloved behind every star.
Never forget the man, woman, child they were.
Draw on their strength that ripples through time.
We can move back or forward, upwards or down, but we cannot remain still.
An object in motion keeps moving forward.
The only choice is to carry on, make our peace,
never forget the man, woman, child.
Let us turn together and ascend toward the light.