Ysabel de la Rosa

Ah, mon petit chou

2009-11-01T20:50:00.010-06:00

At last, I understand that French term of endearment, "my little cabbage."

I bought an organic cabbage from my local health food store. I bought it simply because it was beautiful. Its shape was flawless, smooth, ovule, and its outside leaves met in the center, gently touching edges as if they were human hands in prayer. I peeled back one of those leaves, and the photo above shows you what I saw.

The architecture of this single cabbage leaf is a work of wonder. Take a moment to look. See if you can count the veins or follow their many pathways without your eye becoming lost in the complexity... of one leaf.

Le chou tasted as wonderful as it looked. This naturally grown, divinely made cabbage tasted positively mellow with a hint of the tang it is so well-known for--just enough to make it interesting to my palate, just enough to make it un chou and not une laitue.

November is a time of harvest. Such wonders as these abound. Let not the abundance blind us to the many marvels each act of nature contains.

Text and image, copyright Ysabel de la Rosa, all rights reserved.

Peaces of Space

2009-10-21T17:39:00.013-05:00

forest journey by scottie parsons

A beautiful new exhibit opens this weekend at William Campbell Contemporary Art in Fort Worth, Texas: "Pieces of Space" by Scottie Parsons. I've titled this post Peaces of Space, though, because Scottie's paintings always give me such a great sense of peace and space.This brief description of the artist's work comes from the gallery Website:

"By rigorously examining planes of color and their relationships to one another on the canvas, Parsons strives to inspire a feeling of the infinite - both physical and spiritual - and to evoke a sense of the human essence beyond everyday life. Each piece creates its own indefinable atmosphere, inviting the viewer to enter, explore, and experience the sublime. "

sky ladder by scottie parsons

Visit the gallery online or in person and experience the sublime in these planes of colors that speak of all the elements of earth and those of heaven, too.

William Campbell Contemporary Art
Scottie Parsons

October 24 - November 28.

4935 Byers Avenue, Fort Worth, TX 817.737.9566.

A different kind of terrorist

2009-10-20T17:22:00.008-05:00

These terrorists are killing wolves indiscriminately. Why? For the meat? Hard to believe. For the pelts? Wolf fur makes a good fur coat? The thrill? What thrill?

Here's what's happening: Entire wolf packs in the Greater Yellowstone and northern Rockies region are being stalked and killed. Already destroyed is Yellowstone National Park’s famous Cottonwood pack. The pack’s adults were all apparently gunned down -- the surviving pups will likely starve to death without their family.

Here's what you can do to help: Go to www.savewolves.org. Read the details. Sign the petition to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. Consider donating to this amazing organization and to its important advertising campaign.

The natural world is sacred. Just as human life is sacred. When ranchers' livestock is genuinely threatened, killing a wolf, or even a few wolves is understandable, even though it's a sad affair. Killing wolves by the scores in a national forest is not right in any sense of the word. 80,000 people have already let Mr. Salazar know that this is not right. I hope you will add to that number.

A special Quiet place

2009-10-13T21:33:00.008-05:00

I found this place by "accident" one summer day. An old chapel on a residential street in a Texas town. Now, when I travel through this part of the state, I go to this place very much on purpose. Where it is matters much less than the fact that it Is. Before I stop at a different spot in this small town to fill my car with fuel, I stop here to fill my soul with Quiet, that inimitable Quiet, the one that cannot be manufactured, but is alive and grows, waiting for us to partake of it as we would partake of a great tree's soundless shade. May you, too, find this kind of special Quiet place on some part of your journey.

Autumn Flowers

2009-10-05T18:01:00.007-05:00

Autumn Flowers
by Fannie Sherrick
. . .

You are the last bright blossoms,
The summer's after-glow,
When all her early children
Have faded long ago.

. . .

For a poetic treat, go to Grandma's Family Poems, hosted by Grandma Mary. The poem above comes from that site, which features a wonderful selection of poems. It may inspire you to collect poems from and for your family, too. A beautiful and lasting legacy to hand down to future generations. Thanks to Grandma Mary for sharing.

Images, copyright Ysabel de la Rosa.

