notta not-a-boy page four

Your book came today. There is nothing else like it anyplace. So much recognizable raw truth…it hurts, I cringe, it feels strangely good. I say “aaaahhhhhh” and shiver. So much of this book feels like home. Somehow it reminds me of a story that Ram Dass told….about a young bruised and bleeding young girl who had been abused by her mother. The mother had cut her and burned her with cigarette ends, and the mother was being led away by police while the girl was being held by a very soft and motherly looking woman from social services. The girl was reaching out and crying for her mother. That one. With so many of your paintings I can feel the feelings that were in the painter. This is important work for the world. It speaks to the brokenness in all of us. Look around, it is not hard to find, but typically covered up by denial. The paradox and the suffering are typically too much for people to deal with. I am grateful for Emje. I feel less alone. (Misery loves company?) Whatever. I’m glad you’re here. Thank you.

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