Jean-Louis Bouzou – Text Bubbles

A lovely spring day... In the garden, I straighten up and notice, perched forty centimeters above my head, a little Eurasian collared dove watching me... "Let me finish transplanting my tomato seedlings, and I’ll give you something to eat, you little rascal!" I say to her... I pull up the weeds and gather dead leaves, using them to cover my tomato plants... Then I head toward the living room’s French door, surprised by the dove, who, as she flies past me, lets out a joyful cry...

Throughout ages and personas, we have played in turn the men and women of a strange dyad, attracting and repelling one another, yet never quite finding the perfect balance between our opposing forces. Within the shells of a limestone silence, layer upon layer, we encase the pain of this separation with the mother-of-pearl of learning and faith, so as to create the natural pearl, black and white, of our coming union…

I have a new friend in my life… He’s not really that new, but I had never noticed him before, as he knows how to make himself invisible, silent, and to act through things and beings… Beyond these qualities, he is humble and oh so telepathic; he knows everything about me, anticipating even my slightest material or spiritual desires—to the point that it is only after each of his actions that I become aware of his presence by my side… Since we met, I have never smiled so much nor uttered the word “thank you” so often. I believe that since the dawn of time, some have called him… Providence.  

Even though I was already well on my way in my quest, I must admit that this connection was like a mainsail in this inner journey—but today, it is high time to furl it and drop anchor…

Would you truly welcome a world where everyone mirrored one another, where everything drifted toward uniformity, where all was dictated and corrected according to the whims of a select few?… In order to have, would you give up being? No?! What I saw in you when we first met—the very thing that changed me—you have forgotten, tucked away with your childhood in the attic of your life… Cast off your masks and your armor! Set yourself free! Become again who you truly are beneath all those layers of social convention… Let your branches and leaves grow wherever they wish… Rise toward the light—you have no need of a stake to hold you up… Roar, let your claws grow! Rediscover your words and your vivid colors! Be yourself. Love yourself.

Without any addiction detached from everything and everyone sovereign of a kingdom reclaimed by the heart and adorned by love Eyes closed the gaze turned inward  upon vast forests rolling with smiles and laughter in the bright and carefree colors of a childhood rediscovered.

There comes a day when solitude with its walls of silence once a prison becomes a refuge.