In-let

2009-09-27T21:31:00.011-05:00

I've been reading Julia Cameron's The Sound of Paper. A beautiful book. She is the now-famous author of many books, so well-known that I think even posting a link here is unnecessary. After that book, I began reading her trilogy, The Complete Artist's Way: Creativity as a Spiritual Practice. Cameron shares her inner life with her reader in a remarkable way, including how she hears God speaking to her. No, not the delusional kind of God-speak, but the quiet, honest, and undeniable kind. I believe that Charles Wesley described it amazingly well when he wrote these lines:

"Thou callest me to seek thy face. 'Tis all I wish to seek;
To hear the whispers of thy grace, and hear thee inly speak."

Did you "start" at the same word that has always made me "start" in this hymn, entitled "Talk with Us, Lord?" Inly. Not inwardly. Not toward the interior, not aiming for the "in" within us, but going there directly. Inly.

When I first read these lines in Wesley's hymn, oh, how the editor in me wanted to fix that word. At first, I giggled at it. Then, I fretted over it. Then, I "excused" it, given its authorship. But now, with the passage of time, I believe I have come to understand it. And to understand why Wesley used it; not as a choice bent to rhythmic convenience, but because the word is exquisitely right in place and meaning.

Inly. What do we let in? How many media and messages? How many worries and obsessions? How many rotating fears and wishes?

Yet, the Divine stands ready always to enter, according to our invitation. An English hymn-writer of the 18th Century and a gifted 21st-Century author invite me, also, to travel inly and listen.

Text and image, copyright Ysabel de la Rosa, all rights reserved.

What about to have a red book?

2009-09-21T23:38:00.008-05:00

Madame Fortune's Cookie Jar by Ysabel de la Rosa

What about to have a red book in your life? This is how Brazilian writer Beto Pelaio's latest post title reads, and I love it. Beto has a thoroughly interesting blog at outsiderwriters. His title today captivates my ears and my inner sense of rhythm.

He is speaking of the new red book by Carl Jung. A book, which I would not recommend to many, though I understand both its value and its appeal. You can read all about it in the New York Times Magazine's excellent article on the subject, written by Sara Corbett.

What is equally as important as Jung's inner discoveries (in my opinion, of course) is the delicate twist of discovery Sr. Pelaio has given to English--a language so much more flexible than it is frequently given credit for. He makes me want to ask:

What about to have a red book?
What about to have an ice cream?
What about to have a masked ball?
What about to hold someone's hand?
What about to lie on the grass and look at the stars?

What about you?

Image copyright Ysabel de la Rosa, all rights reserved.

Looking for books worth looking for?

2009-09-13T16:22:00.007-05:00

Then visit my bookseller page at alibris.com

You'll find books from Europe and the US, poetry, prose, rare books, signed books, first editions, and more--all at really good prices. Every book is sent to its buyer wrapped in beautiful paper with an equally beautiful note card . . . you can buy holiday gifts from Artis Lingua Books and not even have to wrap them! Click here to take a peak.

Just added today: Stories of the French Artists: From Clouet to Delacroix, published in London in 1909; the first edition of poet John Berryman's beloved and famous book Love & Fame.

International shipping available.

Above illustration from Stories of the French Artists.

In memoriam

2009-09-11T08:35:00.013-05:00

September 11, 2001

DreamBones #3
by Shelia Campbell

a voice comes tunneling
between the skyscrapers, and men
hunt down corners
to hide in, hoping the sound
is some new alert and not the last
prelude

children in the park drop
their toys and, looking up
listen

leaves uncurl their ears
in wonder, making cover
for the terror-stricken

no four horsemen of the apocalypse
no fire, no sword, no cracking
of the earth
just a voice tunneling between
the skyscrapers, a wind moan
amplified, asking
why

______________________________________

To order the book DreamBones by Shelia Campbell at a special price, click here.

Poem, Copyright Artis Lingua, 2005, all rights reserved.
Top photo by Mark Stout from istockphoto.com
Bottom photo by Melissa Day from istockphoto.com

Hearing Hope Whisper

2009-09-02T23:51:00.007-05:00

Isn't that how hope usually speaks to us? In a whisper? In the still, small voice after the great winds have passed? Sometimes that whisper is just enough, sometimes it is all we have, yet whether just enough or all we have, it is always alive. That is the nature of Hope.

