An Unpayable Debt

Upon beginning Martha Hess’s book, Then the Americans Came: Voices from Vietnam, I was immediately reminded of my late wife Mev Puleo who embarked on a similar project at about the same time as Hess….

Deep Listening

“I’m sorry. We Americans have never taken responsibility for what we did.” –Lady Borton Lady Borton worked for the American Friends Service Committee in South Vietnam from 1969-1971. A decade later, she assisted Vietnamese boat…

Hedy & Heine

The year after Mev died I read a lot of literature– Poetry, novels, plays One volume I took refuge in Was a bi-lingual edition of Heine’s Songs of Love & Grief I have a favorite…

Good Citizens/1

Dear Friends in the Sangha, I first encountered The Miracle of Being Awake (later published as The Miracle of Mindfulness) in 1982, when a monk from the Abbey of Gethsemani gave me a mimeograph of…

¡Presente!

I received this email today from Marty King… I have pulled out my precious copy of The Struggle Is One, a present from Mev, inscribed to us. I cannot put it down, and am reminded…

You Know Some People

#1 You know some people who are in a bind You know some people who are lost, big-time You know some people who are in the employ of socially approved psychopaths You know some people…

To a Friend in Africa

Opening your heart is like opening the door You don’t just have to fling it open every hour of the day That would be exhausting There’s a time to crack the door a little Take…