Give Voice

I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz,
or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.
I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,
in secret, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that never blooms
but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;
thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,
risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.
I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;
so I love you because I know no other way

than this: where I does not exist, nor you,
so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,
so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.

-Pablo Neruda, 100 Love Sonnets

*Regretfully, I can’t post this in Spanish. I’m sure it’s more poignant in its original tongue, however—I’m nothing if not ignorant, and sadly only speak English.*

It is my conviction that there is no way to peace – peace is the way.

–Thích Nhất Hạnh, The Art of Power

Allow your gratitude to overwhelm your expectation.

-Dr. Jerry K. Popham

Power… should give voice to those who don’t have one.

-Juan Manual Sanchez Gordillo

A Man’s errors are his portals of discovery.

-James Joyce

Another video I created for the end of the year.  It is, in my view, the best summary of what we’re trying to accomplish at ASYV, and a summation of the time I spent there.  Enjoy, and for the sake of our kids, please send it to your friends if you find it appealing.

Real Love – ASYV Year’s End 2013

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“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”

-Antoine de Saint-Exupery

there’s a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I’m too tough for him,
I say, stay in there, I’m not going
to let anybody see
you.
there’s a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I pour whiskey on him and inhale
cigarette smoke
and the whores and the bartenders
and the grocery clerks
never know that
he’s
in there.

there’s a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I’m too tough for him,
I say,
stay down, do you want to mess
me up?
you want to screw up the
works?
you want to blow my book sales in
Europe?
there’s a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I’m too clever, I only let him out
at night sometimes
when everybody’s asleep.
I say, I know that you’re there,
so don’t be
sad.
then I put him back,
but he’s singing a little
in there, I haven’t quite let him
die
and we sleep together like
that
with our
secret pact
and it’s nice enough to
make a man
weep, but I don’t
weep, do
you?

– Charles Bukowski, The Last Night of Earth Poems

“The function of music is to release us from the tyranny of conscious thought.”

-Sir Thomas Beecham