Lynn Johnston of Whispering Angel Books has just published an anthology entitled Hope Whispers. Two of my poems are included in the anthology, and they're in great company in this inspirational book that includes work by: Glenda Barrett, Linda O'Connell, Francine L. Bilingslea and Perry P. Perkins, along with Pushcart Prize nominee, Lyn Halpern and Pulitzer Prize nominee, Ed Roberts.

The book is selling now at a special pre-publication price, and proceeds go to support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. It's a great opportunity to buy a gift for yourself or for someone you love, while giving a gift to a great cause. Normally $14.95, the book sells for just $10 through September 15.

Click here to see what Hope may be saying to you in this special new book. And, while you're at the book-order site, check out Lynn's collection of poems, Angel's Dance, also available for purchase.

From the Patient's Mouth

2009-08-29T21:36:00.003-05:00

My friend and colleague Dr. Joe Goldblatt sent me an essay he wrote recently about his experience with National Health Care in Scotland. Below is a condensed version of the essay that I think those of you following the health care reform "debate" in the US might find interesting:

My Dentist and Why I Believe National Health Care Works

by Joe Goldblatt, patient

When we arrived in Scotland nearly two years ago, we were told to sign up with a local dentist who accepts National Health Service patients. My dentist is a soft-spoken, kind gentleman of 50ish from Mauritius. He has been practicing dentistry for more than 25 years. His dental office is spotless and yet has none of the typical artificial hygienic smells that I normally associate with a busy dental practice.

After examining my teeth, he noticed a cavity and suggested that he fill it. When I asked him if he provided local anaesthesia, he smiled warmly and said, “Yes, of course.” Then I asked if it would be alright if I had a wee dram of scotch before I came for my next visit to calm my nerves and he responded with a wink, “Yes, and then have two after the visit.” At the conclusion of the visit, I paid £10 (about $18.00) for the service.

My filling was painless and completed quickly. I see our friend the dentist twice per year. During each visit he inspects my teeth and gums and then gives me a thorough cleaning. There is no dental hygienist. At the conclusion of the visit I pay £5.00 (about $9.00).

During my last visit, I told the dentist that food continues to stick between two of my teeth. He said that he could either order a new crown and that would cost £100. (about $180), or he could apply a wee bit of glue. I chose the glue. My newly glued teeth immediately solved the problem. I now enjoy meals without an annoying trip to the loo to extract foreign objects. Oh, the indignities of aging! And by the way, there was no charge for the glue.

Whilst living in the United States, I often spent $3000 or more per year on dental care to mend my aging gums and teeth. One time I needed an extraction and a post and crown replacement. I went to see the specialist referred to me by my general dentist and was surprised to see a waiting room that looked like the lobby of the Waldorf Astoria hotel, only his reception area was more posh. He briefly (five minutes) examined my teeth and then led me into a show room displaying photographs of his past work. He offered me a crown from Beverly Hills, California (I’m not joking) or a standard appliance. The total charges for his services would have cost, if I had lost my mind, more than $5,000.

I know there are thousands of excellent dentists in the US who don’t charge anywhere near this fee and do a fine job. However, before a national health programme is summarily dismissed due to anecdotes, innuendoes and even lies, I would ask that my own experience be considered as one example of millions of people who have benefited from one country’s National Health Service for the past sixty years.

Finally, take the case of my 70-year-old neighbour who had his knee replaced this week. The average out-of-pocket cost for this in the United States is about $35,000. (Tulane University Hospital and Clinic, 2009) Instead, as an individual guaranteed health care by his government, he was diagnosed one month ago, had the surgery this week, and paid nothing. He’ll be home in three days, following comprehensive physiotherapy.

There is no perfect health care plan because there are no perfect patients or perfect doctors and nurses. However, I will continue to visit my local dentist and doctor, and will have a wee dram of whisky daily to celebrate that health care is affordable, safe, and reliable and freely available to all where I live.

