Mark Nepo

Mark Nepo (1951- ) lives in Kalamazoo, Michigan. In his 30s he was diagnosed with a rare form of lymphoma, a struggle which helped to form his philosophy of experiencing life fully while staying in relationship to an unknowable future. Nepo has a doctorate in English. He taught for 19 years at the State University of New York in Albany, New York. He has published over 23 books. In 2010 Oprah Winfrey chose Nepo’s Book of Awakening (which has sold over a million copies) as one of her Ultimate Favorite Things for her farewell season

Below Our Strangeness

My soul tells me, we were

all broken from the same name-

less heart, and every living thing

wakes with a piece of that original

heart aching its way into blossom.

This is why we know each other

below our strangeness, why when

we fall, we lift each other, or when

in pain, we hold each other, why

when sudden with joy, we dance

together. Life is the many pieces

of that great heart loving itself

back together.

— Mark Nepo