Roberta emailed me on Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Hi Jng,
my morning present to you today is a poem by Kahlil Gibran, a Lebanese poet, on Friendship. It is an extract from his book: “The Prophet” I recommend you its reading as a very pleasant meditation on life and its significance. Thinking of you as a friend, Jng:
Friendship
And a youth said, “Speak to us of Friendship.”
And he answered, saying:
Your friend is your needs answered.
He is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanks-giving.
And he is your board and your fireside.
For you come to him with your hunger, and you seek him for peace.
When your friend speaks his mind you fear not the “nay” in your own mind, nor do you with hold the “aye.”
And when he is silent your heart ceases not to listen to his heart;
For without words, in friendship, all thoughts, all desires, all expectations are born and shared, with joy that is unclaimed.
When you are part from your friend, you grieve not;
For that which you love most in him may be clearer in his absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain.
And let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the spirit.
For love that seeks aught but the disclosure of its own mystery is not love but a net cast forth: and only the unprofitable is caught.
And let your best be for your friend.
If he must know the ebb of your tide, let him know its flood also.
For what is your friend that you should seek him with hours to kill?
Seek him always with hours to live.
For it is his to fill your need, but not your emptiness.
And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures.
For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.
(The Prophet by K. Gibran)
Have a nice, bright day!
Kisses, roberta miscia.
Hi Roberta,
Thank you so much for your lovely writing of Kahlil Gibran on Friendship , I enjoyed reading it and I will forward to our friends and family to read.
Yesterday, I was very tried from moving my sculptures and my husband’s student pottery from UMDNJ to our shop and the students’ pottery had to be moved to Rutgers University studio. My husband was so careful with one piece of large pottery; he wrapped it with a special blanket and held it by hand removing it from the van to the studio. Then he had to pick something else out of the van so he had to put down that pottery and grab the other item. In a flash that large piece of pottery slipped, falling down to the floor and braking into pieces. My husband knelt down to the floor, his head down with great disappointment. I felt so bad I knew he worked very hard and tried his best but accidents always happen when we do not expect. I said pottery is so fragile but we can replace it by making a new one. Life is fragile and we cannot replace it. So do not feel so bad and be glad that we are still alive and healthy. My husband seemed to calm down and said this student that made the pot is a good person. He probably will not mind that much.
You told me that you had a problem with the bronchitis, please take care of yourself. Our health is important more than anything. If we are healthy we can do a lot more things for ourselves and others.
While I was answering your email, the bell rang, I went out to open the door, and a young lady in front of the door told me that she brought about ten teachers to learn about my Peace Project. They came in to see my sculptures and I explained to them about my Peace Project. They seemed to enjoy and like the project. Then their phone rang and said they had to go back. They said they will be back again. I was very excited and so glad that more people are getting to know about my Peace Project and the word “Peace” is spreading out to teachers and from teachers to students and hopefully the students will talk to their parents, family and friends.
If you would like to see my sculptures and my husband’s student pottery you can go to my website and the link is: https://ingpeaceproject.com/exhibition-at-umdnj-art-gallery/
I hope you, your husband and family had a good rest during summer and we will see the beautiful autumn with different colors of leaves changing before they fall down ready to face the cold chill of winter.
All the best,
Ing & John
Roberta emailed me on Monday, August 27, 2012.
Hi Ing,
how are you? I hope you’re fine. Here in Italy things are going on as usual; the weather today is not so hot as it was till yesterday, so we’re feeling much better now. I’m rapidly recovering from a sudden bronchitis I caught when I was with my husband on holiday, which forced me to shorten my vacation and come back home before expected. I’ve visited your website and read your peace poem, which I’m honored to translate into Italian, even if you know how hard it is to render the essence of words into another language. It’s a questions of rhyme, musicality, selection of the “best” words which can match your feelings…it is not so simple! However I will try to interpret your soul, making your language and my heart one.
LA PACE (translation of Jng’s Peace poem)
Quando gioisci delle gocce di pioggia,
viene a te la Pace;
Quando ascolti gli uccelli cantare,
viene a te la Pace;
Quando guardi i pesci nuotare in uno specchio d’acqua,
viene a te la Pace;
Quando senti i bimbi ridere,
viene a te la Pace;
Quando canti camminando nel bosco,
viene a te la Pace;
E quando ti siedi calma a contemplare l’alba e il tramonto
e senti le ondedelmare cantare,
allora viene a te la Pace.
Lascia che la Pace venga a te in modi diversi
e fa’ che la Pace sia con tutti noi.
(roberta miscia’s translation)
I’ve also seen your 2 videos (the peace project and the butterflies garden one): the video of the butterflies and the bees dancing in the light summer breeze and buzzing round the flowers, sucking their nectar, has been a sort of “dreamlike vision” to me. You’ve been simply great at rendering the miracle of life and the beauty of nature in such impressive short movie sequences. It is as if you’ve caught the movements of these tiny animals through a lens, being able to film all the details of their microcosm. An unpredictable wonder to my eyes! Exploring the magic harmony of nature gives me authentic joy and pleasure. Thanks again! You’re continuously giving me simple but lively happy moments, helping me enjoy the beauty of life again and again.
I look forward to hearing from you soon!
Regards to your husband, too.
Hugs and kisses,
Roberta Miscia.
Hi Roberta,
There was a very nice surprise after my husband and I came back from University of Medicine and Dentistry, New Jersey art gallery taking down my husband’s student pottery exhibition and tomorrow we are going to take down my sculptures exhibition. The surprise was your lovely email and your translation of my Peace poem into Italian. Thanks a million for doing it so fast. I hope I did not cause you to rush to do the translation. I am pretty sure your translation in Italian is as beautiful as the way you composed your emails that I received. I enjoy reading your emails because of the way you use the words, which is like the way Thai people make a bouquet from beautiful fresh flowers. I kept thinking that you are probably a writer or a poet. You should spend sometime to collect your writing until you can accumulate enough to publish a book.
Tonight, I am going to post your Italian translation of my Peace poem on my website, adding it together with other language translations that I have. It is on the Ing’s Peace Project Page.
I am glad that you like the Butterflies & Bees Backyard Garden, Newark. I usually pay more attention to butterflies when I video them in our backyard garden. When the butterflies flew away I spotted this bee that was drinking nectar from the butterfly bush flowers. I learned for the first time how the bee takes the nectar by grabbing the base of flower and piercing it with its short mouth part and retrieving the sweetness of nectar from the flowers. I thought to myself that one is never too old to learn new things.
I hope you are now feeling a lot better. Please give our regards to your husband also.
With all the best and hugs and kisses to you too.
Ing
Monday, August 27, 2012
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