Honoring the Peruvian Patroness

2009-08-26T08:17:00.006-05:00

Depending on where you live, the feast day for Santa Rosa de Lima is celebrated on August 23 or 30. I like to think of the 23-30 as her feast week. Widely known in South America, she is much less well known in North America. I like thinking of her during this semana de fiesta for many reasons. Santa Rosa was of both Spanish and Inca bloodlines, and one of the causes dearest to her heart was what we think of today as "equal rights" among ethnic groups. She was acutely aware of the treatment of Africans "imported" to South America as slave labor. She set up a small clinic in her family's courtyard to offer herbs and remedies to any who needed them, irrespective of their skin color. This--in the 17th Century--is behavior that challenges the most radical definition of "radical." Much against her parents' wishes, and those of various ardent suitors, she chose not to marry, but instead to live a life of service. For a beautiful woman whose impoverished family needed her to "marry well," this, too was radical. Such was her own mother's disapproval that Rosa had to move out of her family home and live with friends toward the end of her brief life.

She did reflect some of the environment of the time, however, particularly in the ways she chose to manifest her faith practice, which included doing her best to disfigure her face in order to diminish her physical beauty. This behavior was well within the tradition of self-induced punishments and sufferings, part and parcel of Catholic contemplative practice in South America and Spain during this time, and is just one of several anecdotes in a similar vein from her biography.

The Catholic Church named her the first saint of the Americas and considers her the santa patrona of the Americas (North and South), India, and the Phillipines.

She is one of the saints that continually holds my attention, not only for her piety and devotion to her faith, but also for her courage and vision. She practiced, worked for and prayed for racial equality before this term even existed. She was brave enough to admonish clergy when people were being noisy during mass, though she had no authority whatsoever to do so. She refused to bend to relentless social pressure and the view that women were to be vehicles and servants, wives and mothers, often in the very basest sense of the word. She blended caring for her family with her life in a tertiary order--living as a nun in the world, not separated from it, balancing the sacred and the secular. I return to her example, her modeling of how to walk one's own path, frequently. Even the things she did that seem less than healthy to us in the 21st century--like placing thorns beneath the wreath of flowers her mother made for her to wear to enhance her beauty with suitors--even these took courage and sheer "guts." I can admire that courage--even as I am unwilling to condone her physical immolation.

My favorite books on Santa Rosa de Lima are: St. Rose of Lima, Patroness of the Americas by Sister Mary Alphonsus, O.SS.R, published by Tan Books and Publishers; and The Rose and the Lily, The Lives and Times of Two South American Saints by Frances Parkinson Keyes, published by Hawthorn Books.

So, en honor de Santa Rosa de Lima y sus días festivos, recuerdo su ejemplo y me pregunto: ¿Estoy caminando por mi vida con integridad? ¿Compaginan mis creencias y valores con mi vida diaria? ¿Tengo el valor de enfrentar y participar en el mundo y a la vez mantener y proteger lo que es sagrado para mí? Sólo con la ayuda del Patrón de la Santa, con la ayuda de Dios, puedo decir que sí.

Pero ¿dónde vivo?

2009-08-18T21:30:00.004-05:00

Es casi imposible creer lo que veo en las noticias. Una reunión que tiene como propósito ser un foro para hablar sobre las posibilidades de nuevos planes de seguro médico, y aparecen personas con armas de fuego. Hay más de 45.000.000 de personas en este país sin seguro médico. Hecho. Es un problema. Hecho. Hay que hacer algo, ¿no? Y, en este caso el hacer es el hablar. Es una de las cosas que este país solía tener fama por permitir y fomentar, la libertad de hablar--hablar con seguridad, sin miedo y sin amenazas.

Ya es hora de notar un detalle lingúistico.

Cuando hablamos de EEUU, decimos, "Estados Unidos es". No decimos, "Estados Unidos son". Somos uno, un país, un pueblo. Podemos ser y pensar de formas distintas sin perder nuestra unidad. Pero no la podemos mantener apuntando armas los unos a los otros. Por Dios, ¿a dónde se ha ido mi país?

Easily entertained!

2009-08-16T19:31:00.005-05:00

Sometimes entertaining moments remind me of a Japanese flower my father once brought home to my sister and me when we were very young. The "flower" appeared to be only a twisted bit of colored paper--until it was dropped into a bowl of water, where it bloomed into its own floating world of petals.

Moment 1: A very tall, big-boned woman walks into a health food store with a list in her hand. She is on a mission. The store manager, an expert herbalist and very gentle spirit, greets her and asks how she can help. The woman replies in a booming voice: "I need yeast flakes. That's what the list says. The flakes are for the rat. My son wants the rat to live a long time. Oh, I see the yeast flakes also have B-6. That must be good." She bought an 10-inch-high canister of yeast flakes and continued on her mission, list in hand.

Moment 2: I am leaving a crowded grocery store, accompanied by a high school student who will load the grocery bags in my car for me. I remark that the store certainly has a wide variety of people shopping in the aisles this afternoon. He shakes his head and says, "Yeah, some days working here is like taking a course in sociology. I learn a lot of things I didn't even want to know." Coming from a 50-year-old, this would have been just a comment among others. Coming from a 16-year-old wearing an expression of deep seriousness on his face, it was priceless.

Moments: are you missing them or catching them? They're all around you, and if you are a writer, you have more reason than most people to pay attention to these moments. They make me smile. They remind me of the daily surprises and delights that come simply with being human. Keep an eye out. A moment like these may be yours to enjoy
. . . any moment now!

The fun photo is by Cathy Keifer and comes from istockphoto.

Beauty in Hardship

2009-08-13T12:32:00.010-05:00

Apologies for the long absence from blogging. Unicef has brought me back (with a promise to be, as Larry McMurtry once said, "more regular.")

I learned about Unicef in high school. I bought a Unicef desk calendar, which I kept for many years to continue to look at the wonderful art and wise quotes from around the world on its pages.

One Halloween, my church's youth group went trick-or-treating for Unicef. We split into teams, and each was assigned a different part of our small town to knock on doors and ask for donations. My team was assigned the poorest neighborhood. And to this day, I am glad. I knocked on the doors of those houses with trepidation. How could I ask these people for a donation--they were already struggling. But I asked. And they answered. Not one single family turned us away without making a donation. In some cases, their contributions were as small as 3 pennies, but NO ONE turned us away without making a gift to this wonderful organization that helps children all over the world. My team returned to the church with the smallest amount of money, and we did not win "first place," but we won something much greater--profound knowledge of the human spirit.

The photo above is of an Ethiopian mother and her one-year-old son, Mare, visiting a Unicef-funded health center. I just received this photo in a letter from Unicef, asking for donations. While the hardships that this mother contends with are evident on her face, so is her great beauty--and her love for her child. She has an elegance, an inner tallness and outward grace that are arresting. None of this is untouched by the extreme difficulties of a life without health care and other basic and necessary resources. Yet, her beauty survives, despite all this. It comes from a strong soul. It has to.

It is a message to make my own soul stronger, as well, and to give a donation to Unicef, even though it may not be a grand one. Many years ago, kind people who needed every penny they had, gave me three cents to give to Unicef. I disgrace their memory if I cannot contribute my own "three cents" now. As we face a troubled economy, we need to remember that act is more important than gesture. We cannot afford to "freeze" because we believe that we cannot do "enough." We must simply do and give, as we can, when we can. I'm making a donation to Unicef at this link: http://www.unicef.org

Another option: Order cards, wrapping paper, calendars, and other items from Unicef at their online store. The cards are beautiful and cost as much as 75 percent less than retail greeting cards. Your purchase helps Unicef, and you save money on something you would normally buy for birthdays, holidays, and other times of year. (They even have sound cards with music.) At left is a photo of the Unicef Asian watercolor cards, some of my favorite designs.

So much beauty: the mother and her child, the many people working withUnicef to help other children, and you and I--we can be beautiful, too, by giving to a beautiful cause, one that needs our help more than ever.

An Aesthetically Pleasing Opportunity

2009-07-13T14:56:00.005-05:00

If you're looking for an exciting new venue for your poetry, fiction, or artwork (including photography), then take a look at Aesthetica Magazine. This is an interesting and lively publication based in the UK, and every year they publish a Creative Works Annual. You can submit work to the Creative Works Annual through August 31, 2009. And, when you submit, you'll receive a free digital edition of the 2009 Creative Works Annual.

I thoroughly enjoyed the 2009 Annual. It's very nicely done. The selection of poetry is wide-ranging, as powerful as it is sensitive, and much of it, I felt, really honored language in its technique and structure. Hard to pick a favorite in this section, but I must say that "Invasion" by Anthony Watts is one of the most memorable poems I have ever read, and "Ash Wednesday" by Andy Humphrey stood out to me due to its intelligent and poignant handling of a Christian subject.

The artwork section represents many visions. I particularly liked "Chryse" by Portuguese artist Sonia Oliveira and "Lost" by Lara Prior. To learn more about Aesthetica Magazine and the Creative Works Annual, click here.

(Wonderful) Cover photo by 17-year-old Jacquelyn Noelle Unpinco.

Starring Poetry from the Lone Star State

2009-07-07T08:23:00.005-05:00

The 2010 Texas Poetry Calendar is now available. I've just received my copy, and it's quite a treat! Editors and publishers Scott Wiggerman and Cindy Huyser did a wonderful job. Kudos also go to David Meischen, Managing Editor, Kristee Humphrey, Cover Designer, Photographer Gerald R. Wheeler who created the cover photograph, and last but not least to Texas Poetry Calendar Judge Poet Mark Doty, whose wonderful poem "Iris Catalogue" opens the calendar / poetry collection. You can order your own Texas Poetry Calendar at dosgatospress.org or check your local Texas bookstores. (Links are in purple.)

I believe a rose

2009-07-05T19:22:00.009-05:00

is as much a journey as a flower. Have you traveled with a rose lately? I highly recommend it.

Don't Send Madoff to Jail

2009-06-29T17:44:00.006-05:00

That's right. Send Madoff to work, instead. He could spend months helping the charities his investment schemes ruined. He could collect cans with Ms. Sigman, who was interviewed today on NPR and who, having lost her life savings, is collecting cans for recycling fees, among other activities to make ends meet. He could help build homes for the people who lost theirs, due to "investing" with him. Or, he could just get a plain old job, like so many Americans have to do, and then turn over every dime he makes until the day he dies to the people he robbed. It's a win-win. He doesn't take up space in prison at the expense of tax dollars, he has a chance to atone, and it's bound to help him feel better as a human being. Jail is the wrong answer. Put this man to work instead.

Hellth Insurance

2009-06-24T12:41:00.010-05:00

Yes, I believe that is how it should be spelled these days. Hell-th insurance. I was amazed yesterday at the hypercritical and plain gossipy questions President Obama fielded on this topic. (And grateful for his intelligence and eloquence as he answered those questions.) One reporter asked and insinuated: "Won't a public health insurance plan put private insurers out of business?" What planet does that reporter live on?

Private insurers are not interested in the public welfare, or one or more of them would have made an effort to offer some kind of decent coverage to self-employed, under-employed or even unemployed persons--certainly at least to children. The convoluted underwriting guidelines of these companies makes it clear that they have no sense of mission to the masses. My case is a great case in point.

As an employee, I was insured by Blue Cross Blue Shield for five years. In the 30 days after leaving said employ, I applied for individual coverage with BCBS. I was denied. They sent me a letter stating that due to a change in one of my medications, I could not be granted coverage. I switched from one prescription drug to another, and that's all it took to make me uninsurable in their eyes. Yet, the group of employees I had once belonged to included a person who had had major intestinal surgery and another with leukemia. They continue to be insured simply because they are part of a "group." I am functional. I have not missed a day of working in years. I have not been hospitalized in 17 years for any reason. But I the Individual cannot be insured by the same company that had provided my insurance for five years. Make sense? Of course not.

Now, when I do find new insurance, I can be sure that it will not cover any existing condition I have, however small, for at least 12 months--and perhaps never will cover them. So, I will be paying basically for a possible hospitalization coverage just to keep from going bankrupt should that happen. That is, of course, if I can obtain said coverage at all.

BCBS said I could apply through my state's Health Risk Pool for coverage. And guess who underwrites that coverage? Blue Cross, of course. They'll get money even from the people they deny coverage to . . . . what a great business model--for them.

Put the private companies out of business? Oh, if only.

I'm sure you have an experience and/or opinion on this subject, too. NOW is the time to let your government representatives know what that experience or opinion is. The land of the free and the brave should also be the land of the well, don't you think?

The very cool image above is from Heavenfelts, a very interesting site on energy, chakras, and other topics.

I don't get it

2009-06-17T09:15:00.006-05:00

Some things make no sense to me.

There are more than 45 million Americans with no health insurance. Yet not one private insurance company sees this as a business opportunity. That's one large "pool," and many of these people have enough income that they would and could pay a reasonable premium, even if only for hospital care.

In my experience, only companies offering "minor medical" insurance at premiums that are border-line "reasonable" are taking advantage of the situation. Some in a good way, others in a bad way. I recently signed on with one of these programs and then received my "health discount documents" only to find out I'd been lied to about network providers. I can cancel only by phone, which I've tried to do--but no one is "available" when I call to cancel.

I'm one of the 45 million Americans unable to procure major medical insurance. Yes, I've seen doctors in the past 10 years for a variety of reasons. But I haven't been hospitalized in that time and never missed a day's work. Nor have I had a disease that could be considered even remotely life threatening. Why am I such a risk?

The government is left to solve this problem for us 45+ million--while insurance companies and other related business interests complain mightily. There are millions of us willing to pay a reasonable premium for health insurance. Why does the business universe not take advantage of this?

Another thing I don't get. Why would you want to be the president of a country when millions of people make it clear they don't want you, didn't vote for you, and are willing to risk their lives to protest your election by corrupt means? As I watch the events in Iran unfold, as my heart goes out to a valiant, intelligent, and beautiful people, I am amazed--not for the first time--how the drive to have power erases the human capacity for sheer embarrassment. Perhaps my Southern ancestors taught me too well that embarrassment is a state I want mightily to avoid. As a result, I don't understand why Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is simply not too embarrassed to continue in his post without a recount or other verification. I also don't understand why Iran's supreme leader does not understand that a happy, expressive people whose basic phone service and whose votes are not tampered with are the best kind to guide and to "rule."

I just don't get it.

Image by Mil Lubroth, all rights reserved.

A Quote for All Time

2009-05-27T20:48:00.006-05:00

I just received this from a friend and think it well worth sharing:

"Part with self-conceit, for it is impossible
for anyone to begin to learn
what he thinks he already knows." -- Epictetus

Un homenaje fotográfico

2009-05-20T20:45:00.018-05:00

These photos by Argentinian photographer Eduardo Longoni are true works of communication. They provide a look at the life of author Mario Benedetti that is both intimate and respectful. Each is a story in itself. My thanks to Sr. Longoni for his permission to post these photos here. You can see more of his work at his website. (English and Spanish)

Mario Benedetti en El Café Brasilero, Montevideo, Uruguay

Estas fotos del fotógrafo argentino Sr. Eduardo Longoni son obras profundamente comunicativas. Nos ofrecen una mirada a la vida del escritor Sr. Benedetti que es a la vez íntima y respetuosa. Cada foto es una historia en sí, historias que se cuentan sin palabras. Gracias a Sr. Longoni por su permiso para colocar estas fotos en mi blog. Puedes ver más de su obra y aprender más sobre su trayectoria profesional y artística en su sitio web.

Escritorio de trabajo de Mario Benedetti / The writer's desk

Because everything we say and do is the length and shadow
of our own souls, our influence is determined by
the quality of our being.
-- Dale Turner

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Images, copyright Eduardo Longoni, all rights reserved.

Arrivederci, Sr. Benedetti

2009-05-19T19:27:00.028-05:00

I felt my heart skip a beat when I saw the news on Letralia. The beloved author, poet, critic, and humanitarian Mario Benedetti left this earth on May 17. He suffered for some time from lung and other problems. He died at home in Montevideo, Uruguay--a country where he was not able to make his home for many years of his life.

Here are some links where you can learn more about Sr. Benedetti:
Letralia a wonderful literary magazine published in Venezuela (Spanish). CBC News Story (English). A Wikipedia entry (English) gives an overview of his works and short biography. Click on the photo above to visit the Cervantes Institute page on Benedetti (Spanish).

Here's a video with Mario Benedetti reading, "And if God were a woman?". The poet uses Juan Gelman's question as the starting point for this poem. Warm and comforting as it is confrontational and startling, this poem speaks straight to Men about the Divine Feminine--not as a replacement for the Divine Masculine, but as its necessary and fulfilling complement.

Although I would have chosen different art for the first half of the video (the sketched female that "comes to life" during the first half does not speak to me at all of the divine), fortunately, the video leaps from this too "fashionable" and earthly portrait to more heavenly and artful ones. Or--forget the images; just close your eyes and listen to Benedetti's voice--it lands inside you. It is a voice that, once heard, cannot be forgotten. Something I can affirm, even as I cannot explain it. Haz clic aquí: Si Dios fuera mujer (vídeo) en el blog de Marna Luz.

To see what fellow Uruguayans are blogging about this literary lion, visit Global Voices, where you will find interesting Spanish comments with English translations, posted by Eduardo Ávila.

Here is a beautiful video with Sr. Benedetti reading his poetry, produced by Cadena de Lectores de Alfaguara in Mexico. It also includes excellent and evocative images of the poet.

This blog post, Don Mario no vino a la oficina by Jorge Gómez Jiménez may be my favorite "pedazo" que he encontrado en línea hoy, mientras buscaba "cosas de Don Mario" para--¿para qué?--no sé exactamente-- quizás para sentir que alguien más compartía mi "shock", la pura sensación de una pérdida personal. Creo que cuando encontramos consuelo y sabiduría en las palabras de un escritor en nuestros propios "tiempos revueltos", aquel escritor deja de ser un desconocido para nosotros. Es verdad que el lector no le va a conocer en persona, pero sí, en un nivel profundo, se conocen personalmente el escritor y su lector--quizás sea el escritor que llega a "conocer" al "desconocido" lector, por la manera en que sus palabras llegan, tocan, y fortalezan la vida de la persona que hojea su obra. Nadie da la mano, ni besa la mejilla, pero los dedos tocan el papel que lleva la verdadera esencia del escritor y del ser humano. Encontré mi consuelo aquí, en esta nota que dice tanto con un mínimo de palabras.

Two more videos worth watching:
Palabras Verdaderas is a documentary on Benedetti's life. A good film, although the soundtrack online is not the best. If you can bear the less-than-optimal sound quality, however, you will be rewarded with a rich and detailed look at the poet's life.

You can see an excerpt of this video in which Daniel Viglietti and Mario Benedetti perform "Desaparecidos" (The Disappeared Ones). A moving and courageous work of words. It also includes a few more fragments from the longer documentary. Un buen aperitivo.

One of the lines in the video says, "Usted sabe que puede contar conmigo." And so it has been for thousands of readers who came to count on Sr. Benedetti as una voz de inspiración, una fuente de perspicacia y valor, un compañero para muchos, y en muchos sentidos. Uruguay's Ministra de Cultura María Simón said, "I don't think we should be talking of a loss, because he will be with us forever."

Que así sea.
Grazie e arrivederci, querido señor, espíritu, y escritor.

Flower image, copyright Ysabel de la Rosa

May Flowers

2009-05-14T23:48:00.012-05:00

This tulip appears to be in prayer, folded inward, becoming ready to open,
and then to bless the eyes lucky enough to see it blossom.

How do I love hydrangeas? I could not count the ways! Their bounty amazes me, great clouds of flower, made up of small and perfect blossoms. Colors ethereal, pastels never had such strength
as in the petals of this flower.

A mum in spring. I like the contrapuntal thought of this, paired with the hardy Peruvian Lily.

And one of the world's great treasures: the interior world
of the iris.

***

How glad I am to have the company of these creations,
to be in the presence of
their color, their light, their beauty.

Images, copyright Ysabel de la Rosa, all rights reserved.